Balmoral Stadium
Location | Cove Bay, Aberdeen, Scotland |
---|---|
Coordinates | 57°06′39.20″N 2°06′00.25″W / 57.1108889°N 2.1000694°W |
Record attendance | 1,728 v Hearts 18th July 2018 |
Surface | Artificial 4G Turf |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 2015 |
Opened | July 2018 |
Tenants | |
Cove Rangers F.C. (2018–present) |
The Balmoral Stadium is a football ground located in Cove, a suburb of Aberdeen. It is the home ground of Highland Football League club Cove Rangers.
History
Cove Rangers started planning to move from their old Allan Park in the mid-2000s, as this formed part of their unsuccessful pitch for Scottish Football League membership in 2008.[1] Initially, the move was tied in with the New Aberdeen Stadium proposals, as Calder Park would also have served as a training facility for Aberdeen FC.[2] Planning permission for this project was refused in August 2012, as Aberdeen City Council opted to examine other possibilities for development in the area.[3]
Cove Rangers then decided to press ahead with a new stadium by themselves,[4] as Allan Park did not meet Scottish Football Association licensing criteria.[5] Aberdeen City Council accepted the first stages of planning permission for Calder Park in November 2014.[6] The new stadium was originally planned to be ready for the start of the 2016–17 season. Cove Rangers left Allan Park in April 2015, having sold the ground to a housing developer. The club reached agreements to ground-share with four other clubs during the 2015–16 season.[7]
The club submitted a planning application in March 2016.[8] The plans included a stand with 312 seats, an "all-weather" 3G (artificial) pitch and 110 car parking spaces.[8] A sponsorship deal with the Aberdeen-based Balmoral Group in December 2016 included naming rights for the Calder Park ground, which will be known as the Balmoral Stadium.[9] Construction work was being undertaken in October 2017, with a target date for completion of February to March 2018.[10] Cove continued to ground-share during the 2017–18 season, with their Scottish Cup tie against Falkirk[11] and SPFL promotion playoff matches being played at Harlaw Park in Inverurie.[12]
Balmoral Stadium was officially opened in July 2018, with a friendly match between Cove Rangers and Aberdeen which had to be abandoned after Cove player Jordon Brown suffered a serious injury.[13]
References
- ^ "Cove crave spot in Division Three". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 June 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- ^ "Aberdeen will fight on despite council opposition to stadium plan". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- ^ "New Aberdeen FC park 'killed off', says Stewart Milne". BBC News. BBC. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- ^ Drysdale, Neil (9 January 2013). "Cove Rangers set to complete move to new £3m stadium by 2015". STV News. STV. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- ^ "Cove Rangers". Non League Scotland. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ Walsh, Stephen (18 November 2014). "Cove Rangers get green light to move to new Aberdeen stadium". Press & Journal. Aberdeen Journals. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- ^ McTavish, Ross (22 May 2015). "Cove to groundshare with four clubs next season". www.hflhub.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- ^ a b "Cove Rangers lodge plans for new stadium". Original FM. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ^ Allan, Charlie (2 December 2016). "Cove boost as Balmoral Group put name to new stadium at Calder Park - Evening Express". Evening Express. Aberdeen. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ Haslam, Dale (28 October 2017). "New football stadium taking shape in North-east". Evening Express. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ^ "COVE RANGERS – SUPPORTER INFO". Falkirk FC. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ "Cowdenbeath face Cove in play-off". SPFL. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ Jaffray, Chris (16 July 2018). "First ever match at new Balmoral Stadium abandoned after Cove player suffers serious injury". Press & Journal. Retrieved 17 July 2018.