Pittodrie Stadium

Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, from which the surrounding residential area has taken its name, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they were formed in 1903. Prior to then, the ground hosted the original Aberdeen F.C. from 1899 until the merger that created the present club.

With a seating capacity of 19,274 Pittodrie is the fourth largest stadium in the SPFL and the largest stadium in Scotland outside the Central Belt. Pittodrie has been the location of a number of firsts in the field of stadium design, including the invention of the dugout, and in 1978 became one of the first all-seater stadium in the United Kingdom.

As of November 2017^[update], Pittodrie has hosted fifteen matches involving the Scotland national team. The ground has also staged rugby union, with four Scotland international fixtures being held there including a match against the Barbarians. In club football, Inverness Caledonian Thistle temporarily shared Pittodrie during part of the 2004–05 season.

The original Aberdeen football club was formed in 1881. They played at various venues within the city, until a former dung hill for police horses was cleared and readied for football in 1899. The land was leased from Mr Knight Erskine of Pittodrie, with an agreement to construct a terrace on what is now the site of the Richard Donald Stand. The first game, a 7–1 win over Dumbarton, was played on 2 September 1899. The club was merged on 18 April 1903 with two other local clubs, Victoria United and Orion, to form Aberdeen FC. 8000 spectators turned up to watch the new Aberdeen FC play its first game at Pittodrie, a 1–1 draw in the Northern League against Stenhousemuir on 15 August 1903. The club joined the Scottish Football League in 1904.

Increasing popularity of the team and rising attendances led to major developments at Pittodrie in the 1920s. The club purchased the ground, which they had been leasing, with the final payment made on 1 December 1920. The Main Stand, where the club offices, dressing rooms and trophy room are located, was constructed in 1925. This was partly funded by the sale of Alex Jackson to Huddersfield Town. Also in the 1920s, the dugout was introduced to football by Aberdeen coach Donald Colman, who was interested in sitting lower to the pitch in order to inspect the players' footwork.

The club won its first major trophy in 1947, when it won the Scottish Cup. With increased success came more additions to Pittodrie. The record attendance occurred on 13 March 1954, when 45,061 spectators turned up for a Scottish Cup match against Hearts. Floodlights were introduced at Pittodrie on 21 October 1959, when English league side Luton Town were beaten 3–2 in a friendly. By 1 August 1968, the Main Stand had become all-seated as part of a £100,000 improvement of the ground. This coincided with a change of name from Pittodrie Park to Pittodrie Stadium. On 6 February 1971, a fire destroyed part of the Main Stand, and gutted the dressing rooms and club offices. The Scottish Cup trophy, which was held by Aberdeen at the time, had to be rescued by firemen.

In 1978, Pittodrie became the first all-seated stadium in Great Britain, after the south terracing was fitted with bench style seating. This improvement pre-dated the Taylor Report on British football grounds by a decade and coincided with a distinct upturn in the fortunes of the home team, now managed by Alex Ferguson. The south side became the South Stand in 1980, following the installation of a cantilever roof which covered most of the seats. A year later, the benches were replaced by individual seats.

Both during the subsequent run in the 1980s and at numerous other times over the century the stadium has been in operation, there have been many memorable nights for the local fans. However, Pittodrie's greatest night is generally regarded as 16 March 1983. Aberdeen fought back from 2–1 down in a European Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final second leg tie against Bayern Munich to win 3–2. A full house witnessed this victory, which took the Dons through to the semi-finals, and they went on to win the trophy by defeating Real Madrid in the final. The club installed 24 executive boxes in the Main Stand, and built a new roof over the Merkland Road End in 1985. Undersoil heating was installed in 1987.