Balmoral Stadium (Aberdeen)

Balmoral Stadium is a football ground located in the Cove Bay area of Aberdeen, Scotland. Opened in 2018, it is the home ground of Scottish Championship club Cove Rangers. From 2021, it is being shared by Scottish Women’s Premier League team Aberdeen.

General information

Arena capacity: 3,023 spectators

Address: Wellington Cir Roundabout, Aberdeen AB10 1ZT, UK

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 57.113°N 2.097°W

Year of construction: 2018

Field: Artificial 4G Turf lawn with dimensions of 105 x 68 yards

Seating plan of Balmoral Stadium

Alan McRae Stand

The Alan McRae Stand consists of four blocks of blue seating with the letters CRFC spelt out in white across them. Glass windows up at the back of the seating area lead into a hospitality suite, and Cove Rangers’ matchday camera is also in place up here. You can find the ground’s tunnel down at the front and the changing rooms inside.

The high roof above the Alan McRae Stand has no supporting pillars coming down from it and so your view from anywhere inside is perfectly clear.

There are no windshields in place at either end though, with just small white walls in place to offer minimal protection from the sides.

The rest of the Balmoral Stadium’s southern side is a flat surface which fans are welcome to stand on, though they will have no overhead protection from any wind or rain. The two dugouts are based on this side of the football ground, split either side of the Alan McRae Stand.

West End

The West End is incredibly basic, consisting simply of a flat surface that fans are permitted to stand anywhere along. They usually like to lean on the perimeter fence which runs around the pitch in order to get as close to the action as possible.

You won’t find any restriction to your view on this side of the Balmoral Stadium, but you will also have no overhead protection from any wind or rain.

North Side

The North Side contains three small stands split well apart from each other.

The middle stand is the smallest, consisting of two small blocks of blue seating. It provides perfectly clear views of the pitch, but you will not find windshields in place at either end.

The stands either side of this central stand contain several rows of standing terrace and are slightly larger. Like the central stand though, they also provide perfectly clear views of the pitch for those inside but do not have windshields in place at either end.

The rest of the North Side is a flat surface which fans are welcome to stand on, though they will have no overhead protection from any wind or rain.

East End

The East End is the same as the West End opposite. It is incredibly basic, consisting simply of a flat surface that fans are permitted to stand anywhere along. They usually like to lean on the perimeter fence which runs around the pitch in order to get as close to the action as possible.

You won’t find any restriction to your view on this side of the Balmoral Stadium, but you will also have no overhead protection from any wind or rain.

Away Fans

Segregation isn’t always in place at the Balmoral Stadium, but when it is then the away section normally encompasses the East End and around half of the North Side. This provides away fans with a small covered stand which has several rows of standing terrace inside. The rest of the space in this away section is a flat surface which fans are welcome to stand on, though they will have no overhead protection from any wind or rain. Cove Rangers have also been known to allocate some of the seats in the Alan McRae Stand to the south, which provides clear, covered views of the pitch for those inside.

There are two sets of turnstiles at the Balmoral Stadium, both located either side of the Alan McRae Stand to the south. Given the away section is over to the east, away fans tend to use the turnstile block to the right of the Alan McRae Stand and then walk around to the part of the football ground that they wish to either stand or sit in.

How to get there?

The Balmoral Stadium is located to the South of Aberdeen.

From The South

Leave the A92 and take the A956 towards Altens. On reaching a roundabout with a Burger King and a Shell Garage on the left-hand side. Take the first exit towards the retail park and then follow the road as it first bears around to the right into the industrial estate, passing the Royal Mail office on the left. The ground is at the end of this road.

From The North

Follow the A92 around Aberdeen heading towards Dundee. After crossing the Bridge over the River Dee, then at the next roundabout, take the first exit onto the B9077, signposted Altens Industrial Estate. Go straight over the next two roundabouts and at the third, take the third exit onto the A956, towards Perth. You will then pass the Wellington Pub & Grill on your right and a Shell Garage on your left. At the next roundabout where there are a Burger King and a Shell Garage on the right-hand side. Take the fourth exit towards the small retail park and then follow the road as it first bears around to the right, into the industrial estate passing the Royal Mail office on the left. The ground is at the end of this road.

Car Parking

There is a small car park at the ground. Otherwise, there is street parking available on roads around the Balmoral Industrial Estate that the ground is located in.

By Train

Aberdeen Railway Station is around three miles away from the Balmoral Stadium and is uphill most of the way, so it is rather far to walk. However, there is a very good bus service that will take you along the A956 near to the stadium. From Aberdeen Railway Station cross the road to the other side of Guild Street. The First Aberdeen Number 3 bus goes from here towards Cove.

After passing a Shell Garage on the left, then at the next roundabout (where there is another Shell Garage on the right and a Burger King) get off and follow the road in-between Shell and Burger King into the small Retail Park and then the Industrial Estate. The stadium is at the end of this road. The bus takes about 15 minutes and runs every 15 minutes during the day, reducing to half hourly in the evenings. There is one back after an evening game. You can view timetables on the First Group website.

Where to eat and drink?

There is a small ‘fan zone’ clubhouse bar at the stadium which welcomes visiting fans. As the ground is located on an industrial estate, which is about out of town too, then there is not much else nearby in terms of drinking places. One exception is the Wellington Hotel on Wellington Road (the A956) which has a sizeable bar. It is located around half a mile, or a ten minute walk away from the stadium. There is also the Landykes on Loriston Road, in Cove, located just under a mile to the east of the ground.

Exterior

Heading along the access road will bring you into the Balmoral Stadium car park and up to the ground’s southern side.

The Main Stand can be found here, using a white base and coloured blue in its upper parts. This stand is named after Alan McRae, the honorary president of Cove Rangers and former president of the Scottish Football Association. You can find the ground’s Main Entrance in this centre of the Alan McRae Stand.

The rest of the southern side’s exterior is mostly made up of a perimeter fence, though you can find the two main turnstile blocks, one either side of the Alan McRae Stand.

A good-sized flat building is also in place over by the ground’s southwest corner which acts as a clubhouse.

Going in a clockwise direction from the Alan McRae Stand brings you to the Balmoral Stadium’s West End.

It is incredibly basic, with nothing but a perimeter fence along its exterior. People based on Redmoss Road are the ones who are able to get closest to it, but there is no real need as you will not find any turnstiles or exit gates on this side of the football ground.

Like the West End, the Balmoral Stadium’s North Side has an incredibly basic exterior, consisting of nothing more than a perimeter fence which its three small stands back right up to.

Immediately out beyond this North Side is the Redmoss Transmitter.

The East End at the Balmoral Stadium is the same as the West End.

It is incredibly basic, with nothing but a perimeter fence along its exterior. You will not find any turnstiles or exit gates on this side of the football ground, and indeed are not even able to get to it via any footpaths or roads.

History

A plan was submitted in 2016 for a ground that included a 312-seater stand, a 3G pitch and more than 100 parking spaces. Construction work on those plans began in October 2017, and the Balmoral Stadium was complete in the middle of 2018. Cove Rangers spend the 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons groundsharing with other clubs in Scotland. Their first game at the Balmoral Stadium was a friendly against Aberdeen in July 2018. The game wouldn’t finish however because of a serious injury.