Every game on Sport Aberdeen football pitches costs city £250

“If you were running Sport Aberdeen purely as a business… you would stop football,” chief executive Keith Heslop shrugs.

“But I can’t do that. I would be kicked out of office in a minute,” he adds – immediately dismissing the notion.

City leisure operator Sport Aberdeen takes a £250 hit for every match played on its pitches.

The cost of maintaining the football fields compared to their use is behind the trouble – though it’s a pain the chief exec says is worth suffering.

There’s a clamour for pitches, but only at traditional kick-off times.

Keith explains: “Everyone wants to play at certain time on a Saturday and a certain time on Sunday.

“It doesn’t happen like that in other cities across the UK so we are talking to the local footballing authorities to get the right operating model in place here.”

And so, the Sport Aberdeen chief executive is embarking on yet more talks to try and make the books a little more balanced.

Already this week we’ve told you about his citywide discussions with other sporting charities, council-run and private schools, and anyone else with space for activity he might be able to use.

‘A big objective’: Sport Aberdeen’s search for sites for more 3G football pitches

Even with ever-eroding funding from arms-length master Aberdeen City Council, Keith believes that growth is the way out of the financial problems posed by the beautiful game.

He’s already drawing up plans for upgrades at Sheddocksley, the football fields where he grew up playing.

A Bridge of Don player makes a break away from chasing Byron Thistle defenders at Sport Aberdeen's Sheddocksley football pitches. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson — A Bridge of Don player makes a break away from chasing Byron Thistle defenders at Sport Aberdeen’s Sheddocksley football pitches. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson

But there’s a wider search across the city for space for 3G pitches, a “big objective” for Sport Aberdeen which sounds bolded and underlined as it comes out of the chief executive’s mouth.

“That’s a difficult challenge,” Keith admits. “They cost roughly £750,000.

“But we have sites I would put a pitch on tomorrow that I know would be fully booked every night for training and with kids during the day.

“We’re not ignoring other sports though. Rugby and hockey also have a need for additional artificial surfaces and we need to work with the national bodies to see how we could manage that effectively.”

Scrum down: Youngsters from Ellon and Mackie compete for the ball at Sport Aberdeen's Sheddocksley ptiches - and the sports charity is sounding out rugby and hockey authorities about funding for artificial pitches in the Granite City. Image: Chris Sumner/DC Thomson — Scrum down: Youngsters from Ellon and Mackie compete for the ball at Sport Aberdeen’s Sheddocksley ptiches – and the sports charity is sounding out rugby and hockey authorities about funding for artificial pitches in the Granite City. Image: Chris Sumner/DC Thomson

North-east hockey players have suffered particularly in recent years for the widespread adoption of 3G pitches, which are unusable for their sport.

More 3G football pitches could be Sport Aberdeen’s solution

But in eyeing up more of the offending 3G pitches, Keith is hopeful everyone can benefit.

He’s already measuring up the new Hazlehead Academy for one.

Sport Aberdeen's 3G football pitch at Garthdee. Image: Sport Aberdeen — Sport Aberdeen’s 3G football pitch at Garthdee. Image: Sport Aberdeen

He adds: “One of the issues we have is the knock-on impact in the evening of not having enough football pitches.

“If the indoor hall is booked for football clubs training that means the other sports don’t get a chance to do their activities.

“So if we could increase stock and get more facilities outdoors then that frees up indoor space, which other people could be using.

“We’ve got a problem to solve to fit everything into a schedule when there is capacity during the day when most people work, and everything is chock-a-block at night-time.”

Cost vs benefit: £250-a-game football worth it for the health benefits?

Regardless, £250-a-game football problem is one Keith is willing to suffer for the better good – even if reducing the subsidy would be nice.

Sport Aberdeen chief executive Keith Heslop. Image: Darrell Benns/DC Thomson

“I don’t mind some activities running at a deficit because I can see the social value added,” he explains.

“If a 35-year-old stopped playing football on a Saturday, I’m not sure they would backfill it with anything else.

“And there are health benefits of them playing because they likely try to stay relatively fit for matches on Saturday.

“Therefore, is it something we should be funding? It’s about having the right balance, and that’s not specific to football.

“It’s the kind of dilemma I have with every activity Sport Aberdeen provides.

“What’s important for me is to be transparent about what we do, how much it costs and what the opportunity cost is of providing that particular activity.”