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The move is, however, completely reliant on AFC selling Pittodrie and moving to the proposed new community stadium.
Milne Ensures AFC's Future
The move is, however, completely reliant on AFC selling Pittodrie and moving to the proposed new community stadium.
The company was due to pay loans amounting to over £5m by December 2008, with over £3m of this available to be paid in a lump sum from December 2006.
AFC Executive Director Duncan Fraser said: "The club is better placed financially than many others in Scottish football due to continuing prudent financial management and some very painful decisions over the last few years.
AFC Executive Director Duncan Fraser said: "The club is better placed financially than many others in Scottish football due to continuing prudent financial management and some very painful decisions over the last few years.
The problem of servicing the club's near-£10m debt, oulined as a major problem by Fraser in last year's financial review, will be helped by the plans to separate the football operations from the ownership of the stadium.
The club is proposing to re-structure the business by setting up a wholly owned subsidiary company which will own Pittodrie stadium, thereby separating the finances of the day-to-day football operations from the property finances.
The club would then enter into a long-term agreement to lease back the stadium from the new property company.
Fraser said: "The steps we are taking will arrest the accumulation of debt and ensure the long-term survival of the club.
"This will provide a period of financial stability for the club and give us the opportunity to find and implement the best solution to the problems caused by the ever-increasing costs of maintaining the stadium and the limited scope for its development.
"Ultimately this new structure is reliant on selling Pittodrie and moving to a new stadium in the medium-term.
Fraser said: "The steps we are taking will arrest the accumulation of debt and ensure the long-term survival of the club.
"This will provide a period of financial stability for the club and give us the opportunity to find and implement the best solution to the problems caused by the ever-increasing costs of maintaining the stadium and the limited scope for its development.
"Ultimately this new structure is reliant on selling Pittodrie and moving to a new stadium in the medium-term.
"I am confident the fans also see the need for and the benefits of moving to a new stadium. This has already been demonstrated by the support for the petition organised by the Supporters Trust and Red Ultras.
"Our preferred solution is to become the lead tenant of a community stadium and the club will continue to work closely with Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Councils and other partners to evaluate potential sites and the feasibility of such a facility."
"The new structure will also give the club the time it needs to start to benefit from the overhaul of our youth development programme and the fast tracking of quality young players that is critical if the team is to be successful."
There will be those who ask why Milne is not simply dipping into his £240m fortune to give the money to Aberdeen FC rather than a loan.
A reasonable question, but with Milne not being the owner or even majority shareholder at the club, and the future of the stadium and Scottish football still unstable, the club believe that this is the best interim outcome.
"Our preferred solution is to become the lead tenant of a community stadium and the club will continue to work closely with Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Councils and other partners to evaluate potential sites and the feasibility of such a facility."
"The new structure will also give the club the time it needs to start to benefit from the overhaul of our youth development programme and the fast tracking of quality young players that is critical if the team is to be successful."
There will be those who ask why Milne is not simply dipping into his £240m fortune to give the money to Aberdeen FC rather than a loan.
A reasonable question, but with Milne not being the owner or even majority shareholder at the club, and the future of the stadium and Scottish football still unstable, the club believe that this is the best interim outcome.
The club has called an EGM on 28th June 2006 for shareholders to vote on the new corporate structure.