Aberdeen director Tom Crotty 'open' to making new investment

Tom Crotty, with Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne and fellow director Dave Cormack

American businessman Tom Crotty says he would be "open" to increasing his investment in Aberdeen as they bid to move to a new stadium.

Crotty recently joined the Pittodrie board and has put £1.3m into the club over the past two years.

The Dons are constructing a new 20,000-seater stadium in Kingsford and could move from their current Pittodrie home in season 2021-22.

"The club is going to need more capital," Crotty told BBC Scotland.

"I hope I will be able to help in that domain, to make introductions and maybe find other pools of capital we can access to help build out all the goals and objectives of the club.

"If that also requires me to put more money in along the way, I would certainly be open to that as well."

'I am going to be a patient investor'

The club's project also involves new training facilities, on which work has already started, while the new stadium will have a similar capacity to Pittodrie and that of Hearts' Tynecastle and Hibernian's Easter Road.

And Crotty says his investment is a long-term one.

"I don't have a particular return threshold I am looking for through this investment," he said. "I expect it to be a long hold. As a venture capitalist, you are very used to putting your money in and waiting eight, 10, 12 years before you get a return, so I am going to be a patient investor.

"I think there are going to be all kind of new revenue opportunities, the new facilities - both the training facilities and the stadium itself - can become destinations, opportunities and event opportunities for the community and I think the club can become even more integrated and more important to the community of Aberdeen."

With Dundee and Dundee United both now under US ownership, Crotty is not the only American involved at the top level of our game.

"From the east coast of the USA, I can leave at eight o'clock in the morning and be in my hotel room at 10pm that same night," he added. "It allows you to be quite engaged with the club and get over there quite a bit and get to games.

"So, yes, American influence in the Scottish game is something that I think is very doable, but at the same time, it wouldn't be great for Scotland if the Americans come and start buying up everything.

"That is not going to do anybody any good, so I kind of like the way we are doing it at Aberdeen, where we have American influence but it is not American owned."