Aberdeen Football Club has revealed plans for a £40m stadium and training facility west of the city.

The ambitious proposals centre on moving the club eight miles from Pittodrie to Kingsford, just 200 metres from the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Club chairman Stewart Milne has also incorporated a state-of-the-art training complex in the plans.

It is hoped the new venue would have a similar capacity to the 20,000-seat Pittodrie ground.

The suggested location would also be more accessible to fans from across the city and the wider north east, the club said.

AFC had previously earmarked an alternative site at Loirston, but Mr Milne said Kingsford is now the preferred location.

He said: "Kingsford offers an opportunity to locate both the stadium and the training facilities within a single site, as was the original plan for Loirston, and it is in an ideal location for supporters travelling from all areas in and around Aberdeen.

"Crucially, we have full control of the site via a concluded missive with the landowner.

"Extensive site diligence has already been carried out at Kingsford to establish the feasibility of the land area and also the requirements for the planning process."

Mr Milne said the development of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route had made the site, near Westhill, a more desirable location.

He added: "AFC and Aberdeen City Council see a new stadium and training facilities as a vital part of the region's infrastructure, and there is a strong desire by the club to deliver these new facilities as soon as possible."

He revealed that he hoped to have the training facilities operational by 2018, with the new stadium ready for the 2019/20 football season.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes said the new facilities would be an unprecedented boost for the club.

He said: "I've said from the day I arrived here that the one most important aspect where the club needs to drive forward is in terms of its training facilities, so the fact the new stadium is potentially going to be at the same location as these is an added bonus.

"When completed, this will have a huge impact in terms of AFC's ability to attract and then improve players, both in terms of youngsters for our youth academy and also established first team players."

A 12-week public consultation will be launched before a planning application is submitted in the coming months.

Mr Milne said he was hopeful that a decision on the planning bid would be made by the council by the end of the year.

AFC's move across the city would be in part funded by the sale of its current stadium, which was originally built in 1899.

Mr Milne told the club's AGM in December that the slump in the oil industry had made it more difficult to secure a buyer for the stadium.

It dropped controversial plans for a stadium in Kingswells in 2003 after opposition from the local community.