What is the future of Villa Park?

[not3bad]

How about a monorail that links Villa Park with the Aston & Witton stations?

Monorail!  Monorail!

[Ad@m]

On the 'build it and they will come' point whilst it's true to an extent it's not absolute.

Over the past 10 years or so our average attendance has been about 37,000 which is about 87% of capacity.  The last set of information I can find for Premier League attendances as a percentage of capacity was 2007/08 and if we had 87% in that table we'd be 15th out of 20.  In that season we were running at over 93% of capacity and were still only 11th.

Also, going back through our entire history, we've only had an average attendance greater than 40,000 in six seasons, despite the fact that for a significant chunk of our history the capacity was much higher than that.

So building a much larger stadium on the premise of 'build it and they will come' is a little misleading I think.

[Billy Walker]

On the 'build it and they will come' point whilst it's true to an extent it's not absolute.

Over the past 10 years or so our average attendance has been about 37,000 which is about 87% of capacity.  The last set of information I can find for Premier League attendances as a percentage of capacity was 2007/08 and if we had 87% in that table we'd be 15th out of 20.  In that season we were running at over 93% of capacity and were still only 11th.

Also, going back through our entire history, we've only had an average attendance greater than 40,000 in six seasons, despite the fact that for a significant chunk of our history the capacity was much higher than that.

So building a much larger stadium on the premise of 'build it and they will come' is a little misleading I think.

Historically - and I'm talking going back to the early 1900's and counting year on year up to the early 2000's - our average crowd is/was very similar to Celtic's and Arsenal's.  Interestingly both of those clubs became very proactive in the 1990's in building relationships with their "customers" and investing in the experience their respective stadia offered.  From having average crowds in the mid-twenty thousands in the eighties, Arsenal, in particular, were able to change their stadium experience and build their fan base until they actually had a season ticket waiting list.  Obviously, George Graham happened to build a winning team based around their youngsters, too, which helped things move along nicely.

We are not far off the position Arsenal were in back then - indeed, there are some obvious parallels.  We need to show the Villa supporting public that we have the ambition to build a team and stadium experience in tandem.  It's very important that we are not left behind due to conservatism and fear - if we sit around content and happy with our lot, whilst everyone around us is making progress, we will cement ourselves a genuine position among the yoyo clubs and also rans.   That's nowhere near good enough for Villa.

Just out of interest, here's a list of Celtic's average crowds before and after their stadium redevelopment.  Look how the crowds shoot up around 1996 and look at how low they were prior to then.  They clearly weren't selling out Parkhead prior to the redevelopment.

http://www.fitbastats.com/celtic/club_records_league_attendance.php

Stadium redevelopment is not as simple as saying we only get 33k now therefore we'll never fill a 55k stadium.  It's all about engaging with the supporters and making them feel part of an exciting chapter in the club's history.  It's an emotional statement as much as a project consisting of cold, hard numbers.

[1874]

The Tescos is the only real landmark of any kind there. To me the stadium actually seems out of place there and almost like Aston Villa have outgrown the area.

Well, if Aston Villa have outgrown Aston they did so a century ago. I don't think that 'landmarks' are the issue either; Villa Park itself is a landmark, as is Aston Hall. The area actually has a very strong sense of local distinctiveness, with Aston Park, Aston Hall, the church, and the expressway in the background. The immediate surroundings are not dense and urban, but these are partly the reasons why there hasn't been a pressing need to relocate in order to develop the ground.

Holloway Road is more urban, has more activity during the week, and is on the tube network, but there aren't many landmarks other than the Emirates and the University. Although large development sites in inner London are scarce, Arsenal were very careful not to stray outside of what their supporters consider to be 'their' area. Old Traffford has been an ideal location for a football ground precisely because it has few constraints around it, not because there are any notable landmarks that I'm aware of.

Rather than relocating, I would like to see the club lobby to regenerate the area, with an emphasis on uses and developments that would complement a football ground, and more broadly an events venue. That means homes and businesses that would bring activity on non-matchdays - perhaps a sports and hospitality quarter? Better accessibility from the expressway as mentioned previously would also help. I haven't lived in Birmingham for a few years so I'm not sure how Star City would affect this.

In terms of the ground itself, I'd ultimately like to see a redeveloped Witton End with facilities such as a club shop, museum, hospitality suites, and an improved relationship to the area to the North of the ground and Witton Station. But this would only work as part of an overall masterplan for the wider area, and this is what the club should be focusing on at the moment rather than rushing into piecemeal ground redevelopment like Doug always did. Especially as wider regeneration could be steered towards increasing demand for Aston Villa. I'd also like to see the Holte End returned to a single tier with some safe standing (authorities permitting), and extended over Trinity Rd in the same way as the Trinity Rd Stand.

Very good reply! I think 'landmark' may not have been the best word to use. As for Holloway road, I think that it is still much more a high street with major shops/attractions that all people are familiar with rather then just the local community. I think the main road near Highbury is actually more akin to the situation at VP. Blackstock road is pretty similar to the main road in Witton that I was mentioning in it's set-up. Taking in some of the other points though, I agree that I would rather have that then some trashy, artificial built-up retail park or something. I really like your idea of regeneration in the surrounding area of Witton and think this would be ideal probably if the City Council were on-board.

I should point out that I only said I would be open to the idea of relocation if I felt it was in the club's interests. I am not of the idea it is but thought it would be good to hear what others (especially those located in Brum) had to say on the issue.     

[The Left Side]

How about a monorail that links Villa Park with the Aston & Witton stations?

Monorail!  Monorail!

That is more of a small heath kinda idea!

[PeterWithesShin]

How about a monorail that links Villa Park with the Aston & Witton stations?

Monorail!  Monorail!

Mono..... DOH!