naming rights to Villa Park....

[olaftab]

Anyone investing £50M a year for the next five years  can name it anything they like.

[bertlambshank]

Anyone investing £50M a year for the next five years  can name it anything they like.

St.Andrews?

[Ads]

The new North might get renamed and I don't think anybody would be bothered by that.

[Deano's Mullet]

I'm with Des Little on this one. I'd be gutted if true. Another nail in the coffin for me with football I'm afraid.

[robbo1874]

rubbish. He's selling up.

What are you basing that on though?  Everything that's happening, whilst being good ideas if we're trying to sell up, are also good ideas to build a long-term, sustainable business model that sees the club grow naturally.  This article, whilst possibly complete bullshit, firmly suggests that the latter is the goal, I'm not sure how you can call that rubbish, it does fit with what has been happening.

As for him not attending games, which appears to be used as an example that he's lost interest, could it be that he really is the shy person he's stated to be and he realises that the current situation at the club would see him getting lots of attention.

I don't think he's staying away because he is shy or doesn't want to attract attention- he could attend games without being bothered by the press or the like , the current situation is we are in mid -table and I doubt he would get that more attention than he has done in the past .

i watched a doco on YouTube last night called aston villa, the first premiership. It was quite entertaining. Doug as you would imagine, featured quite heavily in it. The differences between him and Randy could not be starker. Granted it was 20 years ago, but Ellis seemed genuinely worried about a shortfall in revenue of around 3m quid for 92/93 season.

[olaftab]

Anyone investing £50M a year for the next five years  can name it anything they like.

St.Andrews?

Wash you mouth out.

[TheSandman]

I'm against a name change. That said, weak-willed as I am I'd probably get over it. I do question whether it would be worth anybody's while to do that considering the strength of the Villa Park name. It's probably not going to be enough to make the difference between midtable mediocrity and competing.

I spent a bit of time down in the Midlands around the Boggies game and went past The Bescott on the train. I think it still has some sponsor's name on it (Is it still the Bank's Stadium?) and the outside was just a mess. A massive Kia badge on the side of one of the stands and a massive bilboard advertising Floors to Go or some such at the top. I'd hate to see Villa Park (which for me just oozes class even when you see it from a distance coming into the City on the train) become something like that, regardless of the rewards we would get.

[Zakk Fatt]

No I don't want to walk up to The Aston Pampers Arena to watch the Red Bull Lions take on the Hull Tigers for a Stella Artios Champions League place decider, having won the Capital Cup and the Tampax FA Cup in a glorious treble season 2017/18.  Just look at Newcastle and it's 'Wonga' Stadium, a farce.

What sets us apart is our class and proud heritage, anyone giving up that heritage so easily doesn't see the point of football, it is history, it is our bond with the hundreds of thousands that have gone before, it is the black and white photographs, without the history the future means nothing.  Youngsters may not understand but anyone over forty who has stood on the terraces should get my point.

Don't trade your heritage for money, money is temporary our heritage is forever unless we sell it out for a Champions League quarter final defeat in 2019 and inevitable subsequent financial collapse.

Stick with Lambert, grow a team, win games, climb the table, get successful, get bigger gates, make our own money, nurture players, keep the players, and stuff the Premier League's three tier system where the rich get richer and the rest supply them with their best players to keep the status quo.

[littlevillain]

it's just the way the game is going with foreign owners that have very little connections to the clubs they own. Cardiff owner changing the colors after 100 years, Hull owner changing the name, cov playing in nuneaton. I know a lot of posters have been saying  "Its just the name, It'll always be Villa Park to me etc"  , but for me It's everything. When you start to lose your Heritage that's it. Little by little they'll take away small pieces until one day you'll be taking your grandkids to some monstrosity of a ground to watch a team you don't recognize in strange colours . Sounds dramatic but it's already happening. UTV

[Dave Clark Five]

it's just the way the game is going with foreign owners that have very little connections to the clubs they own. Cardiff owner changing the colors after 100 years, Hull owner changing the name, cov playing in nuneaton. I know a lot of posters have been saying  "Its just the name, It'll always be Villa Park to me etc"  , but for me It's everything. When you start to lose your Heritage that's it. Little by little they'll take away small pieces until one day you'll be taking your grandkids to some monstrosity of a ground to watch a team you don't recognize in strange colours . Sounds dramatic but it's already happening. UTV

I agree with this. The change would be insidious, but change it would be. We'll be having cheerleaders on the pitch next and Donald Duck leading the teams out!

[fbriai]

No I don't want to walk up to The Aston Pampers Arena to watch the Red Bull Lions take on the Hull Tigers for a Stella Artios Champions League place decider, having won the Capital Cup and the Tampax FA Cup in a glorious treble season 2017/18.  Just look at Newcastle and it's 'Wonga' Stadium, a farce.

What sets us apart is our class and proud heritage, anyone giving up that heritage so easily doesn't see the point of football, it is history, it is our bond with the hundreds of thousands that have gone before, it is the black and white photographs, without the history the future means nothing.  Youngsters may not understand but anyone over forty who has stood on the terraces should get my point.

Don't trade your heritage for money, money is temporary our heritage is forever unless we sell it out for a Champions League quarter final defeat in 2019 and inevitable subsequent financial collapse.

Stick with Lambert, grow a team, win games, climb the table, get successful, get bigger gates, make our own money, nurture players, keep the players, and stuff the Premier League's three tier system where the rich get richer and the rest supply them with their best players to keep the status quo.

Amen to that, brother.