Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: dave.woodhall on November 25, 2019, 10:26:17 PM
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Did anyone use it and was it worth the hype?
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No, the queues were so long I didn’t bother. Seemed to be a success from a popularity point of view.
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Didn't use it myself Dave, but there were fairly lengthy queues so it seemed pretty popular and the band seemed to be getting a decent reception.
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at least 100 people in queue so gave up, guess that's a good thing (for them)
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When I arrived at 6.30 and saw the queues I thought wtf. Decided to give it a go.Took about 19 minutes and then a banging crispy chicken from Buddha Belly.
Think it was too cramped an area, but it was a 1000% improvement on any normal food experience.More please!
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I give it a miss as it looked too rammed. Great idea though but a bigger space needs to be found. Maybe when they get round to flattening the whole of the villa village/ stumps area something can be done to accomodate a decent fanzone.
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When they flatten the Village where will the club shop be? We certainly have enough space for a DDC fan zone.
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Yep, queues to long so ended up with the usual too doughey pie in the Holte End. Wished they hadn't changed suppliers.
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Loved it. Really good idea, gets people to the ground early and makes more of an event of the day.
I go to DDC a couple of times a month anyway so chuffed to bits with it being there.
There's so much more Villa can do in terms of integration, Purity and this have been a good start. Having a band out there was good too.
Get the other games/Soccer Saturday/Football Focus on the big screens outside too
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Is this the thing that was creating the drumming noise I noticed before the kick off?
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One of the big differences between football in the UK and other countries in Europe I've watched live football is that everything around the game helps make it feel like a much bigger event. Some reason we've struggled in the UK but glad to see things improving.
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Gave up when I saw the queue, so I went to the bar in the Witton Upper and had an 'early bird' lager for £3. It wasn't a great pint to be honest.
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Walked straight up to get served at about quarter past six. Ten minutes later there were queues everywhere.
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Not suited to an environment when so many turn up in a short space of time. Gave up on the wait
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Not suited to an environment when so many turn up in a short space of time. Gave up on the wait
I was there from 6 and was for people turning up earlier so they could get some good food, listen to some music and have a beer or 2 rather than just sitting in the cold. I think it's a great idea.
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Not suited to an environment when so many turn up in a short space of time. Gave up on the wait
I was there from 6 and was for people turning up earlier so they could get some good food, listen to some music and have a beer or 2 rather than just sitting in the cold. I think it's a great idea.
Perhaps, but the majority will be turning up in the hour before kick off. The queues blocked the whole of the pathway, I don’t think they will have it there again. The little shacks just couldn’t cater quickly for the numbers. Shame as the music and different grub is a great thing.
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Not suited to an environment when so many turn up in a short space of time. Gave up on the wait
I was there from 6 and was for people turning up earlier so they could get some good food, listen to some music and have a beer or 2 rather than just sitting in the cold. I think it's a great idea.
Perhaps, but the majority will be turning up in the hour before kick off. The queues blocked the whole of the pathway, I don’t think they will have it there again. The little shacks just couldn’t cater quickly for the numbers. Shame as the music and different grub is a great thing.
It was the first attempt, I suspect they'll keep trying to work out a good way to handle it because it's good for everyone to have something like this in place.
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It’d probably work better on a weekend 3pm or teatime kick off when the spread of people’s arrival times is usually greater.
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Not suited to an environment when so many turn up in a short space of time. Gave up on the wait
I was there from 6 and was for people turning up earlier so they could get some good food, listen to some music and have a beer or 2 rather than just sitting in the cold. I think it's a great idea.
A bit like going to the pub!
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Me and a mate have been saying for years they need to get rid of the car parking behind the Holte End and convert it into a giant fanzone with stuff like DDC and a few more bars and eateries. I realise the biggest issue is licensing but surely as it’s well contained with walls/gates etc it could be managed.
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Me and a mate have been saying for years they need to get rid of the car parking behind the Holte End and convert it into a giant fanzone with stuff like DDC and a few more bars and eateries. I realise the biggest issue is licensing but surely as it’s well contained with walls/gates etc it could be managed.
Where does the car parking go?
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Me and a mate have been saying for years they need to get rid of the car parking behind the Holte End and convert it into a giant fanzone with stuff like DDC and a few more bars and eateries. I realise the biggest issue is licensing but surely as it’s well contained with walls/gates etc it could be managed.
Where does the car parking go?
To be honest who gives a shit, Get public transport or park elsewhere. However if it’s for the disabled or people with mobility issues then the club need to make alternative provision.
Inconveniencing a few people who want to be able to park within 3 feet of their turnstile for me is a price worth paying but if the club decide not then so be it.
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Me and a mate have been saying for years they need to get rid of the car parking behind the Holte End and convert it into a giant fanzone with stuff like DDC and a few more bars and eateries. I realise the biggest issue is licensing but surely as it’s well contained with walls/gates etc it could be managed.
Where does the car parking go?
To be honest who gives a shit, Get public transport or park elsewhere. However if it’s for the disabled or people with mobility issues then the club need to make alternative provision.
Inconveniencing a few people who want to be able to park within 3 feet of their turnstile for me is a price worth paying but if the club decide not then so be it.
Can't argue with your logic and that car park would be ideal for a fanzone.
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This is all part of how attending football is changing. I loved being in the pub until the last possible minute in the old days, meeting up with your mates, scoffing a hairy cob then out into the cold.
The paucity of pubs around the ground has changed that somewhat, forcing people to drink away from the ground or arrive early and things like the DDC can be a part of the latter. We took advantage of the cheap (and nasty) beer prices before the West Ham game and it wasn't too bad but a cold, concrete concourse can't compete with the atmosphere of a proper boozer for me.
With the development of the ground hopefully this will taken into consideration in terms of space and car parking etc but "Fan Parks" may be the way forward, they just need to rebrand 'cos they sound like forced fun at the moment.
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Feedback from digbeth dining club, Is that they are pleased and will Likely be back with more choice.
Which may spread the queues out
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Me and a mate have been saying for years they need to get rid of the car parking behind the Holte End and convert it into a giant fanzone with stuff like DDC and a few more bars and eateries. I realise the biggest issue is licensing but surely as it’s well contained with walls/gates etc it could be managed.
Where does the car parking go?
To be honest who gives a shit, Get public transport or park elsewhere. However if it’s for the disabled or people with mobility issues then the club need to make alternative provision.
Inconveniencing a few people who want to be able to park within 3 feet of their turnstile for me is a price worth paying but if the club decide not then so be it.
This would have been my argument.
Thank you
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Only thing I'd add is that certain foods are better suited to serving lots of people quickly and a couple of the vendors at VP on Monday night weren't able to.
If you go to Digbeth Dining Club or any otger street food place, you have a few thousand people over a five or six hour window. Last night they started at 6pm which leaves under two hours for each person to queue, eat and enter the ground.
I joined the queue for some chicken wings at 6:30 and by 7:30 I was still about 12 places back, decided to leave the queue and head into the ground.
The issue here stems from the vendors cooking everything to order, fair enough for wanting everything to be hot, fresh and given the price I respect that, but it's not the most effective way to get people served given it's open for such a comparatively short amount of time.
The Caribbean food stand served plenty of people double quick as everything was ready to go. Would probably be beneficial to have vendors that can meet the demand a little more effectively, but overall an excellent addition to the match day experience.
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Not suited to an environment when so many turn up in a short space of time. Gave up on the wait
It’s pretty much like that in its normal location. Heaving on Saturday before last. Not so bad Sunday just gone.
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Me and a mate have been saying for years they need to get rid of the car parking behind the Holte End and convert it into a giant fanzone with stuff like DDC and a few more bars and eateries. I realise the biggest issue is licensing but surely as it’s well contained with walls/gates etc it could be managed.
Where does the car parking go?
Under said food park? It would be even easier to build over it but I don’t think we’d want to block site lines. It’s already a bit raised isn’t it?
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Me and a mate have been saying for years they need to get rid of the car parking behind the Holte End and convert it into a giant fanzone with stuff like DDC and a few more bars and eateries. I realise the biggest issue is licensing but surely as it’s well contained with walls/gates etc it could be managed.
Where does the car parking go?
Under said food park? It would be even easier to build over it but I don’t think we’d want to block site lines. It’s already a bit raised isn’t it?
A monumental task including excavating the whole car park to at least 10 metres! Then tunnels for entrance /exit. Where would you put them? It would be a bonkers thing to do. Ain't gonna happen. Let's just wait and see what they come up with at the other end of the ground. That's where any reevelopment's are going to happen.
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Me and a mate have been saying for years they need to get rid of the car parking behind the Holte End and convert it into a giant fanzone with stuff like DDC and a few more bars and eateries. I realise the biggest issue is licensing but surely as it’s well contained with walls/gates etc it could be managed.
Where does the car parking go?
Under said food park? It would be even easier to build over it but I don’t think we’d want to block site lines. It’s already a bit raised isn’t it?
A monumental task including excavating the whole car park to at least 10 metres! Then tunnels for entrance /exit. Where would you put them? It would be a bonkers thing to do. Ain't gonna happen. Let's just wait and see what they come up with at the other end of the ground. That's where any reevelopment's are going to happen.
I'd imagine the club will factor it into the expected North Stand redevelopment, and put an underground level into the car park at that end.
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I hope this takes off and the club sticks with it as I think its a great idea, the beer and food stalls at Bristol City and Everton to name two grounds with fan areas have improved my matchday experience, its good to have people at the club thinking a bit more outside the box