What is the future of Villa Park?

[silhillvilla]

If it were my business, I wouldn't make any stadium changes for at least 5 years
There simply isn't any point

[Legion]

If it were my business, I wouldn't make any stadium changes for at least 5 years
There simply isn't any point

I'd personally give the North Stand exterior an extensive professional clean. It looks grubby compared to the rest of the ground.

[1874]

Did anyone else see that article on Vital Villa suggesting we should move our stadium nearer to the city centre? (I'll try and retrieve the link after) I would be open to the idea if I thought that it would be beneficial to the club. But then again I don't live in Brum and not a regular attender to VP, so the stadium doesn't hold as much sentimental value to me as it no doubt does to others.

[Legion]

Did anyone else see that article on Vital Villa suggesting we should move our stadium nearer to the city centre? (I'll try and retrieve the link after) I would be open to the idea if I thought that it would be beneficial to the club. But then again I don't live in Brum and not a regular attender to VP, so the stadium doesn't hold as much sentimental value to me as it no doubt does to others.

No. No way. Ever.

[Ad@m]

Whilst that museum does look very good (and I'd be tempted to have a look myself) as has been said before the cost of maintaining it will far outweigh the income it generates.  Once the current owner's gone I'm not sure how long it'll last.

[Billy Walker]

If it were my business, I wouldn't make any stadium changes for at least 5 years
There simply isn't any point

I'm not so sure.  There's a real danger we'll get left behind, in my opinion - especially in the light of Liverpool announcing their stadium expansion plans today.  I know plenty of people will argue we wouldn't fill the ground if it was expanded but for me that's not the whole issue.  Compared to other clubs, we can sort our stadium expansion with relative ease and relatively little outlay and this gives us a huge advantage.  Not only that but I'm sure we could make the new facilities a non - match day money maker for the club.  The region needs a big marquee stadium and Villa Park, surely, fits the bill?

I'll be interested to see how Wolves get on with their museum as I have heard folk argue that we simply don't have the numbers at Villa Park to make a museum a feasible money-maker. 

[1874]

Here is the link by the way: www.astonvilla.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7513646

[saunders_heroes]

If it were my business, I wouldn't make any stadium changes for at least 5 years
There simply isn't any point

I'd personally give the North Stand exterior an extensive professional clean. It looks grubby compared to the rest of the ground.

It was cleaned not long after Lerner took over, but being built from concrete doesn't help. It ages very badly.
If it was up to me I'd knock down the North Stand now and rebuild an iconic new stand. Just because we're shit now doesn't mean we shouldn't plan for the future. We're not always gonna be shit. Build it and they will come, etc etc..

[Legion]

We're not shit.

[brian green]

I posted about this before.   I think it could and should be the site of an hotel and conference centre and viewing stand combined within one structure.   Many years ago when I was site finding for a major hotel chain it got some serious consideration.   Doug claimed that the existing structure had been modular in concept to permit change of use to an hotel but I think that was a Dougism.   The key to the development was and still is the private funding of a service spur to the motorway.   Sort that out and the development stacks up convincingly.

[Chipsticks]

Did anyone else see that article on Vital Villa suggesting we should move our stadium nearer to the city centre? (I'll try and retrieve the link after) I would be open to the idea if I thought that it would be beneficial to the club. But then again I don't live in Brum and not a regular attender to VP, so the stadium doesn't hold as much sentimental value to me as it no doubt does to others.

This would literally be the end of the world.

I don't think the club would ever be foolish enough to do this. There's more chance of the club being moved to Malaysia than closer to the city centre.

[not3bad]

Here is the link by the way: www.astonvilla.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=7513646

Thought the arguments were well put myself.

[PeterWithesShin]

My initial reaction to leaving Villa Park is to burst into tears just at the thought of it (slight exaggeration but you know what I mean).

But then I thought about the holy Trinity of Rinder, Ramsay and McGregor and whether they would have left Villa Park if they thought it would benefit the club long term. Obviously that brings up the "would it be beneficial" argument, but again, I hope you get what I mean.

[1874]

This would literally be the end of the world.

How so?

[Ad@m]

Did anyone else see that article on Vital Villa suggesting we should move our stadium nearer to the city centre? (I'll try and retrieve the link after) I would be open to the idea if I thought that it would be beneficial to the club. But then again I don't live in Brum and not a regular attender to VP, so the stadium doesn't hold as much sentimental value to me as it no doubt does to others.

How many new grounds have been built closer to the City Centre of the town/city they represent than the current ground in the past 20 years?