The Takeover Thread - Recon Group - NOW WITH NEW POLL

[ChicagoLion]

Modern football is crap.   If he moved VP then that would be the end of it. 

Yeah, because Arsenal, Man City, Leicester, Stoke, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea, Brighton & Middlesborough have all imploded since they moved grounds?  I suspect West Ham will hate being able to accommodate 40-50k people too.

I love Villa Park and all the history it entails and we're lucky that we probably don't need to move.  But if we had to move it would not be the end of it.  There is more to a club than the plot of ground it sits upon.

Not for me, I think you will find a lot of people will not set foot in a new stadium.
It may be irrational but my team play at Villa Park.
Also I hate the new stadiums Emirates Etihad Wembley.

[chrisw1]

Modern football is crap.   If he moved VP then that would be the end of it. 

Yeah, because Arsenal, Man City, Leicester, Stoke, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea, Brighton & Middlesborough have all imploded since they moved grounds?  I suspect West Ham will hate being able to accommodate 40-50k people too.

I love Villa Park and all the history it entails and we're lucky that we probably don't need to move.  But if we had to move it would not be the end of it.  There is more to a club than the plot of ground it sits upon.

Not for me, I think you will find a lot of people will not set foot in a new stadium.
It may be irrational but my team play at Villa Park.
Also I hate the new stadiums Emirates Etihad Wembley.

I think you will find that lots of people will say they will never set foot in a new stadium.  Then, after a little success, most would soon come rolling back.

[LeeB]

Modern football is crap.   If he moved VP then that would be the end of it. 

Yeah, because Arsenal, Man City, Leicester, Stoke, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea, Brighton & Middlesborough have all imploded since they moved grounds?  I suspect West Ham will hate being able to accommodate 40-50k people too.

I love Villa Park and all the history it entails and we're lucky that we probably don't need to move.  But if we had to move it would not be the end of it.  There is more to a club than the plot of ground it sits upon.

Not for me, I think you will find a lot of people will not set foot in a new stadium.
It may be irrational but my team play at Villa Park.
Also I hate the new stadiums Emirates Etihad Wembley.

I think almost without exception those teams that have moved to new stadiums have had increased attendances.

[dave shelley]

I'd go and watch the Villa no matter where they played but, I'd really, really hate it if they moved from Villa Park.  My Dad was born in Manor Road, it wouldn't seem right.

[Ron Manager]

Modern football is crap.   If he moved VP then that would be the end of it. 

Yeah, because Arsenal, Man City, Leicester, Stoke, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea, Brighton & Middlesborough have all imploded since they moved grounds?  I suspect West Ham will hate being able to accommodate 40-50k people too.

I love Villa Park and all the history it entails and we're lucky that we probably don't need to move.  But if we had to move it would not be the end of it.  There is more to a club than the plot of ground it sits upon.

Not for me, I think you will find a lot of people will not set foot in a new stadium.
It may be irrational but my team play at Villa Park.
Also I hate the new stadiums Emirates Etihad Wembley.

I think you will find that lots of people will say they will never set foot in a new stadium.  Then, after a little success, most would soon come rolling back.

Thats right . Villa supporters used to Wellington Road Perry Barr had to get used to the Aston Lower Grounds(later Villa Park) stadium at the end of the 19th century. Nobody after all likes change.

[CT Villan]

The problem for me is VP oozes character and tradition, where as the modern stadia seem like soul-less, cookie-cutter places. Villa Park is part of our identity and is a footballing monument recognized the world over. Maybe future generations will feel less of a connection to VP and it's aura may diminish, who knows ? I would hate to think we lose this part of our history because the owner is motivated purely by money (we've already had one of those types before).

[Ron Manager]

The problem for me is VP oozes character and tradition, where as the modern stadia seem like soul-less, cookie-cutter places. Villa Park is part of our identity and is a footballing monument recognized the world over. Maybe future generations will feel less of a connection to VP and it's aura may diminish, who knows ? I would hate to think we lose this part of our history because the owner is motivated purely by money (we've already had one of those types before).

No it doesnt. The character and tradition went when first the Witton Lane Stand and then The Trinity Road Stand were lost. The oldest stand
is the North Stand and that is outdated in the 21st century. The days of standing have also gone and so has the unique atmosphere we had.
It is just another football ground  better than the lego one's granted but nothing special.

[four fornicholl]

The problem for me is VP oozes character and tradition, where as the modern stadia seem like soul-less, cookie-cutter places. Villa Park is part of our identity and is a footballing monument recognized the world over. Maybe future generations will feel less of a connection to VP and it's aura may diminish, who knows ? I would hate to think we lose this part of our history because the owner is motivated purely by money (we've already had one of those types before).

No it doesnt. The character and tradition went when first the Witton Lane Stand and then The Trinity Road Stand were lost. The oldest stand
is the North Stand and that is outdated in the 21st century. The days of standing have also gone and so has the unique atmosphere we had.
It is just another football ground  better than the lego one's granted but nothing special.

Have to disagree there sorry Ron.
Villa Park is an ever evolving institution, not a block of concrete dumped on the outskirts.

[peter w]

And also not the ground we've always played at.

[dave.woodhall]

And also not the ground we've always played at.

Just for the past 119 years.

[paul_e]

The problem for me is VP oozes character and tradition, where as the modern stadia seem like soul-less, cookie-cutter places. Villa Park is part of our identity and is a footballing monument recognized the world over. Maybe future generations will feel less of a connection to VP and it's aura may diminish, who knows ? I would hate to think we lose this part of our history because the owner is motivated purely by money (we've already had one of those types before).

No it doesnt. The character and tradition went when first the Witton Lane Stand and then The Trinity Road Stand were lost. The oldest stand
is the North Stand and that is outdated in the 21st century. The days of standing have also gone and so has the unique atmosphere we had.
It is just another football ground  better than the lego one's granted but nothing special.

Have to disagree there sorry Ron.
Villa Park is an ever evolving institution, not a block of concrete dumped on the outskirts.

but who is talking about a block of concrete dumped on the outskirts?  The specifics were that someone mentioned that we'd get better attendances if we were closer to the city centre (which is fair) and I mentioned that we don't really have any options to expand where we are.  I don't think there's a suitable site at the moment so it's not really worth discussing but if we could find space to build a 70-80k stadium within a few minutes walk of the new HS2 station then it would be worth considering.

[four fornicholl]

The problem for me is VP oozes character and tradition, where as the modern stadia seem like soul-less, cookie-cutter places. Villa Park is part of our identity and is a footballing monument recognized the world over. Maybe future generations will feel less of a connection to VP and it's aura may diminish, who knows ? I would hate to think we lose this part of our history because the owner is motivated purely by money (we've already had one of those types before).

No it doesnt. The character and tradition went when first the Witton Lane Stand and then The Trinity Road Stand were lost. The oldest stand
is the North Stand and that is outdated in the 21st century. The days of standing have also gone and so has the unique atmosphere we had.
It is just another football ground  better than the lego one's granted but nothing special.

Have to disagree there sorry Ron.
Villa Park is an ever evolving institution, not a block of concrete dumped on the outskirts.

but who is talking about a block of concrete dumped on the outskirts?  The specifics were that someone mentioned that we'd get better attendances if we were closer to the city centre (which is fair) and I mentioned that we don't really have any options to expand where we are.  I don't think there's a suitable site at the moment so it's not really worth discussing but if we could find space to build a 70-80k stadium within a few minutes walk of the new HS2 station then it would be worth considering.

Nor even a block of concrete near HS2.

[peter w]

And also not the ground we've always played at.

Just for the past 119 years.

It was kind of tongue in cheek.

[The Edge]

In response to a tweet about replacing the North Stand Tony said we've got bigger plans.

The Doc simply replied to the North Stand question with "we have bigger plans" I think people are reading too much into this. As with most his tweets it's a bit vague. He could be talking about squad investment being the priority. I can't wait to see the North Stand pulled down.. It's an eyesore and tiny by modern standards but we'll have to wait and see. 

[SashasGrandad]

The club should never have sold off the Serpentine car park - and they should have bought up all the old housing between witton lane and the railway. Eventually clearing it and flattening it. Rebuild Witton Lane stand to match the Trinity, rebuild North stand. Use the land for car park and walkway to stations.