Holte End to be renamed?

[Chico Hamilton III]

Not for me. I'd compromise by letting the club ballot the fans and I would accept their decision. Bet that won't happen though.

[john e]

As others have said I don't think we are talking about huge amounts to rename stands
I can't of  think anyone else in the prem has done it yet, there probably is but I can't think of any

So i'm not going to get all worked up for something that might never happen

[DeKuip]

A surprising number of fans on here seem ok with the idea of selling off a bit of history for the sake of making a few quick bucks - as for me I'm firmly against it.
The names Aston Villa, Villa Park, Holte End & Trinity Road are untouchable at any price, as are the club colours.
Acceptance of changing any of those will within no time lead to them all being sold off to the highest bidder - and our entire identity will have been lost to the pockets of agents and average footballers.
What on earth do you people think we'd get in return for the Holte End becoming the Bet365 Stand or whatever? Do you really think it would make even the slightest difference to us being at best a mid-table Premier League side?

Even if we sold off everything we stand for for £10billon would it be worth it? We'd be challenging top four after a few years, attracting thousands of glory hunters and tourists, pricing out and discarding the fans who have stood by us through the shit years and given birth to a generation of spoilt fans like Chelsea.
No thanks. I'd rather drop down a division or two than become that kind of club.
Hopefully it's all just Neil Moxley, a Bluenose, trying to fill space and stir up a bit of controversy.

[dave.woodhall]

A surprising number of fans on here seem ok with the idea of selling off a bit of history for the sake of making a few quick bucks - as for me I'm firmly against it.
The names Aston Villa, Villa Park, Holte End & Trinity Road are untouchable at any price, as are the club colours.
Acceptance of changing any of those will within no time lead to them all being sold off to the highest bidder - and our entire identity will have been lost to the pockets of agents and average footballers.
What on earth do you people think we'd get in return for the Holte End becoming the Bet365 Stand or whatever? Do you really think it would make even the slightest difference to us being at best a mid-table Premier League side?

Even if we sold off everything we stand for for £10billon would it be worth it? We'd be challenging top four after a few years, attracting thousands of glory hunters and tourists, pricing out and discarding the fans who have stood by us through the shit years and given birth to a generation of spoilt fans like Chelsea.
No thanks. I'd rather drop down a division or two than become that kind of club.
Hopefully it's all just Neil Moxley, a Bluenose, trying to fill space and stir up a bit of controversy.

What do you want then?

[Yossarian]

I think it a rather naive assumption that the money from this would be used to invest in the squad.

You're right, it might be used to help keep our match day prices below the average for the league instead.

Quite. The Lerner administration has practically infinite faults when it comes to football matters, but all of his actions relating to the club rather than the team have been done clearly with a genuine feeling for the fans and their opinions, as well as with a Villa-ish class. He's not a Mike Ashley type, and wouldn't sanction something like this for no reason.

When he was interested in us and wanted to play with us he was amazing; from giving Acorns the sponsorship to doing up The Holte Pub. Now his attention and his whims are elsewhere. So who is to say where the sponsorship money will go. Just as long as we pay enough to survive in the Premiership with the most dull and insipid football then everything will be okay.

[Yossarian]

I think it a rather naive assumption that the money from this would be used to invest in the squad.

You're right, it might be used to help keep our match day prices below the average for the league instead.

Because we are selling out so many of the matches.

[David_Nab]

I don't see how it will generate significant funds.Newcastle tried this we renaming St James's at it wasn't seen as viable enough to continue with as people still called it St James so they dropped Sports direct stadium and went back to St James's.

Only way I could see this working as a way to fund development of a renamed rebuilt north stand , however as attendances are down it would be hard to put forward a case for ground upgrading at present.

The only grounds with sponsorship names are the new grounds.If sponsoring a stand on a old ground was seen as viable then I would expect United and Liverpool to be heading that route.Liverpool are however looking at naming rights to their new stand which fits in with a rebuilt North stand being sponsored.

[PeterWithesShin]

I don't see how it will generate significant funds.Newcastle tried this we renaming St James's at it wasn't seen as viable enough to continue with as people still called it St James so they dropped Sports direct stadium and went back to St James's.

The SDA was dropped when they changed sponsors. It was Wonga who decided to change it back to St James' Park, not Newcastle. 

[bertlambshank]

I don't see how it will generate significant funds.Newcastle tried this we renaming St James's at it wasn't seen as viable enough to continue with as people still called it St James so they dropped Sports direct stadium and went back to St James's.

The SDA was dropped when they changed sponsors. It was Wonga who decided to change it back to St James' Park, not Newcastle. 

But that was only after the backlash from the fans.They did try to change it to Wonga but knew the fans wouldn't wear it.If it was any other company the name change would of gone ahead.

[Toronto Villa]

Not for me. I'd compromise by letting the club ballot the fans and I would accept their decision. Bet that won't happen though.

And what if the vote came out against what you wanted? You'd be in the same spot because your opinion on the initiative wouldn't have changed. And where do you draw the line? Should the club poll fans opinion on all commercial ventures. At the end of the day certain things the club plan, if we are to try and keep up with the clubs above us is going to go against the grain of a percentage of public opinion. The goal posts have moved and the management of the present affects the future. I would hope our club is trying new things that maintain our PL position because there are lots of clubs who got stuck in the past in terms of the way they ran the business and are now just memories of better times gone by.

This doesn't have to be a world record deal. This just needs to add a revenue stream that doesn't currently exist. Like I said initially, this isn't ideal, but what is ideal isn't available. The goal posts of the game have moved a lot and we need to find a way to play the game which is a lot different to how many want it to be.

[DeKuip]

A surprising number of fans on here seem ok with the idea of selling off a bit of history for the sake of making a few quick bucks - as for me I'm firmly against it.
The names Aston Villa, Villa Park, Holte End & Trinity Road are untouchable at any price, as are the club colours.
Acceptance of changing any of those will within no time lead to them all being sold off to the highest bidder - and our entire identity will have been lost to the pockets of agents and average footballers.
What on earth do you people think we'd get in return for the Holte End becoming the Bet365 Stand or whatever? Do you really think it would make even the slightest difference to us being at best a mid-table Premier League side?

Even if we sold off everything we stand for for £10billon would it be worth it? We'd be challenging top four after a few years, attracting thousands of glory hunters and tourists, pricing out and discarding the fans who have stood by us through the shit years and given birth to a generation of spoilt fans like Chelsea.
No thanks. I'd rather drop down a division or two than become that kind of club.
Hopefully it's all just Neil Moxley, a Bluenose, trying to fill space and stir up a bit of controversy.

What do you want then?

To continue to support my local club with pride in whatever division they deserve to be in. I'd like more entertainment than we've been served up at home over the last 5 or 6 years, but we don't need to sell our soul to achieve that.

[Toronto Villa]

Selling the soul of the club? All a bit dramatic isn't it? I didn't read we were changing the name Aston Villa, just a stand at the ground. You can still support your local club even if the stand is called something different on a piece of paper. You'll still call it what you want to call it.

[tomd2103]

Wouldn't be too keen on the Holte End and Trinity Road stands being renamed.  Wouldn't have a problem with it happening to the other two stands if there was going to be a clear benefit to the club.

Anyone with any ideas on the revenue a move like that would bring?  A different sport entirely, but BT Sport recently secured naming rights for Murrayfield in a deal worth about £20m over four years. 

[silhillvilla]

How about investing in the team and finishing a bit higher up the table. Isn't it circa £2.5m a place ?

[Rigadon]

Just cause we'd all still call it the Holte End, some grubby firms name would be all over it.  It's just wrong.  There has to be somethings that aren't for sale.

It would also not be a game changer for us.

No.