Holte End to be renamed?

[richard moore]

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.

Excellent post DeKuip, I agree with you totally. This will be the beginning of the end of any sort of tradition. It always starts this way with a bit of 'mission creep' and it will end most unsatisfactorily

[john e]

If it's all about maximising revenue streams, how do people feel about the 39th game

I'm not in favour as I'm not in favour of renaming the Holte,
but if people think we have to do unsavoury things to bring in cash then I imagine that would be as good as any

Where does it all stop, there had to be a line somewhere

[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.

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.

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.

I'd accept that I was in a minority of fans and that the majority are in favour of changing the name. There's no right or wrong here, it's all down to personal opinion. Mine is that we already hawk our name and tradition around to too many sponsors and this is where I would like the club to draw the line. And I really don't give a shit whether other clubs are considering it or not.

[bertlambshank]

If it's all about maximising revenue streams, how do people feel about the 39th game

I'm not in favour as I'm not in favour of renaming the Holte,
but if people think we have to do unsavoury things to bring in cash then I imagine that would be as good as any

Where does it all stop, there had to be a line somewhere

That is a very good point.

[Risso]

I think the timing's a bit wrong to be doing this now.  Our stock is very low at the moment, and so if we do sell the naming rights on say, a 5 or 10 year deal, then that's a barrier to a new owner doing their own deal if and when they come in.  I can't see anybody wanting to pay us enough to make it worthwhile either, and the chances of it leading to a £20m striker banging in the goals as Dave alludes to in the article in my opinion would be remote

[Monty]

Renaming a stand and adding the 39th game are nothing like each other. A club can do what it likes to try and raise revenue is its own affair alone, whereas the 39th game buggers up the balance and integrity of the entire competition for a bit of cash. It's not tradition which would be ruined by the extra game - it's the way the actual league is decided which would be ruined. A stand is neither here nor there compared to that.

[john e]

Renaming a stand and adding the 39th game are nothing like each other. A club can do what it likes to try and raise revenue is its own affair alone, whereas the 39th game buggers up the balance and integrity of the entire competition for a bit of cash. It's not tradition which would be ruined by the extra game - it's the way the actual league is decided which would be ruined. A stand is neither here nor there compared to that.

The bottom line is it's all about the money though
I think I would rather the 39th game than rename the Holte End to be honest

You say it's just a stand who cares what it's called you could argue it's just a game who cares where it's played,
It's a No from me on both counts

[Monty]

But it's not just about money against tradition. There are things more important to the integrity of a sporting competition than the name on the wall of a stand.

Here's an extreme example of what I mean: let's suppose there are two teams who forcibly have all of their players renamed 'Ronseal' as part of a sponsorship deal. It would be unusual, and confusing for commentators, but ultimately it's just a name. However, if these two teams played each other in the final of the Ronseal Champions League, and the company Ronseal rigged the game based on which one of the two teams brings them more money or better press or what have you, that would compromise the integrity of the whole sport. One is clearly worse than the other.

[bertlambshank]

Renaming a stand and adding the 39th game are nothing like each other. A club can do what it likes to try and raise revenue is its own affair alone, whereas the 39th game buggers up the balance and integrity of the entire competition for a bit of cash. It's not tradition which would be ruined by the extra game - it's the way the actual league is decided which would be ruined. A stand is neither here nor there compared to that.

The 39th game will happen it's a case of when not if.Just wait for Barcelona to play in Qatar who sponsor them,it's a game of blink at the moment.

[littlevillain]

No from me too. Everything is about money now. Cardiff changing their colours after how many years, Hull trying to change the name. Would anyone be upset if they tried to change our name? its not so far fetched really .

[TopDeck113]

The Kop is the most well known,  over-hyped stand in the Premier League, yet I would suggest that even the American owners of Liverpool wouldn't  dare attempt to cash in on this, even thought The X Kop would be worth many many millions. Meanwhile at Villa Park, we'll seemingly do anything for a few measily millions - if that.

[dave.woodhall]

The Kop is the most well known,  over-hyped stand in the Premier League, yet I would suggest that even the American owners of Liverpool wouldn't  dare attempt to cash in on this, even thought The X Kop would be worth many many millions. Meanwhile at Villa Park, we'll seemingly do anything for a few measily millions - if that.

We haven't, and neither have we said we will.

[Toronto Villa]

The Kop is the most well known,  over-hyped stand in the Premier League, yet I would suggest that even the American owners of Liverpool wouldn't  dare attempt to cash in on this, even thought The X Kop would be worth many many millions. Meanwhile at Villa Park, we'll seemingly do anything for a few measily millions - if that.

and if they build a new ground and spend many, many millions doing so, do you think that the name Anfield has a long term future? Or will it will like the Etihad or Emirates instead, with Maine Road and Highbury but a distant generational memory?

[TopDeck113]

No from me too. Everything is about money now. Cardiff changing their colours after how many years, Hull trying to change the name. Would anyone be upset if they tried to change our name? its not so far fetched really .

I've said that before. It's only a matter of time before someone - probably a megalomaniac foreign owner of a newly promoted club - will try to add a sponsor into the club name.

[TopDeck113]

The Kop is the most well known,  over-hyped stand in the Premier League, yet I would suggest that even the American owners of Liverpool wouldn't  dare attempt to cash in on this, even thought The X Kop would be worth many many millions. Meanwhile at Villa Park, we'll seemingly do anything for a few measily millions - if that.

and if they build a new ground and spend many, many millions doing so, do you think that the name Anfield has a long term future? Or will it will like the Etihad or Emirates instead, with Maine Road and Highbury but a distant generational memory?

Of course they will - but a new ground will always be easier to brand.