NSWE Investment

[The Edge]

There isn't a part of the current ground that's as bad as the old Witton End was. Some are a bit shabby but you'll never catch your death in them.

I just loved the old Witton End.  Many a drenching I got down there, I used to get upset in latter years when I had to relocate.  Who can forget floating on spilled tea and Bovril in the only refreshment outlet down there?  The steam that used to emanate from there in winter.  The buildings around there tied-in with the original Victorian plan IIRC. I remember when the North Stand was built, for a short while you could still stand at the front.

I think my love of the Witton goes right back to the days when I was a five-year-old and had more interest in digging in the mud and shale at the top than the football.  Who can ever forget the suicidal charges over the top and down the bank at the end of the game to try and beat the rush?  Happy days, I still see them now in my mind's eye.

Some great memories there. You mention being able to stand at the front of the Witton End still while the North stand was being built behind.The lower North is still the same original steps which sweep around to the Trinity. They just reprofiled the concrete. In effect the lower North is the last remaining structure of the "old ground"

[London Villan]

There is a random wall between the Trinity and the North stand that looks Victorian - or at least the final remnant of the old Trinity.

[Drummond]

England's Number 1, England's, England's Number 1......

[robbo1874]

Yeah, West Ham have had loads of success.

How much did they pay for their stadium?

What's that got to do with anything? Clampy suggested that we could only fill a larger stadium (be that an expanded Villa Park or a new ground) if we had continued success. I was refuting the suggestion.

Also, when did Everton last win anything? They're still planning a new ground.

Also worth pointing out (earlier posts) that improving facilities is not just serving people beer quicker - it is having the space and set up to sell a higher quality corporate product.

We are starting to look like we are falling behind our peers. Given the time it takes to do stuff like upgrade or rebuild stadiums we have got to be looking at it now.

everton are proposing to move from a pretty shit area of Liverpool (in terms of land costs) to a pretty much derelict area of Liverpool. So they will be basically getting their site for free. Great for Everton and wish them all the best, but you can’t compare that to Villa moving from an alright part of Birmingham (in terms of land costs) to the city centre to build a new stadium. There’s no comparison to be made.

[cdbearsfan]

Well, you can. Because we have shitloads of cash so the cost is largely irrelevant.

And, obviously, you make your money back long-term, anyway.

[robbo1874]

Well, you can. Because we have shitloads of cash so the cost is largely irrelevant.

And, obviously, you make your money back long-term, anyway.

we don’t have shitloads of cash, the current owners apparently do. There is a difference. They could pull out like Randy did. The cost may be irrelevant to us as fans because it’s not our money, but no way would the cost of rebuilding Villa Park, or building a new stadium in the centre ever be sustainably recovered.

[dave shelley]

Well, you can. Because we have shitloads of cash so the cost is largely irrelevant.

And, obviously, you make your money back long-term, anyway.

we don’t have shitloads of cash, the current owners apparently do. There is a difference. They could pull out like Randy did. The cost may be irrelevant to us as fans because it’s not our money, but no way would the cost of rebuilding Villa Park, or building a new stadium in the centre ever be sustainably recovered.

I think his post was a little bit tongue-in-cheek.

[robbo1874]

Fair enough Dave- 10pm here in Brisbane and had a couple of wines!

[Percy McCarthy]

Well, you can. Because we have shitloads of cash so the cost is largely irrelevant.

And, obviously, you make your money back long-term, anyway.

we don’t have shitloads of cash, the current owners apparently do. There is a difference. They could pull out like Randy did. The cost may be irrelevant to us as fans because it’s not our money, but no way would the cost of rebuilding Villa Park, or building a new stadium in the centre ever be sustainably recovered.

We are the biggest club, in the second biggest city, with no other genuinely big clubs in an eighty-mile radius, in the richest football economy on earth. We’ll see if the owners really want to put us in our potential place in the pecking order (top ten clubs in the world), but there’s no doubt it can be done sustainably with the right investment, Part of that sustainability involves staying within FFP, which is where a new ground comes in.

[eamonn]

England's Number 1, England's, England's Number 1......

Heaton is not up for discussion here unless he knows a great architect with a penchant for the past.

[robbo1874]

Well, you can. Because we have shitloads of cash so the cost is largely irrelevant.

And, obviously, you make your money back long-term, anyway.

we don’t have shitloads of cash, the current owners apparently do. There is a difference. They could pull out like Randy did. The cost may be irrelevant to us as fans because it’s not our money, but no way would the cost of rebuilding Villa Park, or building a new stadium in the centre ever be sustainably recovered.

We are the biggest club, in the second biggest city, with no other genuinely big clubs in an eighty-mile radius, in the richest football economy on earth. We’ll see if the owners really want to put us in our potential place in the pecking order (top ten clubs in the world), but there’s no doubt it can be done sustainably with the right investment, Part of that sustainability involves staying within FFP, which is where a new ground comes in.

yeah we will, or most likely we won’t. My bet on our next big build spend is a north stand re-build inside the next 5 years. What’s your call?
 

[Des Little]

Looks like the NS is getting a much needed facelift for the coming season.  Has to be a massive improvement, whatever they do!

[Toronto Villa]

Looks like the NS is getting a much needed facelift for the coming season.  Has to be a massive improvement, whatever they do!

Nassef Sawiris is getting a much needed facelift? How rude.

[Percy McCarthy]

Well, you can. Because we have shitloads of cash so the cost is largely irrelevant.

And, obviously, you make your money back long-term, anyway.

we don’t have shitloads of cash, the current owners apparently do. There is a difference. They could pull out like Randy did. The cost may be irrelevant to us as fans because it’s not our money, but no way would the cost of rebuilding Villa Park, or building a new stadium in the centre ever be sustainably recovered.

We are the biggest club, in the second biggest city, with no other genuinely big clubs in an eighty-mile radius, in the richest football economy on earth. We’ll see if the owners really want to put us in our potential place in the pecking order (top ten clubs in the world), but there’s no doubt it can be done sustainably with the right investment, Part of that sustainability involves staying within FFP, which is where a new ground comes in.

yeah we will, or most likely we won’t. My bet on our next big build spend is a north stand re-build inside the next 5 years. What’s your call?

I don’t know.  All I know is that if the owners’ ambition is to compete at the top of the PL and CL they’ll need to build a new ground. If they’re happy to be also-rans we can stay as we are with an inconsequential increase in capacity and cosmetic changes. Their spending this summer is encouraging though.

[eamonn]

Percy, I thought you'd be one of the biggest VP remainers going.