NSWE Investment

[AV82EC]

i think originally they left the bottom tier but then had to go back and rebuild it when they built the upper tier .  I seem to remember issues with asbestos ??

<cough> Ellis on the cheap<\cough>

[dave.woodhall]

But my point is that it could probably be done without much impact on the neighbouring houses, in terms of loss of light or overshadowing. To do it I reckon we’d have to knock the whole thing down and start again. I think when the Witton lane was expanded they left the original bottom tier in place.

Wasn't there a reason for that, though? Seem to remember my dad saying it was listed or something like that.

Ellis was doing it on the cheap.

[algy]

But my point is that it could probably be done without much impact on the neighbouring houses, in terms of loss of light or overshadowing. To do it I reckon we’d have to knock the whole thing down and start again. I think when the Witton lane was expanded they left the original bottom tier in place.

Wasn't there a reason for that, though? Seem to remember my dad saying it was listed or something like that.

Ellis was doing it on the cheap.

Ah, that makes sense. Can remember at the time it was built him boasting about how Villa were the only club to have built their own stand, then going in there when it was newly opened and thinking "yeah, you can tell ..."

Was a kitchen porter for a bit at Villa, hated working in the Doug Ellis stand. The drain holes are raised above the level of the rest of the kitchen floor, so was a nightmare whenever the floor got wet ... for example, when you deep cleaned it every week ... cos you'd spend seemingly hours trying to push puddles of water uphill with a mop.

[AV82EC]

Ha! Mine and Dave’s contempt coming to the fore there. The current version of Villa Park is a ramshackle mess of development, ill thought through and lacking in the basics of supporter comfort. It’s no surprise that 75% of this was overseen by Ellis, a man for whom the thought of doing anything other than the bare minimum cost option was completely alien to him. Lerner put some nice wallpaper up but unpicking the Ellis short term knee jerk reaction to the Taylor Report will take a long while.

I’ve said it numerous times on here, they got all 3 stands wrong my particular bugbear being the 2 tier Holte.

It’s good to hear Purslow talk about a 3 phase development of the ground, it’s sorely needed.

[VILLA MOLE]

Ha! Mine and Dave’s contempt coming to the fore there. The current version of Villa Park is a ramshackle mess of development, ill thought through and lacking in the basics of supporter comfort. It’s no surprise that 75% of this was overseen by Ellis, a man for whom the thought of doing anything other than the bare minimum cost option was completely alien to him. Lerner put some nice wallpaper up but unpicking the Ellis short term knee jerk reaction to the Taylor Report will take a long while.

I’ve said it numerous times on here, they got all 3 stands wrong my particular bugbear being the 2 tier Holte.

It’s good to hear Purslow talk about a 3 phase development of the ground, it’s sorely needed.

and yet we still all love ❤️ the place 😃

[Rico]

What a picture! Let's hope the new development captures our magnificent history. Make it big, make it grand. Give AVFC a legacy that will live on for generations.

[AV82EC]

Ha! Mine and Dave’s contempt coming to the fore there. The current version of Villa Park is a ramshackle mess of development, ill thought through and lacking in the basics of supporter comfort. It’s no surprise that 75% of this was overseen by Ellis, a man for whom the thought of doing anything other than the bare minimum cost option was completely alien to him. Lerner put some nice wallpaper up but unpicking the Ellis short term knee jerk reaction to the Taylor Report will take a long while.

I’ve said it numerous times on here, they got all 3 stands wrong my particular bugbear being the 2 tier Holte.

It’s good to hear Purslow talk about a 3 phase development of the ground, it’s sorely needed.

and yet we still all love ❤️ the place 😃

That’s because of us, and the aura , the location and the history not because of the inanimate physical infrastructure though it does have some redeeming features.

[dave.woodhall]

Excuse me for going over old ground, but we built three new stands in seven years, none of which were designed with any sort of overall plan in mind and the only time any of them looked even vaguely like another part of the ground it was based on the stand which was due to go next. The only thing any of them had in common was that they all fitted the prevailing club ethos of "How much for cash?"

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Whenever there was major redevelopment at VP, Ellis seemed to be having some sort of work done at his Four Oaks house by the same builders. Far be it from me to infer that a multi million dollar contract was awarded on the basis that a couple of rooms extension was thrown in and covered on the AVFC bill, I'm sure it was just a coincidence.

[Ads]

If it wraps around with the Trinity, so the lower tier is the height of tier 1 and 2, with the upper of the new North wrapping with tier 3, we also add more capacity into the Trinity. Don't forget that like the Upper Holte, the Upper Trinity is angled too. It would be an absolute monster if that was the plan and would maximise space.

I think you can do more on the same real estate with the Witton. It has an inordinate amount of steel in it and you'd think with 30 years, it would be possible to do something.

There was an asbestos issue with the old Witton, might have had something to do with why we built on top of the old stand. Or it could just be that was cheaper.

[dave.woodhall]

The stand was opened during 1993-94. It was built over the old stand and there were problems with sightlines in the Lower which was due to be sorted in summer 1995, and during that work the asbestos problem was discovered. Buy cheap, buy twice. 

[Ads]

The Doug way. The narcissism to name a disaster of a build after yourself too. I'm definitely no architect, but I wonder if you could build bigger on the same site and use a New North or the Holte to help with space.

Villa Park is wonderful, but I think part of its charm.is how terribly we have utilised the immense space we have. There's wastage everywhere.

Edit: found an interesting new word for the filter? Calam-ity = captain?

[Drummond]

It would be fitting for that stand to be the first (if any) that is given over to sponsorship. Even. Ore so if it were Thomas Cook.

[nigel]

There was also standing in the Trinity & Witton Lane.

Ha Ha,
I hadn’t given that a thought

[Marlon From Bearwood]

Ha! Mine and Dave’s contempt coming to the fore there. The current version of Villa Park is a ramshackle mess of development, ill thought through and lacking in the basics of supporter comfort. It’s no surprise that 75% of this was overseen by Ellis, a man for whom the thought of doing anything other than the bare minimum cost option was completely alien to him. Lerner put some nice wallpaper up but unpicking the Ellis short term knee jerk reaction to the Taylor Report will take a long while.

I’ve said it numerous times on here, they got all 3 stands wrong my particular bugbear being the 2 tier Holte.

It’s good to hear Purslow talk about a 3 phase development of the ground, it’s sorely needed.

Re the two tier Holte, didn’t we just copy the new North Bank stand at Highbury? Rather than come up with something original?