NSWE Investment

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

There was also standing in the Trinity & Witton Lane.

Ha Ha,
I hadn’t given that a thought

Standing on the Witton side was before my time but I did stand in the Trinity enclosure a few times before they put in the blue seats and private boxes. It would be open for Central League reserve games or you could pay (6d or 1/- ?) at 1st team games to go through the transfer turnstile from the Holte or Witton terrace.

[dave shelley]

It's amazing the things you remember.  When I became a regular attender with the old man he used to take me into the paddock of the old Witton Lane stand and we always stood alongside a vicar and I believe his two daughters.  I always loved it in there and can't remember why we transferred into the Witton End.  My very first season ticket was in the re-vamped Witton Lane Stand around about 1968/69.

[VILLA MOLE]

I always think with the Witton Lane ,  could they make it more cantilevered not necessarily higher to gain more space over the road ?

[maidstonevillain]

It's amazing the things you remember.  When I became a regular attender with the old man he used to take me into the paddock of the old Witton Lane stand and we always stood alongside a vicar and I believe his two daughters.  I always loved it in there and can't remember why we transferred into the Witton End.  My very first season ticket was in the re-vamped Witton Lane Stand around about 1968/69.

My first games were standing in the Trinity.

[Clark W Griswold]

I think the ground looks pretty excellent from inside especially when viewed from the Wilton stand. Whatever redevelopment they do I’d like each side to be unique from the others, kind of like it is now but just bigger and more modern on the North stand and Witton. It’s so much better than all the soulless recently built stadia that all look the same as each other.

[VILLA MOLE]

I think the ground looks pretty excellent from inside especially when viewed from the Wilton stand. Whatever redevelopment they do I’d like each side to be unique from the others, kind of like it is now but just bigger and more modern on the North stand and Witton. It’s so much better than all the soulless recently built stadia that all look the same as each other.

yep just different seat colours

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

I think the ground looks pretty excellent from inside especially when viewed from the Wilton stand. Whatever redevelopment they do I’d like each side to be unique from the others, kind of like it is now but just bigger and more modern on the North stand and Witton. It’s so much better than all the soulless recently built stadia that all look the same as each other.

yep just different seat colours

Shame we can't have wooden seats. IIRC the old Witton had wooden slatted seats and backs in a sort of medium oak colour. The Upper Trinity had a solid wooden seat with a back rest in what seemed about four coats of black paint.

[Chico Hamilton III]

There’s a lot going on in this photo of the ground taken during the Springsteen concert

https://twitter.com/brumpic/status/1515354185100931075?s=21&t=CR875jlH9w48zlYLx1xfcg

[oldhill_avfc]

I'm actually a little surprised there hasn't been a serious feasibility study into moving Villa out of Witton. American sport seems to have little problem with ripping up tradition and building afresh, and one of our owners obviously comes from that milieu. Playing devil's advocate, it solves any crowding/parking/facilities problems. I personally want us to stay at VP and be huge, as do our owners by the looks of it, and that's great. But once you've done the North Stand, you're a bit stumped.

NFL team owners are very adept at "blackmailing" local and state authorities into funding new stadiums in order to keep teams in their area because of the prestige involved in having an NFL team and the fear of losing them to somewhere else. For example Buffalo Bills have just released plans for a new stadium to be built near their existing ground. The cost is estimated at $1.4bn, with the local authority stumping up $250m and the state $600m, with the "contributions" being paid from local taxes. Because most cities only have one team, it's much easier to get the local population to buy into the idea of paying the extra rax because in some way it's an affirmation of local identity and pride.

Somehow I can't see the City of Brum, or local Bluenoses being prepared  to be so generous.

Putting the finances aside where in the area is there a space big enough for a brand new stadium? 

In reality you're looking for an old industrial site which is no longer needed because the business that was there has either gone busy or moved out.

Longbridge would have been ideal size-wise, plenty of room for a state of the art stadium and for all the  car parking and hospitality that you could ever want. Furthermore the old Austin site had railway lines serving it for freight purposes, so I guess a new passenger station could have been built - but Northfield/Rubery a long way from Aston.

Another alternative, which is right on our doorstep and which I am sure would have been more acceptable to fans in terms of proximity to Villa Park waa the old IMI site just up the road from Witton Station, but that has now been redeveloped into a shed land of industrial units.

Guess we're stuck where we are.

There's enough space on the existing site + adjacent roads behind the Witton Lane stand to do pretty much everything needed.

This would mean getting the council on board and convincing them join in with a significant regeneration project which would allow for compulsory purchase of the houses.  The housing stock in the area is very poor so it might be a win-win for all concerned.  I think is more in line with what Spurs have done (as opposed to Liverpool).

[eamonn]

Are Dr Xia's Smart Aston plans available to read on the net, for the craic?

[dave.woodhall]

Are Dr Xia's Smart Aston plans available to read on the net, for the craic?

I don't think they ever existed anywhere outside his head.

[pauliewalnuts]

Are Dr Xia's Smart Aston plans available to read on the net, for the craic?

I don't think they ever existed anywhere outside his head.

Recon Group. The biggest company on the world with absolutely no internet presence, and nobody online who appeared to work there.

[Ads]

Wonder if we'll ever find out who really owned us.

[ADVILLAFAN]

I like Fred Rinder's plan to get us to 120,000 in 1914...

I like the stadium design, but it looks like we were trying to play out from the back even then.

You can tell by looking at us in that picture, even then we had no idea how to use space.

Great Picture - we were playing west ham - if you look close enough you can see a young Mark Noble in their midfield

Lol

[AV82EC]

Wonder if we'll ever find out who really owned us.

I still reckon it was Beijing Red for Life.