NSWE Investment

[KevinGage]

I've mentioned before, but we could do a lot worse than take inspiration from Australia on this one.

Sydney is the capital, but Melbourne - the second city -sees itself as the sporting capital. With stadia to match. The bigger AFL clubs all have their own designated home ground, but will all schedule games at the Telstra Dome, MCG or whatever throughout the season.

If the owners and new partners want to sink £ in to that, and have a venue fit for American football, concerts and a few Villa matches a year (pref when we play the Red Mancs) then fine. Keep Villa Park for the special games. Where home advantage really matters.

[kippaxvilla2]

I like the Odsal Stadium. 

[VILLA MOLE]

I've mentioned before, but we could do a lot worse than take inspiration from Australia on this one.

Sydney is the capital, but Melbourne - the second city -sees itself as the sporting capital. With stadia to match. The bigger AFL clubs all have their own designated home ground, but will all schedule games at the Telstra Dome, MCG or whatever throughout the season.

If the owners and new partners want to sink £ in to that, and have a venue fit for American football, concerts and a few Villa matches a year (pref when we play the Red Mancs) then fine. Keep Villa Park for the special games. Where home advantage really matters.

Isn’t Canberra the capital?

[Chris Harte]

I've mentioned before, but we could do a lot worse than take inspiration from Australia on this one.

Sydney is the capital, but Melbourne - the second city -sees itself as the sporting capital. With stadia to match. The bigger AFL clubs all have their own designated home ground, but will all schedule games at the Telstra Dome, MCG or whatever throughout the season.

If the owners and new partners want to sink £ in to that, and have a venue fit for American football, concerts and a few Villa matches a year (pref when we play the Red Mancs) then fine. Keep Villa Park for the special games. Where home advantage really matters.

I hate that idea and the PL don't allow it anyway.

Spurs had to get special permission to play at Wembley and their new home during the same season because it wasn't ready on time.

[john e]

I think the ‘relentless gripes of the middle-aged’ that Paul e mentioned Has some relevance
I would be in that category myself probably more than middle-aged so I would readily admit that tradition and history would probably mean more to me than someone a lot younger
I have two main interests in life Villa and History, and when I’m not at Villa Park or watching Villa, I spend my time visiting cathedrals, castles, old buildings etc so I declare an interest

So because of this discussion, I mentioned it to my kids yesterday that there is a possibility of a new stadium build, 2 are in their mid 30’s and then there’s two teenagers, they were all horrified

And I think that’s the other big problem that the movers have got here, hearts and minds
H&V is the best of all Villa forums, but it’s never been representative of the wider villa fan base, on numerous subjects mostly of politics it would be very different from the mainstream fan

I think if you put it to a vote the fan base would be largely against moving from Villa Park I would say probably 80% plus
I know that means little as fans don’t have a say in much nowadays and owners will do what they want
But People saying I hope if we move fans will take it in good grace and not moan too much, good luck with that you’ve got absolutely zero chance, they’ll be a uproar,
The divide will be as big as Brexit and the wounds will not heal for a generation

I’m surprised in the fact the movers on here don’t realise how much Villa Park means to people, and not just old people like me,
Fans around the country, probably more than any other ground in the UK will be saying what the fuck are they doing

Redeveloping Villa Park will always be my preference if I’m honest I can’t imagine life without it

[Risso]

I've mentioned before, but we could do a lot worse than take inspiration from Australia on this one.

Sydney is the capital, but Melbourne - the second city -sees itself as the sporting capital. With stadia to match. The bigger AFL clubs all have their own designated home ground, but will all schedule games at the Telstra Dome, MCG or whatever throughout the season.

If the owners and new partners want to sink £ in to that, and have a venue fit for American football, concerts and a few Villa matches a year (pref when we play the Red Mancs) then fine. Keep Villa Park for the special games. Where home advantage really matters.

Erm, Sydney isn't the capital, Canberra is.

[tomd2103]

I don't see what's negative about wanting better. For me the "stay put" camp are the negative drag. I like the Holte, but I want better, bigger, more impressive. I want us to have the best ground, the best end in the country. Seems like Risso, Pauline etc want similar because it gives us the best chance of competing. I don't see how that's negative at all, it's ambition, its dreaming, its likely a reality with what has happened ownership/control wise this week.

A lot of assumptions there both in terms of the motives of those who disagree with you and the imagined brilliance of the end product if your hunch on a new ground is right.

The connection of fan to their club is an emotional rather than transactional one. I love Villa Park because it’s tied up with decades of attending - from going with my dad when I was a nipper then with my mates as I grew up and later taking my own kids and getting them hooked and most recently grandson and granddaughter. It’s the pubs I’ve drunk in, the different types of journey I have made to get there and the scrapes I got in as a young man. It’s seeing  games in the third division and in the European Cup.

So I want those that come to have the same and if the people being bought in to oversee the transition are as good as claimed they can achieve all that they want at Villa Park.

This is a powerful and emotional pitch, Chris. Tradition isn't to be sniffed at or discarded lightly. But new traditions can be forged. The next generation of Villa fans would fall in love with all the same things you (and I) did if we moved to a new home. As we get older we realise how quickly time passes. Many on this forum will be in our dotage soon. I say give those who follow us the best possible chance of supporting a successful club. A gift from us to them. Villa Park is one of the iconic sporting arenas of the world. But nothing and none of us last forever. If we stay in that location we are accepting our place in the 2nd tier. There is no way at all I can see us bridging the financial gap without moving somewhere more central.

I think it is a classic 'heart versus head' matter.  I would love us to be able to be able to carry on as we are at Villa Park, but redevelop the North Stand for the time being and look at options for Witton Lane in the longer term.  I still get a buzz walking down Trinity Road to Villa Park and I would be happy for us to remain there for the rest of my time following the club.

I've always, however, had that nagging question during my time supporting Villa of how the club takes the next step and establishes itself at the very top of the English and European game.  We've come close at times over the last few decades, but have fallen short.  I think we're now at that juncture again and have a real opportunity to finally take that step.

With all the FFP issues that have been going on over the last year or so, I've had a look at some of the figures on the income and expenditure of clubs.  I will readily admit that I'm not that knowledgeable about the financial side of things, but it seems that there is a comparison between last time we were in this kind of position (under MON) and now - the wage bill is nearly 90% of our turnover.  Man City and Liverpool have over double our wage bill, yet the % of their turnover is 59% and 63% respectively.  Our turnover is over £300m less than the 3 other teams in the top 5 of the league and £250m less than the other one.  It's a stark reality, but we are going to have to dramatically increase revenue if we want to compete.  The most obvious way of doing that is to have a bigger stadium in a location where it can attract people and be used for events all year round.

We've seen before what happens when we haven't taken that next step.  Players are lured away, managers become disillusioned and owners lose interest.  For me it would have to be something spectacular in the right location to even consider moving from Villa Park, but something like that could help sell Villa and the city of Birmingham to the world.  We could even keep Villa in the name, seeing as it doesn't refer to any particular area or place name. 

[DB]

They are still reconfiguring this summer to add 2000 to 3000 extra seats?

That's just a short-term, sticking plaster. They haven't brought these new guys and their investment in to rearrange the deckchairs.

Yes I am aware. I was just enquiring if they are still going ahead with that short term sticking plaster as you put it.

[DB]

They are still reconfiguring this summer to add 2000 to 3000 extra seats?

That is what Heck stated when he canned the North Stand. I expect it will be filling in the North Corners to get those seats in. But that might also be the kibosh on stopping on that land for any new stadium as we the extra seats wouldn't be worth it if we were knocking down the stands for two seasons, but would be if we were building elsewhere and moving in after 3-4 years.

Thanks.

[Risso]

I think the ‘relentless gripes of the middle-aged’ that Paul e mentioned Has some relevance
I would be in that category myself probably more than middle-aged so I would readily admit that tradition and history would probably mean more to me than someone a lot younger
I have two main interests in life Villa and History, and when I’m not at Villa Park or watching Villa, I spend my time visiting cathedrals, castles, old buildings etc so I declare an interest

So because of this discussion, I mentioned it to my kids yesterday that there is a possibility of a new stadium build, 2 are in their mid 30’s and then there’s two teenagers, they were all horrified

And I think that’s the other big problem that the movers have got here, hearts and minds
H&V is the best of all Villa forums, but it’s never been representative of the wider villa fan base, on numerous subjects mostly of politics it would be very different from the mainstream fan

I think if you put it to a vote the fan base would be largely against moving from Villa Park I would say probably 80% plus
I know that means little as fans don’t have a say in much nowadays and owners will do what they want
But People saying I hope if we move fans will take it in good grace and not moan too much, good luck with that you’ve got absolutely zero chance, they’ll be a uproar,
The divide will be as big as Brexit and the wounds will not heal for a generation

I’m surprised in the fact the movers on here don’t realise how much Villa Park means to people, and not just old people like me,
Fans around the country, probably more than any other ground in the UK will be saying what the fuck are they doing

Redeveloping Villa Park will always be my preference if I’m honest I can’t imagine life without it

But we haven't been presented with an alternative John. I'm sure most Everton fans would have preferred to stay at Goodison, and that would have most definitely been the case when the idea was to move to Knowsley. But now with the new stadium nearly built and looking absolutely fantastic, I bet the people wanting to stay is greatly reduced. Give them a couple of years in the new ground with brilliant facilities and then ask how many would want to go back to the old ground, and I reckon that number would be massively reduced again.

[Demitri_C]

Are there any links between betano and atairios? Both having some greek ownership i do wonder if atarios helped with this deal?

[LeeB]

In the 60s and 70s we knocked down fantastic old buildings and built shit in their place.

*nods*

Fuck off.

[Villan82]

As is clear from my contributions since December, I hate the idea of moving. I adore Villa Park. I probably love the ground as much as I love the club itself. I spent most of time in threads that concern Villa Park and its future!

But over the past two or three days I confronted the fact that I am merely passing through this life and there will be generations to come after. I love Emery and the team we have built and I do not want us to miss the boat this time- we have messed up in recent memory when we had a chance to kick on - ironically if we had redeveloped the North 15 years ago we might have been better set but be that as it may.

I hope they have a master plan for a 60k VP but as I said earlier, i am more accepting now that we may have to move and I will get used to that

[ROBBO]

I've mentioned before, but we could do a lot worse than take inspiration from Australia on this one.

Sydney is the capital, but Melbourne - the second city -sees itself as the sporting capital. With stadia to match. The bigger AFL clubs all have their own designated home ground, but will all schedule games at the Telstra Dome, MCG or whatever throughout the season.

If the owners and new partners want to sink £ in to that, and have a venue fit for American football, concerts and a few Villa matches a year (pref when we play the Red Mancs) then fine. Keep Villa Park for the special games. Where home advantage really matters.

Erm, Sydney isn't the capital, Canberra is.

[ROBBO]

Sydney would like to be the Capital but Melbourne gets all the big sporting events, love Melbourne.