Last Stand

[LeeB]

The only time at which I personally touched briefly on the potential future of VP was when the firm of architects for whom I worked were commissioned to find hotel sites on or near the M6 by a French hotel chain.  They fancied VP but we could not make access work without a lump of Aston Park.  So we moved on.

Did they end up building that crappy Hotel Campanile off the ring road by the Waterlinks building instead?

[brian green]

Not on my watch.  They may have done when I did other stuff.  We worked on the one by Hilton Services and the one on the old Stewarts and Lloyds site.  The way life goes in circles, my son's Italian boss is looking for hotel sites near the motorway network these days.  Plus ca change Plus c'est la meme chose.

[dave.woodhall]

The old stand had to go because it looked lovely but wasn't suitable for the modern age. I don't know whether any significant part could have been saved but it was definitely said that the mosaic and gable were staying.

The design of the new one is perfectly fine and there's a lot to commend it but the overall finish was done on the cheap. A comparatively small amount extra could have made it something special.

[LeeB]

The old stand had to go because it looked lovely but wasn't suitable for the modern age. I don't know whether any significant part could have been saved but it was definitely said that the mosaic and gable were staying.

The design of the new one is perfectly fine and there's a lot to commend it but the overall finish was done on the cheap. A comparatively small amount extra could have made it something special.

As an earlier poster said, given the effort put into the facade of the Holte it seems stupid then finish the Trinity as it is.

Stupid unless your prime motivation is the accumulation of pennies, of course.

Lot's of our ground works ended up 'in house', didn't they? The Master Businessman also liked to be a Master Builder too.

[dave.woodhall]

The old stand had to go because it looked lovely but wasn't suitable for the modern age. I don't know whether any significant part could have been saved but it was definitely said that the mosaic and gable were staying.

The design of the new one is perfectly fine and there's a lot to commend it but the overall finish was done on the cheap. A comparatively small amount extra could have made it something special.

As an earlier poster said, given the effort put into the facade of the Holte it seems stupid then finish the Trinity as it is.

Stupid unless your prime motivation is the accumulation of pennies, of course.

Lot's of our ground works ended up 'in house', didn't they? The Master Businessman also liked to be a Master Builder too.

That was the daft thing. Everything was built differently to what was already there except the Holte, and that was built to match something that was demolished six years later.

[PeterWithesShin]

Wasn't it under Lerner that lot of the facade work was done on the Holte?

[steamer]

Common decency normally prevents you from denigrating the dead, In the case of Doug and his wilful destruction of a piece of footballs iconic past I make an exception, Doug was a small minded , self Idolating , opinionated twat.
Apart from that he was a C**t as well.

[DB]

I remember see the finished new Trinity for the first time, walking down from Aston station toward the Holte and thinking how cheap it looked.

[dave.woodhall]

I remember see the finished new Trinity for the first time, walking down from Aston station toward the Holte and thinking how cheap it looked.

And that's the annoying thing. It looks cheap but the same design could easily have looked spectacular.

[London Villan]

The external entrance couldn’t be any worse if it tried... even 90s smoked glass would look better than the hotch potch of doors and glass...

[SoccerHQ]

It's a shame.

Was watching euro 96 re-run of Dutch-Scotland the other day and old Trinity looked majestic especially with the mosaic.

Ultimately it had to be rebuilt in some way due to the pillars and I assume lack of coporate facilities and also directors/press box being cramped but as many have said in the past we could've reconfigured the seating while building a new tier above.

When you look at the rebuild the lower tier is pretty much the same design. Overall I'd say visually Villa Park still looks fantastic when the camera pans around at the start of the game especially if the Trinity is packed out as it's been for pretty much all the games this season (not so much when top tier would be about 1/4 full in plenty of games in past season) but when you sit in the top tier it does feel pretty cramped especially in the concourses.

Edit: A few times I was going to post new stand but of course it's pretty much 20 years old! What we did do well is get it up running pretty quickly. I remember going to see Ginola paraded in the July and it was a building site still yet by December most of it was up and open to the fans. Think we hosted an England game that season aswell v Spain.

Plenty of clubs since have taken a whole season to rebuild an end behind the goal, Wolves for one.

[SoccerHQ]

The external entrance couldn’t be any worse if it tried... even 90s smoked glass would look better than the hotch potch of doors and glass...

I've never done coporate in Trinity (nor any other stand come to think of it!) but I've always quite liked walking up from the Holte side and seeing that corporate lounge above (not the one in the corner of the two stands). Would imagine guests from outside who've not reguarly been to VP would marvel at the view of the park/Aston Hall and also the crowds streaming in from Aston station.

Even though it was only built five years before the Witton feels much more dated now. Good views but again pretty cramped in the concourse. Guess we're restricted to what we can do in the future with the housing.

Seems ground improvements aren't an immediate concern for the owners but interested what VP will look like in May 2030 given the desire for big improvement on the pitch.

I believe our ground has slipped a bit in the Uefa finals pecking order aswell with all the new builds in last decade, not sure when it was last shortlisted to host a europa final.

[Sexual Ealing]

It was the last CWC final, I think.

[KevinGage]

Someone said (possibly here) that the original Trinity was commissioned at a time when only the best was good enough for Aston Villa.

The current effort was the embodiment of Ellis' 'that'll do' approach.

[London Villan]

Lerner spent a few million bringing the internal corporate facilities up to a decent standard and it is pretty good inside. The views of the park are good and the middle tier gives you a great view of the match. It’s just crap outside. It looks like the type of office thats attached to a big warehouse...