Villa Park Redevelopment

[Dogtanian]

It used to be the CL revenue that helped keep the big boys at the top. Spurs without CL still have a massive advantage because of the extra commercial revenue their ground now makes.

The owners may be seeing that even if we get in the CL for a few seasons, without a massive increase in matchday revenue we are still going to be well behind. A new stadium may be the most likely way of joining that club.

I really expect Newcastle to do the same at some point, only I wouldn't be surprised if they get moved down south to somewhere more attractive for tourist money.

[PeterWithe]

- They've already said that it's too dangerous and logisitically impossible with all the cables and pipes etc

Didn't they say that it would just take longer, and hence more expensive, by doing it that way. Maybe they are eyeing any possible CL money and its now a different decision?

[PeterWithesShin]

The Villa boys from somewhere other than Aston, we travel near and far, you can hear us singing, from the souless astrodome bowl somewhere on the outskirts of town.

[Dogtanian]

- They've already said that it's too dangerous and logisitically impossible with all the cables and pipes etc

Didn't they say that it would just take longer, and hence more expensive, by doing it that way. Maybe they are eyeing any possible CL money and its now a different decision?

Potentially. If they're looking at bolstering the squad, FFP is going to be a prime concern, and maybe they now want every penny of matchday revenue to go bigger than we planned.

[Nii Lamptey]

Villa Park is what makes us unique, and is the one ever present as new generations of fans come along and old generations depart to that Holte End in the sky.

I'd rather sit in 2 hours of traffic to walk up Witton Road, smelling burgers and hotdogs with the glorious Holte End in the distance any day, than take a turn off the motorway into some tarmacced plateau servicing a soulless, plastic bowl.

Really starting to take a dislike to this new guy. If being successful means that we have to set light to our history, then I'd rather not thanks.

[curiousorange]

I would imagine if you're going to build it in the countryside somewhere it'll be somewhere that was compulsory purchased for HS2. Less red tape, less opposition to destroying green belt or whatever. But also suggests north of Brum because that leg was cancelled.

[Towser]

There was a brief mention that Aston Hall could be sold off, would that be pheasable for a new ground to be built next to Villa Park? If this happened, would it still be Villa Park?

[Ads]

Land can be bought somewhere. You don't need to have empty land. Obviously if it costs £100m to purchase, you're adding 10% onto the construction, but so what?

I love Villa Park. Its majestic. A huge new 25k single tiered Holte would be quite persuasive to me mind.

[itbrvilla]

Aston Villa’s president of football operations, Chris Heck, has revealed the club have paused plans to redevelop Villa Park.

Villa had planned to demolish the North Stand following a Foo Fighters concert at Villa Park next June before building an entirely new stand which would connect with the Trinity Road Stand and the Doug Ellis Stand. Heck views this as a "bad idea" considering it would mean the stadium's capacity would drop to 36,000 from the start of next season and until 2025/26.

The plans were due to increase the capacity at the stadium to 50,000, while knocking the North Stand down was viewed as the most efficient way to deliver greater capacity at the stadium, instead of building behind the current structure.

"The North Stand [rebuild] is a massive project," Heck told Villa TV. "When I came in it was right in front of me. There were extremely ambitious ideas and a lot of it was thoughtful.

"What I will say is this. Over the summer months I became more concerned we were adding too many seats too fast. It was important that we took a step back and re-evaluate what is best for our fans.

"I mention this with the transportation, I mention this with the parking situation. What I would also mention is that we have 42,000 plus seats. It is a substantial amount. To add on 10,000 right now doesn’t seem practical to me and I will tell you why.

"Number one, we talk about Villa Park being a fortress. It is true. There is no better home advantage than at Villa Park and I think it would be a bad idea to tear down one of the stands for a two year period while we are playing like we are. I think that going forward, everything should be about all fans and not just one particular stand."

Asked what redevelopment plans will go ahead, Heck said: "We are going to start renovating the Warehouse area. That is a massive space that we think can be a hospitality zone and an entertainment zone for 3,000 fans. Not only pre-game and post-game, but also for concerts and other shows that we have at Villa Park.

"We are going to do a lot of renovation at Bodymoor Heath to continue building our academy, our womens programme , to build more for our first-team and be more attractive to bring in talent around the world.

"Those components are really important. There is another one. We will enhance out technology and some of the practical facilities at Villa Park in all four stands. Don’t be surprised if you see our superstore double in size this summer as we are going to be very, very active with merchandising."

[curiousorange]

I'm not mad keen on a move, but I have to say that new Everton ground looks impressive up close, in a really eye-catching setting. No way they could have done it in their current location.

One thing to be said about that ground though: it looks like a pain to get to.

[DB]

I wonder if it’s just posturing as cannot get assurances re infrastructure, transport….
No way Brum would want to miss out on the Euros. Unless Heck is thinking beyond that to a new stadium and not just a top up of VP…bigger commercial opportunities with a showcase stadium.

[Simon Page]

Fckn get in: We're gonna do the Double (the floorspace of our superstore). In your face Manchester.

[LeeB]

I'm not mad keen on a move, but I have to say that new Everton ground looks impressive up close, in a really eye-catching setting. No way they could have done it in their current location.

One thing to be said about that ground though: it looks like a pain to get to.

It will be, Liverpool is as bad as Brum in terms of getting around.

[pablo_picasso]

So.

No seat additions because "fans", but a double size merchandise shop & another area to charge £100 for substandard street food...

I really dislike Chris Heck.

[Ads]

2 years with only 3 sides to the stadium is proper bollocks to be fair. There must be someway we can alter that, as it will make us like the Kasam.