Villa Park Redevelopment

[The Man With A Stick]

Some people on socials seem convinced the NEC is the ultimate plan should we move. Is that realistic?

Fuck that, it's the wrong side of the tracks for starters.

[Risso]

I'm not au fait with the intricacies of Birmingham's local politics, but I'd be amazed if a Tory mayor wasn't up for selling off public assets for 'development'.

Absolutely nothing to do with him though.

[curiousorange]

I would say the soul of a football club is fluid, and can always be altered to suit if there are trophies to be had.

[Sexual Ealing]

I'm not au fait with the intricacies of Birmingham's local politics, but I'd be amazed if a Tory mayor wasn't up for selling off public assets for 'development'.

Absolutely nothing to do with him though.

Ah. As I said, I know fuck all!

[Drummond]

Next season is our 150th anniversary. It's also possibly our time for the Champions League. In that context, knocking down our oldest stand for that season and the one after wouldn't be a great look.

The Euros thing isn't much of a problem. If they focus on the fans that go now, and get that experience right, revenues will go up hugely anyway.

[pablo_picasso]

Moving stadium and location is a double whammy in terms of losing emotional attachment. Spurs and Arsenal’s new grounds are pretty much next door to their old ones, meaning no impact on how fans get to the ground so they can maintain long held pre-match rituals. Something we would never be able to do.

Triple whammy, cos they will go for a name change too...

[Dogtanian]

Having a play with Google maps and measuring the size of the Emirates and Spuds' toilet bowl, you could fit something like those if you could move Trinity road and get some of the land on the other side of it.

But the big issue with doing it that way would be having no stadium at all for several years...

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Has a new stadium ever been developed in tandem with a new railway station?

The red tape and wider implications of new stations create a massive problem - look at the three stations on the Camp Hill line. Planned for over 15 years - still not ready and they require no new tracks, sidings etc... All the stuff at Witton is superficial - queueing and access - not an increase in the number of trains or the number of carriages. These decisions are well beyond the influence of football clubs and (bankrupt) local authorities.

I can't recall one in this country. Munich did for the Allianz Arena.

Coventry arena had a station build but not until a few years later.

The only other one I can think of is the olympic park but that was a far bigger project.

Hull City had their own station at the old Boothferry Park. Of course back in the 60s and 70s, you had proper grounds that were shite and the car hadn't really reached to such far flung parts of Yorkshire.

[Brazilian Villain]

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.

This for me (plus what Nev and PWS said).

[rob_bridge]

Some people on socials seem convinced the NEC is the ultimate plan should we move. Is that realistic?

Fuck that, it's the wrong side of the tracks for starters.

If and it is a big if we move, can anyone think of a location other than extended NEC and surrounds site which will have the requisite ready made transport links. Anywhere in the conurbation - because I am racking my brains and can't think.

[john2710]

1. They've tested the water with the Lower Grounds & Holte End upgrades, they know how far down the list of the 20k on the waiting list they have gone to get people to take up the few tickets that become available. Maybe they've realised that we're not yet in a position to fill 50k every week or to sell the number of corporate spaces they thought.


2. On the pitch we are years ahead of where we thought we'd be even 2 years ago, Villa Park & it's atmosphere is a massive advantage & maybe we need to keep things stable & build on where we are before making any comittments. A bit like Doug keeping his powder dry for when the TV money ran out & we could pounce.


3. We're about to outgrow Villa Park & it's limitations, the opportunity of outside investment & a council that is skint provides a unique opportuninty to build a new stadium for the next 150 years.

If we stand still, we'll be left behind, again. If we put a successful team on the pitch, the crowds will turn up.

[London Villan]

The LDV/HS2 site is the interesting one - a load of the land has just been released by HS2 because they don't need it. That was before the downgrade too.


Tie that into the planned new stations on the existing railway line there and the Metro to Star City - as well as the existing station at Aston, which is a similar walking distance, then the transport doesn't look too bad...

[Villafirst]

Disappointing news. You obviously can't develop without some loss of capacity and revenue. The North Stand desperately needs replacing. The facilties are outdated. Liverpool have added a lot more capacity over several years and I understand their capacity will be around 57,000. Not a single seat has been added to Villa Park in over 20 years - Deadly Doug replaced the Trinity Road stand in the last major redevelopment of the stadium. Demand is at record levels, and the club has failed to satisfy that demand. I can't believe the redevelopment will take over 2 years to complete. Surely the lower part of of the North Stand can be retained and demolish the rear structure for expansion?

[sid1964]

I would imagine that Unai is going to get that hotel built at BMH

[TonyD]

The NEC would be bloody awful.   No thanks.