Villa Park Redevelopment

[Risso]

It's not like Purslow designed the plans himself, we need the capacity increase, and the scheme produced by the architects etc looks very good. Why would Heck know any better about that sort of thing?

[FatSam]

As I wrote previously, I suspect that the decision is about phasing, and testing demand. If that is the case, there is a danger that the demand will prove not to justify the investment in this location. I suppose there is a point at which the location becomes a hindrance to achieving the owners’ ambitions for the club. That said, I can’t see us moving anywhere else once £200m has been dropped on the new Witton End.

[pauliewalnuts]

I found myself wondering this morning whether they’re thinking about moving.

[chrisw1]

They can learn from Edgbaston on major match days albeit with a much smaller crowd and the c

In terms of facilities, I was amazed at Edgbaston they had this "self-serve" beer pouring. 

Every tap had a member of staff next to it.  Watching a member of the public pouring their own pint, then fixing it when they fucked it up.

Pretty certain that's the definition of insanity.  Having trained bar staff watch members of the public serve themselves on a 1-1 basis.  Purlsow would be proud

It goes without saying I poured my pint perfectly

Edgbaston gets much smaller crowds and has more bars, on major match days there are more temporary bars which are away from the stands which would not work at Villa Park.

I still queued 40 minutes at the test match because click and collect drink ordering wasn’t working.

The difference with Edgbaston is they're serving all day, not for 1 hr before a game and 15 mins at half time, so it's easier to justify the extra spend and staff.

[Risso]

I found myself wondering this morning whether they’re thinking about moving.

Hopefully. *ducks for cover*

[London Villan]

The alternative view is that Villa could buy the Aston Hotel and own the entire side of Witton Lane - Refurbished (along with Stumps) it could make a pretty impressive entrance to Villa Park from that side of the ground.

[LeeB]

Maybe he's just looked from the angle of what we can do right now with what we already to improve the match day experience and then take it from there, which seems logical to me.
 

[Dogtanian]

Maybe he's just looked from the angle of what we can do right now with what we already to improve the match day experience and then take it from there, which seems logical to me.

It struck me too that this was because of the transport situation being up in the air and wanting to do something concrete next season regardless.

[LeeB]

Maybe he's just looked from the angle of what we can do right now with what we already to improve the match day experience and then take it from there, which seems logical to me.

It struck me too that this was because of the transport situation being up in the air and wanting to do something concrete next season regardless.

Exactly, we could sit on our hands doing nothing and point at the transport issue holding everything up, or we can focus on making the most of what we've already got, and watching that presentation video he did at the '76 ers the other day that strikes me as exactly the way he'd approach things

[FatSam]

I don’t think we will move, but just to hypothesise:

From a standing start, a new stadium would be the best part of 10 years away. There is clearly demand now for 8-10k additional seats, and hosting Euro ‘28 probably relies upon having an increased capacity. There is jeopardy associated with all of that; delays in developing a new ground, build cost fluctuations, we won’t know about Euro ‘28 until September etc. I could see a scenario where we build a budget version of the new Witton End, intended to tide us over until a new ground was ready. It clearly wouldn’t justify the level of expense that is currently being planned though, and would probably have to be written off as as an investment in nurturing larger crowds. I suppose it would all come down to what the cost differential would be.

[London Villan]

The problem with a new ground is the location.

Smithfield could have been an option (better transport, local facilities, etc) - and might still be as nothing has been built yet.
But without demolishing half of Aston there isn't an obvious local site that has better transport links, which is ultimately the problem.

[tomd2103]

I found myself wondering this morning whether they’re thinking about moving.

Wouldn't be surprised if it is something that is being looked at.  If the aim is to significantly increase the commercial side of things, then a new ground in the city centre would presumably help with that. 

[Risso]

Maybe he's just looked from the angle of what we can do right now with what we already to improve the match day experience and then take it from there, which seems logical to me.

It struck me too that this was because of the transport situation being up in the air and wanting to do something concrete next season regardless.

Exactly, we could sit on our hands doing nothing and point at the transport issue holding everything up, or we can focus on making the most of what we've already got, and watching that presentation video he did at the '76 ers the other day that strikes me as exactly the way he'd approach things

That all just strikes me as short term thinking mate. We can and should improve things like the catering that's in the stands already, but we need a bigger ground, with much better facilities. As much as everybody loves the place, the facilities are mostly atrocious. Just tarting up Stumps isn't really going to achieve much.

[LeeB]

Maybe he's just looked from the angle of what we can do right now with what we already to improve the match day experience and then take it from there, which seems logical to me.

It struck me too that this was because of the transport situation being up in the air and wanting to do something concrete next season regardless.

Exactly, we could sit on our hands doing nothing and point at the transport issue holding everything up, or we can focus on making the most of what we've already got, and watching that presentation video he did at the '76 ers the other day that strikes me as exactly the way he'd approach things

That all just strikes me as short term thinking mate. We can and should improve things like the catering that's in the stands already, but we need a bigger ground, with much better facilities. As much as everybody loves the place, the facilities are mostly atrocious. Just tarting up Stumps isn't really going to achieve much.

It would make a massive bloody difference to my matchday experience straight off if they shifted the fanzone bit that currently bottlenecks the corner of Trinity Rd/ North Stand to Stumps, and most of the best drinking/eating venues around the city these days are converted former factories or warehouses, it shouldn't be hard or costly to do so effectively.

It doesn't mean chucking future proposals in the bin, just improve what we have now and let the resonse to that shape how we go in future

[tomd2103]

I don’t think we will move, but just to hypothesise:

From a standing start, a new stadium would be the best part of 10 years away. There is clearly demand now for 8-10k additional seats, and hosting Euro ‘28 probably relies upon having an increased capacity. There is jeopardy associated with all of that; delays in developing a new ground, build cost fluctuations, we won’t know about Euro ‘28 until September etc. I could see a scenario where we build a budget version of the new Witton End, intended to tide us over until a new ground was ready. It clearly wouldn’t justify the level of expense that is currently being planned though, and would probably have to be written off as as an investment in nurturing larger crowds. I suppose it would all come down to what the cost differential would be.

I'll readily admit that I don't know too much about how it would all work, but that seems like a reasonable hypothesis.  Upgrade the North Stand along with existing facilities so we can hold Euro 28 games and build a bigger crowd at games.  Then work on building a bigger new stadium somewhere that could really maximise the commercial side of things.