Villa Park Redevelopment

[itbrvilla]

Strange news. 
Either they haven’t got enough cash.
Or a ground move. 

Wasn't an investment partner announced in the last week or so? All very odd.

[pauliewalnuts]

Plus, our stadium has very little history left already now. It's 70s - 00s, aside from the location.

It's surprising how many away fans don't realise this.

I was listening to a football podcast recently and they discussed Villa Park, and the one guy said he was going there in a few weeks and he was really excited as it's such a historic ground etc etc, and then specifically said he was looking forward to seeing Archibald Leitch's work.

Good luck with that.

I also think a lot of away fans think the rear of the Holte End is 100 years old and a remnant of a historic part of the ground which has survived the years.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I think the idea is to wait until we're shit again before knocking down the North Stand.

[Clampy]

Would it be surprising that this is put on hold so we don’t have a reduced capacity headed into what might be CL football? It would be shit to finally get there and only have three stands in place. So this decisions avoids that but also buys a little more time to get everything right around the ground as well the stand itself.

I think that's what it is but who knows?

[Simon Page]

His interview reminded me of a speech I was once witness to before a round of redundancies were announced. I took redundancy.

We're thrilled to announce an exciting vision of future possibilities with opportunity at the core and a focus on customer experience while valuing our most precious assets: YOU!

Security?

[DB]

Wow, there is a lot of jumping to conclusions and the usual over-reactions. 

I can't see too much to get upset about in what he said there, using the current form as a reason might be a little in the now, but nothing too egregious there.

One thing I've noticed about Heck so far is that there's been quite a lot of "stopping doing stuff" and not very much of "We're doing this instead".

I take his point about demolishing the north stand whilst having a massive favourable turnaround in what is on the pitch, that makes sense, but it would have been much, much better if he'd described what we were going to do instead.

You've told us what we are not doing, now tell us what we ARE doing.

Yes, I said this a couple of pages back. The comms has been awful.

[nick harper]

Wow, there is a lot of jumping to conclusions and the usual over-reactions. 

I can't see too much to get upset about in what he said there, using the current form as a reason might be a little in the now, but nothing too egregious there.

One thing I've noticed about Heck so far is that there's been quite a lot of "stopping doing stuff" and not very much of "We're doing this instead".

I take his point about demolishing the north stand whilst having a massive favourable turnaround in what is on the pitch, that makes sense, but it would have been much, much better if he'd described what we were going to do instead.

You've told us what we are not doing, now tell us what we ARE doing.

Yes, agree with this. It just feels deflating. Priority is to double the size of the store, add another corporate venue (great), and improve facilities at Bodymoor, which is fine but makes no difference to the fans. Meanwhile, the configuration of the North Stand means continued cramped legroom, concourse space and a stand no longer fit for the 21st century. Ditto Witton Lane.

I don’t have any doubt we’d fill 50,000. Wes Ham have doubled their attendance average. Everton will add another 15,000. He needs to come up with a bigger vision, and share it quickly.

[Richard E]

I think the idea is to wait until we're shit again before knocking down the North Stand.

You mean we’re stuck with the North Stand forever?!?

[Risso]

Would it be surprising that this is put on hold so we don’t have a reduced capacity headed into what might be CL football? It would be shit to finally get there and only have three stands in place. So this decisions avoids that but also buys a little more time to get everything right around the ground as well the stand itself.

That's such a piss poor excuse though. We don't just want Champions League for one year, we want it every year. There's never going to be a good time to knock down a stand, but as I said earlier, all investments require short term pain. We haven't achieved Champions League football yet, anyway, and if we do, then we could go out of the group stage at the first hurdle. Is it really worth holding back on a major redevelopment for the sake of a possible three extra games?

[VILLA MOLE]

It does not feel a great day for off the field news ,  but hey hoe off we go or not as it stands 

[pauliewalnuts]

I think this is about keeping their options open and seeing what happens the next season or two. If we end up winning the league / qualifying for and doing well in the Champions League then maybe that changes the question in terms of what we want to do next.

Once the first swing of the wrecking ball makes contact with the North Stand, it'll be too late, we'll realistically be committing to the current location for the long term.

I am also wondering if they see the cash-strapped council needing to sell assets and are looking at the amount of space they might buy in Aston Park and thinking about rebuilding there, or at least buying the space to have options.

[ChicagoLion]

Yes, relocation must be on the cards.
So not telling us anything does not really fit with the fans are at the centre of everything.
I have spent a lot of time doing business with Americans and they all sound like that when they are avoiding telling you the truth.
 

[curiousorange]

Fans follow success, but they also follow the illusion of success. A lot of us consider football to be life or death, but a great many others see it mainly as an experience. If we're serious PL players in the years to come, we'd sell 50k every home game, no sweat.

[Sexual Ealing]

To my addled mind, the only comparable ground to VP was Highbury. The Arsenal fans seem happy enough with their airport lounge. We're not Arsenal fans though, and I'd fucking hate to have anything similar.

Then again, I don't go very often so I'd defer to those who do.

[usav]

I think this is about keeping their options open and seeing what happens the next season or two. If we end up winning the league / qualifying for and doing well in the Champions League then maybe that changes the question in terms of what we want to do next.

Once the first swing of the wrecking ball makes contact with the North Stand, it'll be too late, we'll realistically be committing to the current location for the long term.

Some common sense.