Villa Park Redevelopment

[itbrvilla]

I am struggling to see the logic in what Heck clumsily announced. It makes absolutely no sense and is going to hold us back.

The only logic I can see is that he's a politician and he likes to be seen doing things differently to his predecessor. He has probably spent 6 months trying to convince the owners to scrap this and he broke them down. Villa Park was always among the elite grounds because the founders of the club had vision and ambition. It has now fallen behind these nine clubs

Man U
Man City
Tottenham
Liverpool
Arsenal
Everton
Newcastle
West Ham
Sunderland

I bet there are plenty 9f other clubs with better facilities than we have.

[Dogtanian]

I'm actually quite happy with the news. Disappointed we won't be 50k+ in the next couple of years, but overall I think we will get something better.

Chucking £100m+ now on one stand, knowing you will still be behind and still be limited in what you can do with the other three, isn't a no-brainer decision. The absolute best option as far as being competitive and growing the club, is a whole new stadium that is designed to generate the kind of revenue we need from the off.

Everything these owners have been doing has been about getting us up to an elite level. Why do we all worry they're now giving up on having an elite stadium?

I'd love a complete rebuild in our current site. We have plenty of land there, it's just annoyingly shaped. If something can be done about that, the prospect of a new top-of-the-range stadium with first class facilities funding a top four team has me drooling.

[simboy]

I'm as pissed off as the next man that ground redevelopments have been shelved. I couldn't wait for a new North stand then a new Doug Ellis stand. We would have had a truly unique 60k wonder stadium.

But to say we are now gonna be left behind and can't reach the next level staying as is for the next several years is untrue.

Chelsea have the exact same size stadium. Has it stopped them becoming a world force with several Premier leagues and Champions Leagues to there name? No.

The one good thing Ken Bates did at Chelsea was sell off the ground in metre square portions, no one can own more than 10 portions. The club has a member of the ground owners on an advisory board I think.  It’s stopped the ground being sold for redevelopment. All registered at the land registry apparently.

I suspect that’s the real reason the ground has not been sold for redevelopment and the club moved to some wasteland, probably much to the annoyance of their rich owners.

[PaulTheVillan]

Wonder if this impacts our hosting of Euro 2028 games? Not that I'm arsed either way.

[Villan82]

Villa Park has soul, history and is a huge part of our identity. As a kid I'm not sure if it was Aston Villa or Villa Park that I fell in love with. Villa Park, probably more than is the case for any other club, is hugely wrapped up in our very identity.

We have acres of space behind both goals - this is why we have always, historically, had massive end terraces/stands. There is no excuse for moving. There are two railway stations and a motorway and you are not a million miles from the city centre.

Some might think a move solves some of our issues but is it worth trading what we have at Villa Park for a greenfield site in the middle of nowhere that needs a car to get to or another city location far from our roots and with its own problems.

I challenge anybody to watch this video and still argue we can't get to the next level at our existing location:

[The Edge]

A strange statement about too much too soon, that doesn't really ring true. Not said with any conviction either.

£10,000 is the cost per additional seat now, up from £4,000 pre-pandemic. Its not going to get any cheaper.

We have significantly wealthy owners and now we're in bed with significantly wealthy (infrastructure providers) funders.

Commercial revenue has grown, with more and more corporate being crammed in every possible space, but we've reached capacity and we are instead looking at adding the warehouse, rather than new areas. Largely because there's nowhere to add new offerings too. Which contradicts the aim to grow, making the first paragraph all the more puzzling.

We have transport issues, but they're not contingent on planning and frankly, if it's built, people will come and go, just more slowly than they'd like.

He describes plans as being thoughtful. What a strangely deliberate phrase.

It's all very confusing and doesn't ring true. We haven't had the whole truth or anything close to it.

His ambiguous statement that an extra 10k seats is too much to soon can not mean that we won't fill them. We obviously will if we keep competing at the highest level. I've read that we have between 30 and 37k on the waiting list which does seem a bit fanciful but 10k doesn't. That feels a perfectly reasonable target. I think he may be referring to the difficulties an extra 10 thousand fans will mean for the local infrastructure which can't cope now at 42k. So he might have a bigger agenda at play although it's difficult to tell as we are having to second guess this guy. We need and deserve better communication and more information about their intentions for our football club. Yes OUR football club.

[The Edge]

The badge ‘fiasco’ has been explained, time and time again.

Explained really badly with a scarcely believable story about it being an experiment, it being some shit about a 1982 commemoration on, err, the 41st anniversary.

We now have a situation where we have two totally different badges used by media outlets and are about to get a third.

No, that’s not it all.


It was explained in a claret a blue podcast, in depth, how the selection process was worded and constructed in way that Purslow pre defined deisign was always going to be ‘the winner’.
It was never about giving the fans a say, it was about appearing to give the fans a say.

And how does that reflect in any way well on Heck? Come out and tell us that's the reasoning if that is the case.

And I don't really understand how something on the claret and blue podcast explains anything from the club's viewpoint on the badge.

They should have just said, we got it wrong and come clean on it.

Something that haven't actually even done - Heck referred today to consulting with the fan base on the new badge. How have they done that? I must have missed it. They also present it as something they've done out of the goodness of their hearts rather than a Premier League requirement to consult, which is what it is.

I have responded to a new badge questionnaire. I think lots on here have done.

I think the point I am making about the current badge is that it was sold as a modern, fit for purpose upgrade on the Lerner rubbish, whereas Heck realised it was a Purslow vanity project and so pulled the plug and is now doing what Purslow was supposed to be doing but wasn’t, consulting the fans for a true, fans led, replacement.

I guess we will find out in a few weeks how dangerous it is to let people vote for something.

I duno about that. It's how we ended up with the glorious name Boaty McBoatface.

[chrisw1]

The current badge was a fan-led replacement.  That's the problem.  If you let the fans choose it was always going to be a version of the 1980's round badge.

[The Edge]

My guess is that releasing the news now is so that most people forget about it over Christmas.

It seems like a radical change without a further plan at this point. I very much doubt that's the case, but perhaps they just aren't at a point to share what the new plan is?

If it's a move, that's fucking huge.
If it's rail seating, it's radical.
Maybe ticket sales are about right, there's demand enough to sell out but not enough to sell an additional 10k.
Maybe they'll fill in the corners.
Perhaps it's brinkmanship to get Witton Station done.
Perhaps they realise that better facilities in what we've got will be more of a revenue generator.
Do the outside first, get revenue per head up before developing.

Of course the ground would look super shit to everyone else if we get Champions League and then have to play in reduced capacity and who knows the effect it could have.

We're 150 next year, and if we do that well it will improve our standing. I suspect there are good plans for it.

What I don't get right now is the reason people are so pissed off.

I'm guessing you're not one of those on the waiting list. I've waited for years for me and my two sons to be able to get season tickets together. My youngest enlisted us and we're about 9000th on the list.This has come as a kick in the teeth for us and the worst part is the cold way it was announced just "it's not happening" without any suggestion of what actually WILL be happening. So yes I'm pissed off about it and I believe I have every right to be alongside the thousands of other genuine hopefuls who joined the waiting list.

[Nii Lamptey]

Villa Park has soul, history and is a huge part of our identity. As a kid I'm not sure if it was Aston Villa or Villa Park that I fell in love with. Villa Park, probably more than is the case for any other club, is hugely wrapped up in our very identity.

We have acres of space behind both goals - this is why we have always, historically, had massive end terraces/stands. There is no excuse for moving. There are two railway stations and a motorway and you are not a million miles from the city centre.

Some might think a move solves some of our issues but is it worth trading what we have at Villa Park for a greenfield site in the middle of nowhere that needs a car to get to or another city location far from our roots and with its own problems.

I challenge anybody to watch this video and still argue we can't get to the next level at our existing location:

Seeing that video, and the fade to the original Villa Park is 100% the reason we should NEVER even entertain the idea of moving from these hallowed grounds. Thanks Villan82... even more gutted it's not going ahead now. Looks beautiful! 😭

[Villan82]

You are welcome Nii Lamptey! Unfortunately, I fear Mr Heck understands the value of nothing.

[DB]

My guess is that releasing the news now is so that most people forget about it over Christmas.

It seems like a radical change without a further plan at this point. I very much doubt that's the case, but perhaps they just aren't at a point to share what the new plan is?

If it's a move, that's fucking huge.
If it's rail seating, it's radical.
Maybe ticket sales are about right, there's demand enough to sell out but not enough to sell an additional 10k.
Maybe they'll fill in the corners.
Perhaps it's brinkmanship to get Witton Station done.
Perhaps they realise that better facilities in what we've got will be more of a revenue generator.
Do the outside first, get revenue per head up before developing.

Of course the ground would look super shit to everyone else if we get Champions League and then have to play in reduced capacity and who knows the effect it could have.

We're 150 next year, and if we do that well it will improve our standing. I suspect there are good plans for it.

What I don't get right now is the reason people are so pissed off.

I'm guessing you're not one of those on the waiting list. I've waited for years for me and my two sons to be able to get season tickets together. My youngest enlisted us and we're about 9000th on the list.This has come as a kick in the teeth for us and the worst part is the cold way it was announced just "it's not happening" without any suggestion of what actually WILL be happening.

Same here, as a member, I could have taken reduced chances of getting a ticket for me and my lad for 2 years if there was a bigger chance after that of getting a ST.
I just hope Heck sorts his comms out and tells up what the plan for the ground is sooner rather than later.

[Drummond]

My guess is that releasing the news now is so that most people forget about it over Christmas.

It seems like a radical change without a further plan at this point. I very much doubt that's the case, but perhaps they just aren't at a point to share what the new plan is?

If it's a move, that's fucking huge.
If it's rail seating, it's radical.
Maybe ticket sales are about right, there's demand enough to sell out but not enough to sell an additional 10k.
Maybe they'll fill in the corners.
Perhaps it's brinkmanship to get Witton Station done.
Perhaps they realise that better facilities in what we've got will be more of a revenue generator.
Do the outside first, get revenue per head up before developing.

Of course the ground would look super shit to everyone else if we get Champions League and then have to play in reduced capacity and who knows the effect it could have.

We're 150 next year, and if we do that well it will improve our standing. I suspect there are good plans for it.

What I don't get right now is the reason people are so pissed off.

I'm guessing you're not one of those on the waiting list. I've waited for years for me and my two sons to be able to get season tickets together. My youngest enlisted us and we're about 9000th on the list.This has come as a kick in the teeth for us and the worst part is the cold way it was announced just "it's not happening" without any suggestion of what actually WILL be happening.

My son and I were at 12500 ish last year when they emailed me. I'm guessing we haven't moved far. So yes, it's disappointing from that perspective.

I know it's cold, but I'm guessing at most of the fan events the majority of comments are about shit service and facilities rather than season ticket waiting lists.

[SamTheMouse]

Villa Park has soul, history and is a huge part of our identity. As a kid I'm not sure if it was Aston Villa or Villa Park that I fell in love with. Villa Park, probably more than is the case for any other club, is hugely wrapped up in our very identity.

I'm only a plastic fan really as I live a thousand kilometres away and hardly ever go to games these days - the last one I got to was Burnley under Gerrard. And even when I was a kid and lived up the road, I only went rarely, mainly 'cos we had no money and not a single one of my friends or family liked Villa.

But Villa Park was always that intriguing, wondrous, alluring place I used to stare at out the car window when we drove up to see the "fam" from down south. It was my El Dorado. Still is. The last time I walked up the road from the station and the North Stand hoved into view, I welled up.

So even for me, it's important. I can't imagine what a wrench leaving it would be for people who have been going every other week for decades.

[The Edge]

My guess is that releasing the news now is so that most people forget about it over Christmas.

It seems like a radical change without a further plan at this point. I very much doubt that's the case, but perhaps they just aren't at a point to share what the new plan is?

If it's a move, that's fucking huge.
If it's rail seating, it's radical.
Maybe ticket sales are about right, there's demand enough to sell out but not enough to sell an additional 10k.
Maybe they'll fill in the corners.
Perhaps it's brinkmanship to get Witton Station done.
Perhaps they realise that better facilities in what we've got will be more of a revenue generator.
Do the outside first, get revenue per head up before developing.

Of course the ground would look super shit to everyone else if we get Champions League and then have to play in reduced capacity and who knows the effect it could have.

We're 150 next year, and if we do that well it will improve our standing. I suspect there are good plans for it.

What I don't get right now is the reason people are so pissed off.

I'm guessing you're not one of those on the waiting list. I've waited for years for me and my two sons to be able to get season tickets together. My youngest enlisted us and we're about 9000th on the list.This has come as a kick in the teeth for us and the worst part is the cold way it was announced just "it's not happening" without any suggestion of what actually WILL be happening. So yes I'm pissed off about it and I believe I have every right to be alongside the thousands of other genuine hopefuls who joined the waiting list.

Same here, as a member, I could have taken reduced chances of getting a ticket for me and my lad for 2 years if there was a bigger chance after that of getting a ST.
I just hope Heck sorts his comms out and tells up what the plan for the ground is sooner rather than later.