Villa Park Redevelopment

[curiousorange]

I never got to go regularly as a kid, but every time we passed Villa Park on the motorway it was like looking at a monument on a hill - this huge beacon of worship. And whenever I came back from uni on the Walsall train, the sight of Villa Park to my left always told me I was home.

[VillaTim]

I don't think we will move from B6 , i ceratinly hope not , there are no reasons why we can't develop the current ground as we need to without moving to a soulless bowl on a retail park.

[ChicagoLion]

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:

Completely agree. There isn't anywhere better to have our Ground.

[Simon Page]

I think maybe everyone needs to calm down a bit. We're missing the bigger picture here which is:

I could've teabagged the bloke in front while still seated.

All you can stomach teabagging from an average height is surely the offering that will make the Lower Grounds a goer.


If not, at least buy him a balti pie first, you romantic devil.

[Drummond]

I think he’s convinced the owners that spending big on one stand makes little sense. I think we are looking at either moving (most likely)  or knocking three stands down.

He's been such a bad influence since the day he walked in. I am convinced he won't be here long but he will have held us back significantly and possibly cost Birmingham the Euros .

I think he was lumbered by a shit badge, the Terrace View, the Lower Grounds and the new stand and is steadily unpicking it all. I'm not saying he's right or wrong, but his work in the USA shows he has the experience.

As for costing Birmingham the Euros, well that takes second place to the Villa's needs I'm afraid.

[The Edge]

The council are strapped for cash. How about we purchase a chunk of Asto Park off them on the Trinity Rd side. It's fairly flat and can be excavated if needs be. Build a spanking new stadium which would have to be completely re-aligned and do it in stages like Spurs did? Possibly a tunnel for the Trinity Rd itself. Again referring to Spurs they tunnelled under the ground for the pitch didn't they? If Daniel Levy can get all that done I'm sure our owners can. I know they had Wembley for a season so that's quite an obstacle. I'm just brainstorming because we can not leave our spiritual home. No way.

[Dogtanian]

The council are strapped for cash. How about we purchase a chunk of Asto Park off them on the Trinity Rd side. It's fairly flat and can be excavated if needs be. Build a spanking new stadium which would have to be completely re-aligned and do it in stages like Spurs did? Possibly a tunnel for the Trinity Rd itself. Again referring to Spurs they tunnelled under the ground for the pitch didn't they? If Daniel Levy can get all that done I'm sure our owners can. I know they had Wembley for a season so that's quite an obstacle. I'm just brainstorming because we can not leave our spiritual home. No way.

I do think something like this would be fantastic. And a lovely day out for people, Aston Hall and Villa Park. Lovely.

[PeterWithe]

The council are strapped for cash. How about we purchase a chunk of Asto Park off them on the Trinity Rd side. It's fairly flat and can be excavated if needs be. Build a spanking new stadium which would have to be completely re-aligned and do it in stages like Spurs did? Possibly a tunnel for the Trinity Rd itself. Again referring to Spurs they tunnelled under the ground for the pitch didn't they? If Daniel Levy can get all that done I'm sure our owners can. I know they had Wembley for a season so that's quite an obstacle. I'm just brainstorming because we can not leave our spiritual home. No way.

I'm not sure there is the space on the park site given AH sits slap bang in the middle.

[Risso]

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.

To be fair that's like me drooling over the idea of a night with Dua Lipa. It's a nice idea but the chances of it happening are less than zero. How on earth would we get a whole new stadium on the current site? Where would we play in the years it would take to demolish and rebuild? If they're pulling a face at one new stand, how is that you think they're going to demolish all four, especially when two of the stands are half decent and don't need improving yet. If they were going to do that it would make far more sense to just move and build somewhere else.

[Des Little]

I may have missed it, so apologies but did Heck mention anything about the farmers market they showed happening behind the new stand? I hope this decision won’t affect that taking place, I was really looking forward to it.

[Dogtanian]

The council are strapped for cash. How about we purchase a chunk of Asto Park off them on the Trinity Rd side. It's fairly flat and can be excavated if needs be. Build a spanking new stadium which would have to be completely re-aligned and do it in stages like Spurs did? Possibly a tunnel for the Trinity Rd itself. Again referring to Spurs they tunnelled under the ground for the pitch didn't they? If Daniel Levy can get all that done I'm sure our owners can. I know they had Wembley for a season so that's quite an obstacle. I'm just brainstorming because we can not leave our spiritual home. No way.

I'm not sure there is the space on the park site given AH sits slap bang in the middle.

I think you can, looking at the footprint of the Spurs and Arsenal stadiums. And it's the only option that doesn't involve people's houses.

[Risso]

I may have missed it, so apologies but did Heck mention anything about the farmers market they showed happening behind the new stand? I hope this decision won’t affect that taking place, I was really looking forward to it.

The ability to purchase artisan cheeses and home made chutney appears to have slipped his mind momentarily.

[Drummond]

Maybe there's a plan to knock Villa Park down and build new on the site, by moving everything 50-100m into the North Stand car park.

Though where the hell we'd play in the meantime is anybody's guess. Maybe we'd offer to develop another stadium in the city to make it near big enough for our temporary use.

Current capacities of local stadia.

Alexandra 18k
Bescot 11k
Hawthorns 26k
Sty 29k
Coventry Arena 40k

So, let's say we went for a total rebuild on site, with improved transport links (notice he referenced them in his video?) and moved to Coventry for a bit, we'd lose a couple of thousand tickets, of which a portion would be away fans.... It's far from ideal, but might be the answer.

[pauliewalnuts]

Maybe there's a plan to knock Villa Park down and build new on the site, by moving everything 50-100m into the North Stand car park.

Though where the hell we'd play in the meantime is anybody's guess. Maybe we'd offer to develop another stadium in the city to make it near big enough for our temporary use.

Current capacities of local stadia.

Alexandra 18k
Bescot 11k
Hawthorns 26k
Sty 29k
Coventry Arena 40k

So, let's say we went for a total rebuild on site, with improved transport links (notice he referenced them in his video?) and moved to Coventry for a bit, we'd lose a couple of thousand tickets, of which a portion would be away fans.... It's far from ideal, but might be the answer.

Coventry Arena is 32k, not 40. 40 is the figure for gigs, not football matches.

[PeterWithe]

The council are strapped for cash. How about we purchase a chunk of Asto Park off them on the Trinity Rd side. It's fairly flat and can be excavated if needs be. Build a spanking new stadium which would have to be completely re-aligned and do it in stages like Spurs did? Possibly a tunnel for the Trinity Rd itself. Again referring to Spurs they tunnelled under the ground for the pitch didn't they? If Daniel Levy can get all that done I'm sure our owners can. I know they had Wembley for a season so that's quite an obstacle. I'm just brainstorming because we can not leave our spiritual home. No way.

I'm not sure there is the space on the park site given AH sits slap bang in the middle.

I think you can, looking at the footprint of the Spurs and Arsenal stadiums. And it's the only option that doesn't involve people's houses.

Happy to bow to those with experience and greater knowledge, which wouldn't be hard, but I cant see it without a partial demolition of VP to utilise some of the land in the current footprint which is what we are shying away from now it seems.