Villa Park Redevelopment

[pauliewalnuts]

I’d also like for the new ground to have a spot where we can pump out armaments for the war effort. Use them against Man U if needed.

My gt grandad worked at Kynochs, which became IMI in Witton, and that was one of the biggest armaments factories in the country.

Let's get that motherfucker back up and running.

[Drummond]

Erm the Victorian past was a bowl with a cycle track between the stands and the pitch!

You could also quibble on the fact that we moved in in 1897, and the Victorian period ended in 1901. We didn't even call it Villa Park until 1900, and didn't own it till 1911.

I reckon Victorian era Villa Park would have been pretty primitive.

So what you're saying is to leave things as they are, as a mod to our Proud History...

On which note... Its our big anniversary next season, and potentially bigger European competition too. Having a quarter of the ground closed is a bad idea.

Ok the waiting list, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out that the cast majority on there would buy one. However, I would guess that there would be plenty of touts on the list who would then sell tickets on.

[pablo_picasso]

Well if it is a total rebuild then I hope it's the most eff off amazing redbrick fortress , built to look like some steampunk Victorian zeppelin factory. Think Birmingham University Aston Webb buildings love child with the Albert Hall laced with Hagia Sophia style domes in 4 corners over the respective palaces of the Arts, Science, Industry and Literature to feature mosaics of Shakespeare and other figures from our city region. Atop a rebuilt Holte End doubled in size Golden lions with glowing red eyes and a visiting players tunnel painted black with claret neon sign "Meet Thy Doom".

Design of The Millenium Award!

Best to check that with Paul first, before making such a proclamation...

[Risso]

On which note... Its our big anniversary next season, and potentially bigger European competition too. Having a quarter of the ground closed is a bad idea.

It's not, because in two years when we're still in European competitions, we'd have a nice new stand, with great facilities, with 10,000 more people in it. And then we'd have that extra capacity forever.

[algy]

Well if it is a total rebuild then I hope it's the most eff off amazing redbrick fortress , built to look like some steampunk Victorian zeppelin factory. Think Birmingham University Aston Webb buildings love child with the Albert Hall laced with Hagia Sophia style domes in 4 corners over the respective palaces of the Arts, Science, Industry and Literature to feature mosaics of Shakespeare and other figures from our city region. Atop a rebuilt Holte End doubled in size Golden lions with glowing red eyes and a visiting players tunnel painted black with claret neon sign "Meet Thy Doom".

I'm sold

[Nunkin1965]

Well if it is a total rebuild then I hope it's the most eff off amazing redbrick fortress , built to look like some steampunk Victorian zeppelin factory. Think Birmingham University Aston Webb buildings love child with the Albert Hall laced with Hagia Sophia style domes in 4 corners over the respective palaces of the Arts, Science, Industry and Literature to feature mosaics of Shakespeare and other figures from our city region. Atop a rebuilt Holte End doubled in size Golden lions with glowing red eyes and a visiting players tunnel painted black with claret neon sign "Meet Thy Doom".

I'm sold

Take my money!

[PeterWithe]

On which note... Its our big anniversary next season, and potentially bigger European competition too. Having a quarter of the ground closed is a bad idea.

It's not, because in two years when we're still in European competitions, we'd have a nice new stand, with great facilities, with 10,000 more people in it. And then we'd have that extra capacity forever.

I'm in the latter camp, get it done, get it done as quickly as we can and then its done forever. 

[algy]

On which note... Its our big anniversary next season, and potentially bigger European competition too. Having a quarter of the ground closed is a bad idea.

It's not, because in two years when we're still in European competitions, we'd have a nice new stand, with great facilities, with 10,000 more people in it. And then we'd have that extra capacity forever.

Are those 10k extra people all going to be Villa supporters though? Or tourists on a day out? Cos I bet that makes up a pretty sizeable chunk of West Ham's new found support, maybe Spurs too. To me, that's largely who the GA+ stuff is aimed at - people who want an 'experience'. And I got the impression that's exactly who the new North Stand was aimed at - get a whole 10k stand's worth of people who want to come and see the Holte End in full force whilst stuffing their faces in a Lower Grounds type buffet.

I mean, if that's what you want then fair enough. But it's not what I'd want.

[DB]

On which note... Its our big anniversary next season, and potentially bigger European competition too. Having a quarter of the ground closed is a bad idea.

It's not, because in two years when we're still in European competitions, we'd have a nice new stand, with great facilities, with 10,000 more people in it. And then we'd have that extra capacity forever.

Agree, they need to be thinking longer term as we are not going to be in the CL for 1 year. Also, its not just what it looks like on TV, media and reps from around Europe will be visiting, having an chunk of the stadium being re-developed and expanded will show that we are fwd looking club, on the up. Look at the sh*t Manure get on the state of OT.

[Risso]

On which note... Its our big anniversary next season, and potentially bigger European competition too. Having a quarter of the ground closed is a bad idea.

It's not, because in two years when we're still in European competitions, we'd have a nice new stand, with great facilities, with 10,000 more people in it. And then we'd have that extra capacity forever.

Are those 10k extra people all going to be Villa supporters though? Or tourists on a day out? Cos I bet that makes up a pretty sizeable chunk of West Ham's new found support, maybe Spurs too. To me, that's largely who the GA+ stuff is aimed at - people who want an 'experience'. And I got the impression that's exactly who the new North Stand was aimed at - get a whole 10k stand's worth of people who want to come and see the Holte End in full force whilst stuffing their faces in a Lower Grounds type buffet.

I mean, if that's what you want then fair enough. But it's not what I'd want.

Even if there are 10,000 "tourists" at West Ham taking in a match because they're in London, they've still got 50,000+ "proper" fans. I think the chances of it being of 10,000 tourists coming to watch the Holte would be miniscule. We'd fill the ground, easily.

[The Edge]

Re: this fabled 200 unsold seats. Are they random seats dotted around the ground which would be difficult to sell? Are they unsold from the TV and LG sections which nobody wanted in the fucking first place? Also I see plenty of matches on tv, West Ham & Man City for starters, who regularly have plenty of empty seats yet are planning to increase capacity over the coming years so why are we any different? How are we going to increase capacity by 8k by reorganising seats by 2028?  You can't fill in the corners of the North Stand due to the massive pillars holding up the roof. So you could remove the roof and fill in the corners leaving the bulk of the stand in place which would look bloody awful from outside and is a complete dog's dinner botch job which a certain Mr Ellis would be proud of and besides all that rejigging and fucking around would still cost a fortune. The whole thing is an utter mess and we're left second guessing what Hecks plans are. Why are our very wealthy owners allowing this clown to mess with us like this and why is he seemingly allowed carte blanche to mess about with our historic beloved stadium with little or no consultation to us the fans who are following in the footsteps of our forefathers by following OUR football club? Apologies for the rant but the more I think about it the angrier I'm becoming.

[Villan82]

Re: this fabled 200 unsold seats. Are they random seats dotted around the ground which would be difficult to sell? Are they unsold from the TV and LG sections which nobody wanted in the fucking first place? Also I see plenty of matches on tv, West Ham & Man City for starters, who regularly have plenty of empty seats yet are planning to increase capacity over the coming years so why are we any different? How are we going to increase capacity by 8k by reorganising seats by 2028?  You can't fill in the corners of the North Stand due to the massive pillars holding up the roof. So you could remove the roof and fill in the corners leaving the bulk of the stand in place which would look bloody awful from outside and is a complete dog's dinner botch job which a certain Mr Ellis would be proud of and besides all that rejigging and fucking around would still cost a fortune. The whole thing is an utter mess and we're left second guessing what Hecks plans are. Why are our very wealthy owners allowing this clown to mess with us like this and why is he seemingly allowed carte blanche to mess about with our historic beloved stadium with little or no consultation to us the fans who are following in the footsteps of our forefathers by following OUR football club? Apologies for the rant but the more I think about it the angrier I'm becoming.

Well said, I feel the same.

The plans we had looked ace and also left the possibility of a future new Witton. What is Heck playing at? He is effectively putting a ceiling on our future growth.

And I highly doubt there is some grand plan in th works. And uf there is, I am not sure Heck is the person I would want masterminding a new Villa Park.

[Villan82]

Erm the Victorian past was a bowl with a cycle track between the stands and the pitch!

You could also quibble on the fact that we moved in in 1897, and the Victorian period ended in 1901. We didn't even call it Villa Park until 1900, and didn't own it till 1911.

I reckon Victorian era Villa Park would have been pretty primitive.

So what you're saying is to leave things as they are, as a mod to our Proud History...

On which note... Its our big anniversary next season, and potentially bigger European competition too. Having a quarter of the ground closed is a bad idea.

Ok the waiting list, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out that the cast majority on there would buy one. However, I would guess that there would be plenty of touts on the list who would then sell tickets on.

The Holte was being rebuilt when we played Inter in 1994 and it was an amazing night.

[PeterWithe]

I'm also disappointed with the news but there has to be a wider plan we are not yet privy to. The new investors with their stadium building and management experience coming in is one pointer, the other is that Heck will be coming in on a massive salary package, to justify that he is going to have to hit some pretty ambitious targets in terms of the uplift in club revenue, that uplift isn't going to be achievable with 2k extra seats squeezed into the poorest stand we have.

I think we will be seeing big plans soon.

[kipeye]

It's always possible they are looking at ways to increase capacity over and above the 10k and integrating other improvements at the same time. I'm all for getting it done, but my limited experience in development has taught me not only do you need to be sure of your plan, you need the buy-in of everyone and the foresight to think about what may come afterwards. VP is a model of foresight to not only have lasted the duration, but remain an icon of football.