Villa Park Redevelopment

[Beard82]

“There aren’t enough facilities in the area for the supporters”.

Hmmm. I wonder what that means. Inside five years we’re building elsewhere. Nailed on.

Isn’t that in relation to the warehouse thing?  He wants to build that first

[paul_e]

“There aren’t enough facilities in the area for the supporters”.

Hmmm. I wonder what that means. Inside five years we’re building elsewhere. Nailed on.

Isn’t that in relation to the warehouse thing?  He wants to build that first

Across all the comments the thing that stands out for me is that everything he says about making sure we maximise the revenue for what we have before adding more seats. Some people will see it as cynical, and that's fair, but things like getting people to buy food at the ground instead of a chip shop on the way to/from it or to arrange to meet friends at the warehouse instead of a pub for a couple of pre-match beers. None of that is wanting supporters to spend more money overall but it is wanting to grab a bigger share of what they spend already.

Personally I'm really intrigued by what they're going to do with the GA+ stuff they already have to make it more appealing. I said before that, for me, the lower grounds in concept isn't terrible, get the food and drink offerings right and I can see it being successful in the longer-term, but right now the offering isn't high enough quality to justify it, I'm sure the club are aware of those criticisms. I have bigger issues with the terrace view, which I don't think will last all that long.

[dave.woodhall]

“There aren’t enough facilities in the area for the supporters”.

Hmmm. I wonder what that means. Inside five years we’re building elsewhere. Nailed on.

Isn’t that in relation to the warehouse thing?  He wants to build that first

Across all the comments the thing that stands out for me is that everything he says about making sure we maximise the revenue for what we have before adding more seats. Some people will see it as cynical, and that's fair, but things like getting people to buy food at the ground instead of a chip shop on the way to/from it or to arrange to meet friends at the warehouse instead of a pub for a couple of pre-match beers. None of that is wanting supporters to spend more money overall but it is wanting to grab a bigger share of what they spend already.

Personally I'm really intrigued by what they're going to do with the GA+ stuff they already have to make it more appealing. I said before that, for me, the lower grounds in concept isn't terrible, get the food and drink offerings right and I can see it being successful in the longer-term, but right now the offering isn't high enough quality to justify it, I'm sure the club are aware of those criticisms. I have bigger issues with the terrace view, which I don't think will last all that long.

And yet from what they're saying, Terrace View is doing the better of the two.

[luke95]

“There aren’t enough facilities in the area for the supporters”.

Hmmm. I wonder what that means. Inside five years we’re building elsewhere. Nailed on.

would suggest town centre / NEC or a retail Park somewhere - (think Star City / The Fort etc)

I just can't see us moving to the city centre , it would be just too expensive.
Unless God forbid a ground share with that lot.

[Chris Harte]

There is one thought I've had.

While I've previously said you'd have to be barmy to think the club are moving, I happen to know there is a housing estate near to central Brum that the council, according to concerned locals, want to tear down and replace with posh appartments and the like.

Now, I don't know how well founded these fears are, but if the council now find themselves bankrupt then maybe they'd be open to an offer from a sporting institution for the land. Flattening the whole estate, which the last time I looked had a fair amount of greenery, would provide an area with a circular footprint with a radius of at least 190 metres (I checked on Google Earth, of course) which is comparable to Wembley stadium.

The location would be close to Five Ways station, close to Broad Street and about a ten minute walk from town.

And having written this, I really hope the club aren't planning to move there.

[KRS]

I think the decision to cancel the North Stand plans and develop other parts of the ground/infrastructure is going to shoot us in the foot long term. I could perhaps understand their viewpoint if we were to secure CL football (and the additional income it would bring) this season and beyond, however I don’t see that happening this season as I think we’ll finish 6th at best given recent performances and results.

Villa Park is our home and you feel that everytime you approach the ground and climb the steps to take your seat looking down on the pitch, so I’ve previously been against moving to a new build…however I’m coming around to the thinking that would be the best long term solution. With that being said, I don’t think they intend to relocate us anyway so we’re very much standing still when we should be playing catch up.

[VillaTim]

If we were moving grounds it's 10 years before we kick a ball at the new place in my opinion given all the planning and construction etc so I'm not too worried either way but would ideally never leave B6 for the next generation.

[DB]

Building a new stadium would not impact FFP and we’d have a new place to generate more revenue once finished..? I know it’s been said they are not looking at moving, but they must be looking at that option behind closed doors. Heck doesn’t seem the sentimental type, but just looking at the cold hard cash to make.

[dave.woodhall]

There is one thought I've had.

While I've previously said you'd have to be barmy to think the club are moving, I happen to know there is a housing estate near to central Brum that the council, according to concerned locals, want to tear down and replace with posh appartments and the like.

Now, I don't know how well founded these fears are, but if the council now find themselves bankrupt then maybe they'd be open to an offer from a sporting institution for the land. Flattening the whole estate, which the last time I looked had a fair amount of greenery, would provide an area with a circular footprint with a radius of at least 190 metres (I checked on Google Earth, of course) which is comparable to Wembley stadium.

The location would be close to Five Ways station, close to Broad Street and about a ten minute walk from town.

And having written this, I really hope the club aren't planning to move there.

If you mean Ladywood or Lea Bank, the traffic round there is horrendous at the best of times and motorway access is non-existent

[Chris Harte]

There is one thought I've had.

While I've previously said you'd have to be barmy to think the club are moving, I happen to know there is a housing estate near to central Brum that the council, according to concerned locals, want to tear down and replace with posh appartments and the like.

Now, I don't know how well founded these fears are, but if the council now find themselves bankrupt then maybe they'd be open to an offer from a sporting institution for the land. Flattening the whole estate, which the last time I looked had a fair amount of greenery, would provide an area with a circular footprint with a radius of at least 190 metres (I checked on Google Earth, of course) which is comparable to Wembley stadium.

The location would be close to Five Ways station, close to Broad Street and about a ten minute walk from town.

And having written this, I really hope the club aren't planning to move there.

If you mean Ladywood or Lea Bank, the traffic round there is horrendous at the best of times and motorway access is non-existent

Yes. And this pleases me immensely.

[KRS]

Ladywood Middleway, Icknield Street and pretty much all roads around that area are an absolute no go zone especially during rush hour. Ever made the mistake of parking in one of the car parks near the Utilita and being stuck trying to get out of just the car park for at least an hour? The ring road is an absolute cluster fuck in Birmingham and isn’t going to get any better any time soon…and adding a 60k capacity stadium in to the mix would cause gridlock. I don’t think an inner city stadium is feasible without major road and traffic infrastructure change in Birmingham, and that just isn’t going to happen.

[VillaTim]

the best side of town would be over by Dartmouth Circus round there but i can't think of too many empty plots big enough unless theres anything down by Curzon Street where Hs2 is going to start that would be a perfect area round there

[Chris Harte]

Ladywood Middleway, Icknield Street and pretty much all roads around that area are an absolute no go zone especially during rush hour. Ever made the mistake of parking in one of the car parks near the Utilita and being stuck trying to get out of just the car park for at least an hour? The ring road is an absolute cluster fuck in Birmingham and isn’t going to get any better any time soon…and adding a 60k capacity stadium in to the mix would cause gridlock. I don’t think an inner city stadium is feasible without major road and traffic infrastructure change in Birmingham, and that just isn’t going to happen.

It's a fair point about the roads, although my impression is that there are no longer any urban locations that aren't a no go zone. The lack of motorway access as well. If a motorway is a requirement then that limits it to around the A38(M) .

The Utilita? Is that the current name for the Indoor Arena? I thought it was still called The Barclaycard, haha.

[SaddVillan]

In terms of relocating,had we had the vision, ambition and money a few years back we could/should have bought the old IMI site on the other side of Witton Road - think it's now a collection of warehouses/logistics depots.

Then we could have built a new ground whilst still playing at Villa Park, and remained close to our roots.

[KRS]

Ladywood Middleway, Icknield Street and pretty much all roads around that area are an absolute no go zone especially during rush hour. Ever made the mistake of parking in one of the car parks near the Utilita and being stuck trying to get out of just the car park for at least an hour? The ring road is an absolute cluster fuck in Birmingham and isn’t going to get any better any time soon…and adding a 60k capacity stadium in to the mix would cause gridlock. I don’t think an inner city stadium is feasible without major road and traffic infrastructure change in Birmingham, and that just isn’t going to happen.

It's a fair point about the roads, although my impression is that there are no longer any urban locations that aren't a no go zone. The lack of motorway access as well. If a motorway is a requirement then that limits it to around the A38(M) .

The Utilita? Is that the current name for the Indoor Arena? I thought it was still called The Barclaycard, haha.

Yeah I would pretty much rule out locations within the ring road simply because they aren’t realistic or logistically viable.

The Utilita Arena is the NIA. As it happens, I’m currently staying at my friends apartment right on the canal pretty much next door to it, and traffic around here (and pretty much the whole ring road) is a nightmare especially around rush hour (basically avoid from 3-6pm).