Villa Park Redevelopment

[olaftab]

When I finally got in the DE stand and started going up the stairs, I realised my feet were sticking to the still-wet paint and the bottom of my shoes were now yellow.

I followed you to your house via the yellow step road. Nice place

Thanks - but my wife says please can she have her knickers back -  washed at 90° on a full cycle.

[RamboandBruno]

There's always been bottlenecks to get into the North Stand. That's just due to the layout and only one entrance due to the reconfiguration of the North Stand car park.

Many times I've turned up at half 2 and just about made kick off. Also when I sit in the Upper Holte now right by the open corner to the Witton I see plenty still queuing to get in from Witton Lane when the game has kicked off.

Didn't go yesterday so just assumed it was issues like that so shocked to read access into the upper Witton wasn't even allowed until 5pm?!

Surely that's a health and safety issue given the many thousands that walk down Witton Lane to get to the Holte if they're coming from Perry Barr.

We should've asked for the Leicester and Arsenal games to swop and have our first two away if the top level knew that it would be tight to get the changes ready for this date.

Very poor that this is the first home game and one of the biggest of the season and a whole tier of our stadium wasn't even open until half an hour before kick off.

The lower holte didnt open much earlier. I saw about 3 or 4 bemused looking stewards, thats it for the thousands of supporters trying to get in at the same time. There was no queuing system at all, the supporters being well behaved with no pushing and shoving, is the only reason it didn’t turn into something potentially dangerous. If something goes wrong it goes wrong, but nothing from the club at all. And how can you not know your not going to have enough stewards in advance, did 30 of them all phone in sick.

[devilla]

I was in K6 and I have to say the toilets there were fine. Looked like they'd been refurbished and were clean.

That's the positive, now the negatives. The shambles with the lower Holte not getting in was inexcusable. It didn't help that the doors opened late. The new ticket system seemed to work but to assume that everyone has a phone was poor. If these people don't have a phone how likely are they to have a printer?

Finally, the match clock being on the screen instead of to the left of the North (from the Holte) is a terrible decision. Yes we know it's Villa Park FFS. It's far too small and I couldn't read it. I had to take a photo and zoom in to see how much time was left. I'll certainly be complaining about this.

[dalians umbrella]

A steward told me that there was a stadium-wide system failure; what exactly those systems were, I don’t know.

[luke95]

New seats in the Upper North ...... either I've shrunk a few inches over the summer or the new seats give you a little more legs room, lot more comfortable than previous. Tho I am a short arse anyway .

Oh & New paper towel dispenser in mens toilets.🤜

[exigo]

I was in K6 and I have to say the toilets there were fine. Looked like they'd been refurbished and were clean.

That's the positive, now the negatives. The shambles with the lower Holte not getting in was inexcusable. It didn't help that the doors opened late. The new ticket system seemed to work but to assume that everyone has a phone was poor. If these people don't have a phone how likely are they to have a printer?

Finally, the match clock being on the screen instead of to the left of the North (from the Holte) is a terrible decision. Yes we know it's Villa Park FFS. It's far too small and I couldn't read it. I had to take a photo and zoom in to see how much time was left. I'll certainly be complaining about this.

Tried to get into the Holte pub, there were no more than about 40 people standing in the outside bit, but it was deemed one in one out by the blokes at the gate.

Decided to sack that off and went for a pint outside the Holte. Two shipping containers, but of course only one open. There was zero communication about the turnstiles not working in the lower, but it became obvious when that barriered area starting filling up with loads of people, and the queue the other side snaking around the whole car park. Not one megaphone announcement, nothing.

Then inside, and unsurprisingly it's not just the urinals that haven't been sorted in the summer, but none of the plumbing has been touched, so it's the same taps stuck open with hot water pouring out.

In short, if you're not paying over a £100 for GA+, Chris Heck couldn't give a damn about you.

[Gareth]

^^ 100% that last sentence exigo

He is seemingly doing a great job revenues wise but his respect for the rank and file supporter…the ones who have been there through thick and thin is lower than a snakes belly.

[London Villan]

At least you get hot water, none of those luxuries in the Trinity.

[Toronto Villa]

Heck isn’t beyond criticism. And the ground issues are real and monumental. And they need to be fixed. But in the grand scheme of things he needed to do, and as much as the ground issues need solving, his remit was all the stuff he actually has done. Had he not done that we would have sold more than Luiz and others just to hit the June 30th limits. And he’d have been hammered for that. So he did his part, Monchi did what he needed to do to keep us from being docked points during the season. I would hope over the course of the season and into the summer more attention will be paid to the ground and amenities because it’s just not good enough.

[Gareth]

Heck isn’t beyond criticism. And the ground issues are real and monumental. And they need to be fixed. But in the grand scheme of things he needed to do, and as much as the ground issues need solving, his remit was all the stuff he actually has done. Had he not done that we would have sold more than Luiz and others just to hit the June 30th limits. And he’d have been hammered for that. So he did his part, Monchi did what he needed to do to keep us from being docked points during the season. I would hope over the course of the season and into the summer more attention will be paid to the ground and amenities because it’s just not good enough.

Heck will have a stadium management team reporting in to him so it’s not an either or with revenue etc….no one is asking Heck to do the plumbing but he is ultimately responsible….there is absolutely no excuse for not fixing the stadium issues…none of it is rocket science.  We aren’t asking for gold plated bath taps…just the basics working.

[Risso]

Heck isn’t beyond criticism. And the ground issues are real and monumental. And they need to be fixed. But in the grand scheme of things he needed to do, and as much as the ground issues need solving, his remit was all the stuff he actually has done. Had he not done that we would have sold more than Luiz and others just to hit the June 30th limits. And he’d have been hammered for that. So he did his part, Monchi did what he needed to do to keep us from being docked points during the season. I would hope over the course of the season and into the summer more attention will be paid to the ground and amenities because it’s just not good enough.

He said last season all of that was going to be attended to, and it hasn't been. His jobs revolves around more than just thinking up new hospitality areas. Hospitality areas that have sold really badly.

[pauliewalnuts]

Heck isn’t beyond criticism. And the ground issues are real and monumental. And they need to be fixed. But in the grand scheme of things he needed to do, and as much as the ground issues need solving, his remit was all the stuff he actually has done. Had he not done that we would have sold more than Luiz and others just to hit the June 30th limits. And he’d have been hammered for that. So he did his part, Monchi did what he needed to do to keep us from being docked points during the season. I would hope over the course of the season and into the summer more attention will be paid to the ground and amenities because it’s just not good enough.

He said last season all of that was going to be attended to, and it hasn't been. His jobs revolves around more than just thinking up new hospitality areas. Hospitality areas that have sold really badly.

It's also nonsense that June 30th stuff, too.

He said it's not just about fans in a new stands, it's about all fans.

So, £8,000 season tickets and taps stuck open, rivers of piss and 1930s quality toilet facilities still.

Totally unacceptable.

Are we meant to believe, he was so busy fixing income for Monchi and co (despite it really being a total red herring as none of it would have had effect in the last financial year anyway) that he couldn't get anyone to fix the bogs?

So he can find all the workforce he needs to convert half the ground into top level corporate facilities but absolutely nobody to sort the disgusting facilities the people paying 'only' £50 have to put up with?

[Ads]

I thought Luiz was for PL PSR by 30th June and Diaby was for CL PSR?

[Demitri_C]

The next meeting is going to be fun for the villa facilties management  team

[kippaxvilla2]

Yes the financial year was moved to end of June.  Still the point stands massively and I mistakenly said he hadn’t done a lot wrong.