Villa Park Redevelopment

[LeeB]

I've just had a quick look. One chap reckons we wont ever be successful financially because our location does not have a skyline. And no, I'm not making that up.

The skyline that's been key to their success for 100 plus years.

[placeforparks]

as others have said, it has been value-engineered from the previous proposals. i don't think the exterior of the stand looks great personally, but i think there is lots which can be done with lighting and detailing to make it more appealling.

i note the car parking has gone in the visuals, so really interested to see if that is artistic licence or whether they are going to prioritise people over potential parking income. the cynic in me thinks not.

that all said, it allows the stadium to grow by 20% and can be done relatively quickly with little operational impact. and when i think back to where the club was ten years ago, it seems difficult to care about crappy cladding!

[jon collett]

I've just had a quick look. One chap reckons we wont ever be successful financially because our location does not have a skyline. And no, I'm not making that up.

So ignorant. I doubt there’s a finer skyline and approach to a ground in the country than Aston Hall and Aston Church.

They may know their geography but they don’t know their history of why the Clubs are so distinct!

[IFWaters]

On the plus side its a quick way to let more of us see our team.

On the down side its an architectural dogs breakfast that is beneath us.

On balance its entirely in tune with the times we live in.

[john2710]

Who gives a shite what Small Heathens think. Their opinions are & always have been irrelevant.

But I might swap our world class manager, billionaire owners & squad full of international players for a skyline, an anthem & the name of the city.

[Dave P]

Who was it on here that had a bet with their mate that there wouldn’t be a spade in the ground within 3 years of their announcement? We must be 12-18 months in and it’s probably as safe bet.

[Dick Edwards]

Well there's one team who we can safely say it isn't their second favourite ground.  And they have 2 (two) threads on their forum stating it still wont be as big as the proposed wheels blunderdome and it isn't in Birmingham and not having Birmingham in our name will stunt our growth and wont get us revenue and we'll get eclipsed any day now.

Our friends have also failed to recognise Arsenal do not carry the name of their city and their revenue is unaffected. Ditto Tottenham.

[Dave P]

Well there's one team who we can safely say it isn't their second favourite ground.  And they have 2 (two) threads on their forum stating it still wont be as big as the proposed wheels blunderdome and it isn't in Birmingham and not having Birmingham in our name will stunt our growth and wont get us revenue and we'll get eclipsed any day now.

Our friends have also failed to recognise Arsenal do not carry the name of their city and their revenue is unaffected. Ditto Tottenham.

And the best example, Juventus. Everyone knows they are from Turin and no one thinks Torino are better off with the name.

[algy]

I think it's disappointing compared to what they originally planned.

No brickwork?

Just looks cheap imo.

I wasn’t a fan on first sight, but I’m potentially warming to it. There’ll (hopefully) be an incredible level of continuity there - the new stand built to enclose the old (current) stand, of which the lower tier belongs to the older Witton End - but even that contains a fragment of wall from the aquarium that predates it.

They could really make a thing of it - the stand that remembers every moment of Villa Park’s history.

[Chip Butty 111]

I've just had a quick look. One chap reckons we wont ever be successful financially because our location does not have a skyline. And no, I'm not making that up.

The skyline that's been key to their success for 100 plus years.

Funny really, San Siro..Nou Camp...Amsterdam Arena..Signal Iduna Park..all out of town + no skyline and all shit then?

[CT Villan]

I've just had a quick look. One chap reckons we wont ever be successful financially because our location does not have a skyline. And no, I'm not making that up.

"Well may I ask what you expect to see out of a Villa Park window? Sydney Opera House perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain..."

The knuckledragging troglodytes...

[AV82EC]

Ultimately it’s a football stadium and I’m less concerned with the aesthetics than the move to 50k+. Hopefully we get some movement in the ST waiting list but like others I suspect it’ll be a big uplift in GA+ offerings with maybe 2-3k of the uplift for GA. Though if it maybe agglomerates the GA+ stuff in one place rather than the Lower Grounds mish mash of stuff around the ground that may be a better solution.

I’m reasonably hopeful that Mayor Parker can get the Witton station stuff moving as part of the national money that’s surely available for Euro28. He really needs to deliver on this as he’s got an election in 2028 just before Euro28. I think Naseef’s statement made it quite clear that the whole thing hinges on Parker and the Transport issue. 

Overall I’m positive and it seems to be an achievable plan and not some 60k+ pipe dream without a master plan and council and CA backing.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Well there's one team who we can safely say it isn't their second favourite ground.  And they have 2 (two) threads on their forum stating it still wont be as big as the proposed wheels blunderdome and it isn't in Birmingham and not having Birmingham in our name will stunt our growth and wont get us revenue and we'll get eclipsed any day now.

Our friends have also failed to recognise Arsenal do not carry the name of their city and their revenue is unaffected. Ditto Tottenham.

And the best example, Juventus. Everyone knows they are from Turin and no one thinks Torino are better off with the name.

Torino are bigger. Juve never had Gerry Hitchens.

[The Edge]

Ultimately it’s a football stadium and I’m less concerned with the aesthetics than the move to 50k+. Hopefully we get some movement in the ST waiting list but like others I suspect it’ll be a big uplift in GA+ offerings with maybe 2-3k of the uplift for GA. Though if it maybe agglomerates the GA+ stuff in one place rather than the Lower Grounds mish mash of stuff around the ground that may be a better solution.

I’m reasonably hopeful that Mayor Parker can get the Witton station stuff moving as part of the national money that’s surely available for Euro28. He really needs to deliver on this as he’s got an election in 2028 just before Euro28. I think Naseef’s statement made it quite clear that the whole thing hinges on Parker and the Transport issue. 

Overall I’m positive and it seems to be an achievable plan and not some 60k+ pipe dream without a master plan and council and CA backing.

I agree with this. Only the Holte End has any architectural merit these days from the outside. I think it will look great on the inside when the ground is packed. We will finally have some some symmetry.

[Villan82]

Ultimately it’s a football stadium and I’m less concerned with the aesthetics than the move to 50k+. Hopefully we get some movement in the ST waiting list but like others I suspect it’ll be a big uplift in GA+ offerings with maybe 2-3k of the uplift for GA. Though if it maybe agglomerates the GA+ stuff in one place rather than the Lower Grounds mish mash of stuff around the ground that may be a better solution.

I’m reasonably hopeful that Mayor Parker can get the Witton station stuff moving as part of the national money that’s surely available for Euro28. He really needs to deliver on this as he’s got an election in 2028 just before Euro28. I think Naseef’s statement made it quite clear that the whole thing hinges on Parker and the Transport issue. 

Overall I’m positive and it seems to be an achievable plan and not some 60k+ pipe dream without a master plan and council and CA backing.

I agree with this. Only the Holte End has any architectural merit these days from the outside. I think it will look great on the inside when the ground is packed. We will finally have some some symmetry.

Hats off to you by the way. I think you were early with the news that this was being worked on.

This is excellent news. Credit where it's due to everyone at the club. I think this will look ace when it is completed and the modern Villa Park will, finally, have a 'complete' feel to it.

Edit. Just watched the video posted on the official site. The stand looks really impressive at the start, looking towards the Trinity/North corner.