Villa Park Redevelopment

[Rory]

We'd need to purchase 8 or 9 houses, tops. It's not 100s. Equally, the Trinity holds ~2k more than the Witton Lane.

It’s not 100s, but it’s not 8/9 either. As well as the footprint of a larger stand, there is the impact of a taller stand on the amenity of surrounding houses, and highways engineering to redirect the road, or just provide access for the larger capacity.

Yes but in few years it will be a Reform government and residents will be deported and we can claim empty houses.

Damn straight. Get the darkies out!

[Max Villan]

We'd need to purchase 8 or 9 houses, tops. It's not 100s. Equally, the Trinity holds ~2k more than the Witton Lane.

It’s not 100s, but it’s not 8/9 either. As well as the footprint of a larger stand, there is the impact of a taller stand on the amenity of surrounding houses, and highways engineering to redirect the road, or just provide access for the larger capacity.

Yes but in few years it will be a Reform government and residents will be deported and we can claim empty houses.

Damn straight. Get the darkies out!

I don't think that's how people think, not sure if you're being sarcastic.

Most those houses have been there since the area was all white, if it was still the same people there you'd be hard pressed to argue it is in dire need of some investment and revamping.

Villa can be the people to do that. We would encourage private investment into areas usually.

[Rory]

We'd need to purchase 8 or 9 houses, tops. It's not 100s. Equally, the Trinity holds ~2k more than the Witton Lane.

It’s not 100s, but it’s not 8/9 either. As well as the footprint of a larger stand, there is the impact of a taller stand on the amenity of surrounding houses, and highways engineering to redirect the road, or just provide access for the larger capacity.

Yes but in few years it will be a Reform government and residents will be deported and we can claim empty houses.

Damn straight. Get the darkies out!

I don't think that's how people think, not sure if you're being sarcastic.

Most those houses have been there since the area was all white, if it was still the same people there you'd be hard pressed to argue it is in dire need of some investment and revamping.

Villa can be the people to do that. We would encourage private investment into areas usually.

Liberal elites like you just can't accept free-thinkers like me and Aftab.

Make Britain white again!

[chrisw1]

A clarification on my post yesterday.

I have no issue with the adaptive re-use. It is very clever.

My issue is that I am surprised they didn't go further back into all that area so that the concourses and capacity would be bigger like the previous proposal. It seems to literally only go back a small bit and will still be a smaller capacity than the Holte. That new end at Anfield will be 16k, this will be 12k.

That's all I'm saying. The Witton End is the one area of the ground where we can go really big. Without (the welcome) modification of the other stands the capacity uplift with this gets us to 48,800.

This is the point really.  If there was ample opportunity to develop other stands or plentiful backup space for corporate lounges etc in other stands, then this extension would make more sense as a quick(ish) fix.  But there isn't, so it feels like a missed opportunity to not utilise the space and build something a lot more ambitious.  I'm very surprised they haven't given all the expertise they had brought into the club (something that is mentioned a lot on here).

To me it feels like a smart solution for a modest capacity boost rather than part of a long-term stadium development plan. 

[Rico]

In glad that we are stopping at Villa Park, and I'm not really bothered by the fact that other clubs have moved to identi-kit bowls with no atmosphere. I like it that when it's on its game, the atmosphere at Villa Park is like a bear pit that none of the new grounds can recreate, and I think that can work to our advantage.

After the North Stand development is complete, I think it would make sense to extend the top tier of the Holte End upwards and outwards. Some alterations to the roof of the Trinity and Doug Stands would have to be made, but again, like the development of the North Stand could be done without losing existing capacity and push the capacity to mid 55k.

[ozzjim]

The trouble is the projections for the new bowl at Everton is 50-70m a season revenue. We need Villa Park to be pushing up to the top end of that level to help make us more sustainable. For all the local press saying the small increase in ticket pricing doesn't effect PSR etc , every penny counts.

[LeeB]

In glad that we are stopping at Villa Park, and I'm not really bothered by the fact that other clubs have moved to identi-kit bowls with no atmosphere. I like it that when it's on its game, the atmosphere at Villa Park is like a bear pit that none of the new grounds can recreate, and I think that can work to our advantage.

After the North Stand development is complete, I think it would make sense to extend the top tier of the Holte End upwards and outwards. Some alterations to the roof of the Trinity and Doug Stands would have to be made, but again, like the development of the North Stand could be done without losing existing capacity and push the capacity to mid 55k.

I imagine the atmosphere will be even more intense when we close in the Witton End.

[paul_e]

I don't agree. There's a lot of new space being opened up in the stand because of the repositioning of the stairwells and the removal of the boxes. Then you have things like the corner flag and the old offices which again give space back for the concourses. I'm confident that there's going to be plenty of space to do everything we need there because we have some much expertise to call on.

In terms of seats we can't go much higher than we have planned without them being too far from the pitch so the only real space is to go even wider but then you run into obstructed views because of the roof/stand on either side being lower. Look at the plans and the seats in the top left (as you look from the pitch) really as as far as you can push before the DE roof is in the way.

I fully expect that we will be doing this work with ideas on how to expand further in those corners later but, for this round, we're clearly trying to avoid making too many changes to other stands outside the already announced 'bowl improvements'.

[Concrete Tom]

The relatively minor North Stand capacity increase and facilities upgrade still does not make sense when tallied with the Atairos investment - something else must be afoot in the longer term if we are to continue to compete at the top end of the table and deep into cup competitions, be that at Villa Park or elsewhere.

It would be both serendipitous and hilarious to discover that Atairos and Knighthead have been collaborating on the City of Birmingham stadium and it is more Villa Dome than Blues Dome.

[eamonn]

Ugh, imagine sharing with that lot. You'd need Dettol seat wipes on your person at all times.

[claret+blue ed]

Let's hope all the summers work is well on the way, otherwise I can't see the Newcastle game being very pleasant if last year was anything to go by!!!

[cdbearsfan]

We nearly always beat them at home and lose away.

[Dante Lavelli]

What are the main works this summer? Isn’t the warehouse a winter opening anyway?

[algy]

What are the main works this summer? Isn’t the warehouse a winter opening anyway?

Moving some seats around and adding some to the front of the Witton Lane stand I think

[eamonn]

We nearly always beat them at home and lose away.

Think he meant the farce at the opening home game against Arsenal where the turnstiles were slow and men's piss did flow.