Villa Park Redevelopment

[DB]

I don’t want us to leave Villa Park, but these tweaks and add-ons, do look a bit short term. I would be surprised if the owners don’t have a new stadium in mind or at least a long tier option.

[pauliewalnuts]

It can be a great city but still terribly managed.

It is a city which is great despite the people who manage it, rather than because of them.

And that's sad, because it became a great city in the first place because of the people (one in particular) who managed it, and even as recently as the late 80s onwards, the regeneration was managed extremely well, so local government was doing something well.

[Crown Hill]

I don’t want us to leave Villa Park, but these tweaks and add-ons, do look a bit short term. I would be surprised if the owners don’t have a new stadium in mind or at least a long tier option.

Everything seems to be geared to ensuring there is 50k capacity for Euros 28 without suffering loss of income in the meanwhile.

It could be we then revise strategy for the longer term.

[paul_e]

I don’t want us to leave Villa Park, but these tweaks and add-ons, do look a bit short term. I would be surprised if the owners don’t have a new stadium in mind or at least a long tier option.

Everything seems to be geared to ensuring there is 50k capacity for Euros 28 without suffering loss of income in the meanwhile.

It could be we then revise strategy for the longer term.

That's felt like the plan to me for a while. Spend as little as possible whilst maxing out the ground for the euros then start a longer term plan.

[Chris Harte]

I can't help thinking the 2028 Euros should have no bearing on what we do with the ground.

If that means we don't host games at the Euros then so be it.

What's more important? The Euros? Or the Villa?

[eamonn]

I wonder how much we stand to gain from VP hosting Euro games.

[Pat Mustard]

I can't help thinking the 2028 Euros should have no bearing on what we do with the ground.

If that means we don't host games at the Euros then so be it.

What's more important? The Euros? Or the Villa?

I thought that when Villa Park was put forward it was with the assurance that capacity would be 50k - dropping out would mean some kind of penalty for the club, and pretty much guarantee we wouldn’t get to host any other high profile fixture for the foreseeable future.

[Drummond]

The reason tickets aren't selling as well this season isn't the stadium. Adding 20,000 more seats just doesn't make sense to me.

[The Edge]

The reason tickets aren't selling as well this season isn't the stadium. Adding 20,000 more seats just doesn't make sense to me.

The main reason we're not selling out is the difficulty in obtaining a ticket for non regulars and the pricing. It's as simple as that in my opinion. The ticket office is gone and it's really difficult to speak to an actual person now.
How many seats were filled on an average matchday by friends and family but now end up not being used? Quite a lot i would say.

[cdbearsfan]

We are very close to selling out in all league games, the only reason we don't is because they delay sale in the hope of flogging corporate. This will still be the case when VP is expanded, I imagine, but with us getting just under the new capacity rather than getting just under our current, smaller, capacity.

[algy]

I can't help thinking the 2028 Euros should have no bearing on what we do with the ground.

If that means we don't host games at the Euros then so be it.

What's more important? The Euros? Or the Villa?

Hosting major games that aren’t our own is. *At best* the football stadium will be in use about 26 times a year (where the attendance is anything like its capacity). The more games we can squeeze in to it, the better.

Given we’re not currently selling out our ground every game, I think in the short term a 52.5k capacity stadium looks plenty for where we are right now. That’s still higher crowds than any we’ve had in my living memory.

I’d also think that it’s not beyond the wit of man for us to be extend up to 55k with what we currently have, although I don’t think we necessarily should until the attendances start to justify it.

One thing I do think, as Percy said, is that Villa Park is much loved by other supporters. We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that we have the most beautiful ground in English football and moving would almost certainly mean we had something that was bigger, but far less iconic.

[London Villan]

Two things. The Euros bring the additional funding for the station upgrades, whether it is finished on time or not…

The other point is the growing interest in Womens football. This is the big reason the clubs are pushing it, as it means more use of Villa Park, more commercial income which in turn supports the mens team. Arsenal sell out the emeirates for womens games, we aren’t there yet, but i guess that is the aim.

[DB]

The reason tickets aren't selling as well this season isn't the stadium. Adding 20,000 more seats just doesn't make sense to me.

If they sorted out the empty GA+ seats would help. I think they have over estimated the demand for these...running before they can walk. This season is going to see less interest in some areas as we have dropped off a bit this season, no CL football, pretty disappointing transfers last summer...

[rob_bridge]

I rarely get the train straight after the match but did last Sunday, got to AS at 3.55 and the first train for Town arrived at 4.35. That was after two sped through the station.

Crap.

Me and my lad get train from Solihull (or Widney Manor for free parking) to Snow Hill and get number 7. I wouldn't dream of switching to New Street to get train to Aston or Witton.

[paul_e]

Yep, we just need more events. Summer concerts and England games are a big step forward, as is us hosting Gloucester vs Leicester in the rugby at the end of March. As Algy says, just 5 events a year at something around 35-40k attendance is a 20-25% boost to our income from the stadium. If more seats and modernised facilities make that easier to accomplish then we'd be mad not to do it when all the upgrade work can be done 'for free' in terms of the financial controls we have to work with.