FFP

[ChicagoLion]

If we’re hoping to become a hyper club we’d keep Villa Park to use for the Women’s team.

Surely we would have to sell it to finance a new site?

We probably would sell, but I don’t think it would put much of a dent in the cost of a new ground. And don’t forget that as a club we’ve already sold it to Nas and Wes.

So let me get this right
1. Because of Villa park's location the planned redevelopment would not 'get us to where we need to be'
2. Because of this we have to build a new stadium
3. However, we won't generate any finance from selling our existing location
4. So we'd be looking at spending the guts of £800m- £1bn on a brand new stadium, bringing to the pot peanuts from the sale of Villa Park
5. And this makes more financial sense than spending £100m on a new bells nd whistles North Stand and looking to do something with the rest of Villa Park?

FFP is definitely broken if that's what we have to do! I am not an accountant but this is ridiculous. If Villa Park was like Goodison Park (falling apart) i would see the logic but we clearly have something we can work with!

It is not FFP that is stopping Stadium development or a move, in fact you could argue it makes the need to generate revenue from the stadium  an imperative.

[algy]

Maybe just possibly a city centre-ish site would need less parking - there's none at the Emirates - so that's a chunk of space saved. We also wouldn’t need somewhere like the Holte. The more I think about it, the more I ask what McGregor,  Ramsey and Rinder would have done.

Yeah, i have to say that on different days I have different views on it.

On the one half, I suspect McGregor, Ramsay and Rinder would not balk at providing Villa with the best possible chance at competing at the highest possible level, and we should move to a brand new, top class city centre stadium.

The other half thinks that I've a strong emotional attachment to Villa Park, that the local area hives the club its character and part of what makes the club feel special to me, that Villa Park is still in decent nick and any land we'd need to buy would cost a lot more than we'd get from selling our current land, and we'd probably be better off buying some land off BCC and/or from local residents

It's a hard one

[Demitri_C]

I think there would uproar from a majority of our fans if we tried to move from VP

[Rigadon]

I think there would uproar from a majority of our fans if we tried to move from VP

I’m starting to think there wouldn’t. 

If they had announced it with somebody line Gerrard in charge, mid table etc, it would feel different to how it’s starting to feel (to me at least). 

Like Algy, I feel different about on a daily basis, but has you asked me a year ago I’d be staunchly against.  Now… today, if pushed, with the right circumstances… hmm. 

[TelfordVilla]

I went to Villa Park last Sunday, for the first time in years. It was crap. I won't be back. New ground is absolutely essential.

[charlatan]

In fact Birmingham is still the biggest city in Europe not to have an underground or fully integrated tram network.

How does a tram system qualify as fully integrated?

[Chris Harte]

In fact Birmingham is still the biggest city in Europe not to have an underground or fully integrated tram network.

How does a tram system qualify as fully integrated?

It doesn't.

In my opinion it's a joke. It doesn't even run half the time.

[Demitri_C]

I think there would uproar from a majority of our fans if we tried to move from VP

I’m starting to think there wouldn’t. 

If they had announced it with somebody line Gerrard in charge, mid table etc, it would feel different to how it’s starting to feel (to me at least). 

Like Algy, I feel different about on a daily basis, but has you asked me a year ago I’d be staunchly against.  Now… today, if pushed, with the right circumstances… hmm.

Id love to agree with you mate but alot of our fan base moan about any little detail. The badge being one example of many.

I personally don't live in brum so i dont have that love round the local area there as probably some would who have been st holders for 20 years+. I personally think the surrounding area of witton is not great and we all know how horrific the public transport system is around there

[charlatan]

In fact Birmingham is still the biggest city in Europe not to have an underground or fully integrated tram network.

How does a tram system qualify as fully integrated?

It doesn't.

In my opinion it's a joke. It doesn't even run half the time.

He was saying it wasn't which I assume to be correct, yet I don't really understand what full integration looks like.

Given I work in transport I hear lots of discussion of integration, although that's often in the context of ticketing as well as ease of transferring between modes. Does it have to have the same operator as connecting public transport for example?

[pauliewalnuts]

Id love to agree with you mate but alot of our fan base moan about any little detail.

*raises eyebrow*

[Chris Harte]

In fact Birmingham is still the biggest city in Europe not to have an underground or fully integrated tram network.

How does a tram system qualify as fully integrated?

It doesn't.

In my opinion it's a joke. It doesn't even run half the time.

He was saying it wasn't which I assume to be correct, yet I don't really understand what full integration looks like.

Given I work in transport I hear lots of discussion of integration, although that's often in the context of ticketing as well as ease of transferring between modes. Does it have to have the same operator as connecting public transport for example?

I'd assume it is wide coverage of the area it claims to serve, with links between buses, trains and tram.

The fact it is called Midlands Metro, despite having only a single line for a couple of decades, tells you what a misnoma it is.

[Beard82]

I would hate us to move.  Particularly when there is so much that could be improved with what we have.

I think the North Stand was a great idea, along with the stuff suggested - I think it was cancelled cos it wasn't Hecks idea. 

Wasn't a big fan of CP at the time - but I think he got the club and what made it special.  Our history and Heritage needs to be leaned into.   The marketing they did and still do is poundshop - doesn't lean on this - and most of the offering is still stuck in the 1990s. 

I would happily spend more money on match days if I could - but instead have to wait and watch a load of kids stand around.  My brother has run pubs - and explained what there doing wrong its just basics.   

To be fair I was chatting to a Bournmouth fan who is consulting for us and he said he found the whole experience brilliant at VP - second only to Craven Cottage. 

When you look at it compared to other sporting venues - its just so badly ran.  I go to the cricket reguarly for test matches and they run them so much better.   I get they have more space but the principles stand. 

[charlatan]

The fact it is called Midlands Metro, despite having only a single line for a couple of decades, tells you what a misnoma it is.

Well it clearly can't be a network until there's more than one line and the one there is seems to compete with rather than complement other modes, so yeah it looks pretty useless.

[Chris Harte]

I would happily spend more money on match days if I could - but instead have to wait and watch a load of kids stand around.  My brother has run pubs - and explained what there doing wrong its just basics.   

I was having a chat with a Wolves fan in the pub this afternoon. He has a season ticket in their South Bank and it sounded like they have similar issues to what people complain of with VP here. If he wants a pint at half time he'll have to miss fifteen minutes of the game.

[The Man With A Stick]

There are so many reasons why expansion and a wholsale redevelopment of the current site makes sense.

We’re ASTON Villa, not Birmingham Villa and certainly not Birmingham City.  What is a club if it’s not attached to its heritage and roots?

Out first ground was in Perry Barr though, so should we move back up there?

I'm kind of swaying towards moving now (or a total rebuild on the same site if we can somehow sort out some additional land), but only if we build the best bloody ground in the country.  Something along the lines of Dortmund on the inside though, rather than some shite soulless bowl like Arsenal or Man City.

Villa Park was the envy of the country, then Herbert started tarting it up on the cheap and made a mess of it.  We should build something that makes us stand out for the next 100 years.