FFP

[Ads]

Still in favour of a complete rebuild elsewhere. You can make land available if needs be. More expensive, but that's what the other owners are here for ultimately. B6 is inadequate and would be which ever way you slice it and reconstitute the parts.

[Gareth]

It's the poor communications that are part of the problem as you say.

The p**s poor comms are a massive problem for us…but as they don’t care about customers as there will be more suckers to take the seats at full price they don’t care about those comms.

[Villan82]

It's the poor communications that are part of the problem as you say.

The p**s poor comms are a massive problem for us…but as they don’t care about customers as there will be more suckers to take the seats at full price they don’t care about those comms.

It's not long ago I was sitting in the North Stand in the championship looking up at the closed off Upper Trinity. The context has changed but the breathtaking speed with which we have lost sight of the ordinary fan since Heck arrived is still staggering.

[Chris Harte]

Blues now have an opportunity to develop the City Centre multi-purpose stadium that we probably should have been looking at.  Even if we do a complete rebuild where we are, a stadium that close to the City would seem a more likely venue for major events.

It feels like they have stolen a march on us really.

Heck seems to be pursuing a stamford bridge type blue print of keep the capacity around 40k but butcher the ground to cram in more hospitality and this is why I am so concerned that he is the wrong man at the worst possible time. Zero imagination and zero fucks given about the future beyond his stay with us.

On the subject of the hospitality, someone sent me an ad the other day with an offer for Lower Grounds for the Wolves game. With a match ticket it was £85+vat. Through the club itself you'd pay £140+vat.

I wonder what's going on?

[chrisw1]

I wonder if we had bought that land or similar, what the feeling would be when demolishing Villa Park.

It would be heartbreaking.  But if we're still there in a 43k stadium and Blues build a 50k plus mutlti purpose arena, hoovering up commercial income that could have been ours, that will all feel very Doug Ellis.

[pablo_picasso]

I wonder if we had bought that land or similar, what the feeling would be when demolishing Villa Park.

It would be heartbreaking.  But if we're still there in a 43k stadium and Blues build a 50k plus mutlti purpose arena, hoovering up commercial income that could have been ours, that will all feel very Doug Ellis.

And very reminiscent of the early 90s when Ellis actually pushed the boat away, never mind missing it, with his small time attitude & ManU went on to dominate for decades while we regressed after competing with them for that first Premier League title.

Heck is reminding me of Ellis all over again & I think back to that quote about his time at New York Red Bull & how Heck "did so much damage in such a short space of time with his ignorance & arrogance." Or something to that tune...

[Hookeysmith]

My gut feeling is that they are waiting on the end of season, focus on that and what's happening on the pitch because, let's face it that's the priority.

Totally agree with this - how we finish this season dictates our future more than ever.
I personally agree with Heck that to reduce our capacity next season for a couple of years if / when we have Champs league football would be a disaster.

As for a new stadium - i have known VP all my life and would be gutted to leave but if we are honest the local area is such a shit hole that i cannot see how that can not only be improved upon but also maintained.

I see there is a huge amount of land on the other side of the M6 by the Fort (i think it was a railway shunting ground previously and not aware of any plans for it now that it is levelled) where a state of the art stadium could be built. Not sure where we could move our games to for 2 years + (without the same issue of losing capacity that a VP build would cause)

[chrisw1]

Still in favour of a complete rebuild elsewhere. You can make land available if needs be. More expensive, but that's what the other owners are here for ultimately. B6 is inadequate and would be which ever way you slice it and reconstitute the parts.

But if Blues get ahead and go and build a city centre arena then you'd imagine there would be significantly less willingness in the Council to facilitate a second. 

[Ads]

As if the Noses have you lot rattled. I checked the BBC table and they're about to drop into the third division. And if they do get a ground to be the Darlington of the 2030s, then who gives a good fuck? We're competing for Champions League football and European trophies, with more money on our tummy next season than they get in income full stop.

[Villan82]

As if the Noses have you lot rattled. I checked the BBC table and they're about to drop into the third division. And if they do get a ground to be the Darlington of the 2030s, then who gives a good fuck? We're competing for Champions League football and European trophies, with more money on our tummy next season than they get in income full stop.

No, its our current President of Business who has rattled some of us because his actions have been a bit small time and his comms have been positively amateur. And it is a fair comment to ask what the plan is as the SHA announcement narrows down one more potential avenue.

[Drummond]

As if the Noses have you lot rattled. I checked the BBC table and they're about to drop into the third division. And if they do get a ground to be the Darlington of the 2030s, then who gives a good fuck? We're competing for Champions League football and European trophies, with more money on our tummy next season than they get in income full stop.

No, its our current President of Business who has rattled some of us because his actions have been a bit small time and his comms have been positively amateur. And it is a fair comment to ask what the plan is as the SHA announcement narrows down one more potential avenue.

No, it really isn't. His actions in moving us to Adidas, Betano and increasing revenue by over £10m a year aren't sign of small time at all. He's put a stop to a plan to build a North Stand, that's not small time, because you don't know what he's planning to do instead. We have new investors, who are fucking huge, that's not small time.

He's got rid of a badge that most people didn't want (if we're being honest), that was voted in ahead of a really shit design.

He has communicated some information, and just said nothing on others, and in the modern world, patience doesn't seem to be a virtue any more, people (like you) want information when they want it, regardless of whether or not they have any right to make that demand. (I also understand a club is about fans, without them there's nothing, but in the modern world of wanting news immediately, having to wait a few weeks seems like a lifetime).

As for that lot down the road narrowing our options, you're having a fucking laugh. They are nothing in comparison to us, and they will forever be in our shadow. Stop letting them get inside your head.

[Demitri_C]

Yes it would be embarrassing if a small shit club like blose had a newer and bigger stadium than villa park (even if they will never fill it)

Imagine that stadium being chosen ahead of villa park  for events?

I do agree about the surrounding area at villa park being pretty shit tbh

[Ads]

As if the Noses have you lot rattled. I checked the BBC table and they're about to drop into the third division. And if they do get a ground to be the Darlington of the 2030s, then who gives a good fuck? We're competing for Champions League football and European trophies, with more money on our tummy next season than they get in income full stop.

No, its our current President of Business who has rattled some of us because his actions have been a bit small time and his comms have been positively amateur. And it is a fair comment to ask what the plan is as the SHA announcement narrows down one more potential avenue.

He's got us demonstrably more sponsorship than we've ever got close to before. We're likely going to bring in quarter of a billion next year, £300m the year after. How is that small time?

I fail to see what the Noses may or more likely probably won't, do on that side. In what respect was the Wheels site ever a concern of ours and how does it impact us one iota?

[Risso]

He's put a stop to a plan to build a North Stand, that's not small time, because you don't know what he's planning to do instead. We have new investors, who are fucking huge, that's not small time.

Well, if you're taking him at his word, he's said it's not time to be building a new stand as we're not selling out the current ones. He's also categorically said there are no plans to move. Now, that may not be true, or may change over time, but that's what he's said. He's also talked about squeezing a few more seats in, and making the club shop a bit bigger. We also know he's done some really poorly executed GA+ offerings.

[chrisw1]

It's pretty simple really ADS.  You have talked at length about the need for a new stadium and the commercial opportunities that brings.  IF Blues get ahead and develop that City Centre arena, then it may become harder for us to do so and it will certainly be harder for us to secure the associated commercial opportunities you might have expected to come with it.  So it's not about being rattled by Blues the football team, it's about saying that them securing an opportunity like this could ultimately be to our detriment.

It's just people chewing the fat on a forum.  It's not bed-wetting or panicking, just people chatting about how it could impact our future.