GA+ tickets

[chrisw1]

<Not sure if this is being discussed elsewhere?>

Have people seen the Holte End survey?

Rather than aiming at general improvements they seemed to be more interested in people paying premium prices for GA+ or premium tickets. 

Would you pay a premium for wifi? posher seats? better food? exclusive lounge? - all that sort of rubbish.

They did touch on rail seating, but the genaeral thrust was pretty transparent.

I already pay £650 for a season ticket.  No I don't want to pay extra, just give me the basic facilities any customer paying that sort of money should be able to to expect.  Start with the simple stuff - the ability to buy a pint and decent food without a 10 minute wait, sell pies that aren't either cremated or still dough, have a basic level of wifi or boosted 4G signals available to all networks.  After that, if you want to put some seating in the concourse area or improve the screens then great.

[Risso]

Why is the phone signal and wifi so shit at Villa compared to everywhere else? I've been away to Forest, Newcastle, Arsenal, Leeds and Man City this season, and been able to stay connected somehow in all of them.

[Gareth]

Those surveys are a complete waste of time in my opinion, they just pay lip service (to support planning applications etc) IF they had any intention of improving facilities etc they would have been done by now.  Toilets with no hot water, no paper towels, no cleaning in flow is easily solved.  Lack of quality in staff and product range is easily solved.  Brainless things like staff having to pour cans into plastic glasses is easily solved.  If you want a world class operation then you put the people and investment into making it world class….unfortunately those with the power to enforce people to change are happily sat in the comfy seats with their restaurant & bar facilities not on their feet seeing how truly pathetic their match day operation is.

Season ticket prices will go up again this summer without doubt but i would say in the Witton Upper nothing has improved in terms of the match day experience in a decade or more…in fact it is worse as existing facilities age.

[chrisw1]

Those surveys are a complete waste of time in my opinion, they just pay lip service (to support planning applications etc) IF they had any intention of improving facilities etc they would have been done by now.  Toilets with no hot water, no paper towels, no cleaning in flow is easily solved.  Lack of quality in staff and product range is easily solved.  Brainless things like staff having to pour cans into plastic glasses is easily solved.  If you want a world class operation then you put the people and investment into making it world class….unfortunately those with the power to enforce people to change are happily sat in the comfy seats with their restaurant & bar facilities not on their feet seeing how truly pathetic their match day operation is.

Season ticket prices will go up again this summer without doubt but i would say in the Witton Upper nothing has improved in terms of the match day experience in a decade or more…in fact it is worse as existing facilities age.

The Witton upper is an absolute joke.  But with the limited space there you kind of know what you're going to get.  Whenever I've sat there I've never bothered even trying to get a pint, it's just not worth it.  Unless they increase the space by removing some of the hospitality tier, I'm not sure there's a huge amount they can do?   

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

Those surveys are a complete waste of time in my opinion, they just pay lip service (to support planning applications etc) IF they had any intention of improving facilities etc they would have been done by now.  Toilets with no hot water, no paper towels, no cleaning in flow is easily solved.  Lack of quality in staff and product range is easily solved.  Brainless things like staff having to pour cans into plastic glasses is easily solved.  If you want a world class operation then you put the people and investment into making it world class….unfortunately those with the power to enforce people to change are happily sat in the comfy seats with their restaurant & bar facilities not on their feet seeing how truly pathetic their match day operation is.

Season ticket prices will go up again this summer without doubt but i would say in the Witton Upper nothing has improved in terms of the match day experience in a decade or more…in fact it is worse as existing facilities age.

I’m already looking forward to the next club around the world, beginning with the letter ‘V’ that we’ll buy a stake in.

[dave.woodhall]

At a guess I would say they're looking at a way of getting some sort of corporate-lite into the lower - padded seats, separate lounge, that sort of thing.

[chrisw1]

At a guess I would say they're looking at a way of getting some sort of corporate-lite into the lower - padded seats, separate lounge, that sort of thing.

Which sounds like an absolutely horrendous idea.  Do they really want to suck the soul out of the stadium?  There will be plenty of additional corporate in the Trinity and North.  Surely there's no need to ruin the Holte? 

The obvious solution for the Holte is to convert the whole Lower to rail seating as most stand there anyway and just smarten up the facilities a bit.

[Paul.S]

Do a majority of supporters in this country want to get to the ground hours early to enjoy facilities in or directly outside the stadium? I think there’s a huge cultural gap to bridge because supporters like to meet up in pubs away from the ground or just arrive and go to the game. It’ll take some doing and something special to entice people away from decades of habitual behaviour to get them to spend their cash in fan zones or inside the ground hours before a game.
Can’t knock them for trying another revenue stream but I can’t see it becoming a major earner anytime soon.
As for padded seats and wining and dining in the Holte End, not only would their be major objections from the fans but as someone has already said, it would suck the atmosphere out of the entire ground.

[Billy Walker]

Yep, ideally the Club will smarten up the Holte End and maybe do all they can to raise its capacity to make it the number one "home" end in football again.  Concourses etc would need to be modified and modernised, along with refreshment opportunities but, as others are saying, the stand itself shouldn't be touched by extreme commercialism. My dream would be more mosaics, more stained glass and a  Ron Saunders statue to greet fans as they walk up to Villa Park - if the Club wants more lounges, GA+ etc that would need to come in an all new Witton Lane stand or maybe a smaller "Villa Live" venue on the Holte End car park?

[Paul.S]

Yep, ideally the Club will smarten up the Holte End and maybe do all they can to raise its capacity to make it the number one "home" end in football again.  Concourses etc would need to be modified and modernised, along with refreshment opportunities but, as others are saying, the stand itself shouldn't be touched by extreme commercialism. My dream would be more mosaics, more stained glass and a  Ron Saunders statue to greet fans as they walk up to Villa Park - if the Club wants more lounges, GA+ etc that would need to come in an all new Witton Lane stand or maybe a smaller "Villa Live" venue on the Holte End car park?

100% yes to a statue of Saunders and another to celebrate the greatest night in our history. We’ve missed opportunities for decades to celebrate this and also to show the respect to a man who should be remembered forever.

[rougegorge]

Why is the phone signal and wifi so shit at Villa compared to everywhere else? I've been away to Forest, Newcastle, Arsenal, Leeds and Man City this season, and been able to stay connected somehow in all of them.

Yes it's rubbish and there is no real excuse as they have been 'working' on it for ages, and we know about catering and crammed concourses.

Even if people want a basic experience off the pitch, I think the stadium facilities are falling behind what a minimum level should be nowadays, particularly as a Premier League game is very expensive and it's branded as a 'premium' event.

[Risso]

Why is the phone signal and wifi so shit at Villa compared to everywhere else? I've been away to Forest, Newcastle, Arsenal, Leeds and Man City this season, and been able to stay connected somehow in all of them.

Yes it's rubbish and there is no real excuse as they have been 'working' on it for ages, and we know about catering and crammed concourses.

Even if people want a basic experience off the pitch, I think the stadium facilities are falling behind what a minimum level should be nowadays, particularly as a Premier League game is very expensive and it's branded as a 'premium' event.

Agreed. When you go to the likes of Spurs, Arsenal or Man City for example, you realise just how crap the facilities mostly are at Villa Park. Lovely historic ground maybe, but crap to get to, crap to get away from, no decent pubs or restaurants in the immediate area and rubbish service once you're inside the ground.

[Pat Mustard]

Do a majority of supporters in this country want to get to the ground hours early to enjoy facilities in or directly outside the stadium? I think there’s a huge cultural gap to bridge because supporters like to meet up in pubs away from the ground or just arrive and go to the game. It’ll take some doing and something special to entice people away from decades of habitual behaviour to get them to spend their cash in fan zones or inside the ground hours before a game.
Can’t knock them for trying another revenue stream but I can’t see it becoming a major earner anytime soon.
As for padded seats and wining and dining in the Holte End, not only would their be major objections from the fans but as someone has already said, it would suck the atmosphere out of the entire ground.

I think there is a balance, and there are a significant number of people who probably would come to the ground earlier if there is more on offer, especially families.  The fan zone outside the Trinity is always busy before games, as is the family fun zone in the old Stumps building.  This year we have started using the Holte Suite more before games, and been in the 1874 Lounge a couple of times using the reward points - they all do a decent enough job, but could be improved.

The club are barking up the wrong tree though if they want to upgrade the Holte End in this way - one thing Spurs got right in their new ground was keeping the one end as the focal point for the 'traditional' support.  Yes to rail seating and better food/drink for the fans that go there, but any kind of corporate facilities should go elsewhere.

[Paul.S]

Do a majority of supporters in this country want to get to the ground hours early to enjoy facilities in or directly outside the stadium? I think there’s a huge cultural gap to bridge because supporters like to meet up in pubs away from the ground or just arrive and go to the game. It’ll take some doing and something special to entice people away from decades of habitual behaviour to get them to spend their cash in fan zones or inside the ground hours before a game.
Can’t knock them for trying another revenue stream but I can’t see it becoming a major earner anytime soon.
As for padded seats and wining and dining in the Holte End, not only would their be major objections from the fans but as someone has already said, it would suck the atmosphere out of the entire ground.

I think there is a balance, and there are a significant number of people who probably would come to the ground earlier if there is more on offer, especially families.  The fan zone outside the Trinity is always busy before games, as is the family fun zone in the old Stumps building.  This year we have started using the Holte Suite more before games, and been in the 1874 Lounge a couple of times using the reward points - they all do a decent enough job, but could be improved.

The club are barking up the wrong tree though if they want to upgrade the Holte End in this way - one thing Spurs got right in their new ground was keeping the one end as the focal point for the 'traditional' support.  Yes to rail seating and better food/drink for the fans that go there, but any kind of corporate facilities should go elsewhere.

I’d agree with the families but I just think it’s a long way off for a lot of others. I’ve used the Holte Suite as well on and off, mostly midweek, but it’s decent enough. It’s that culture in this country that I think they’ll always struggle with, as will all clubs. They’d also struggle with the weather outside the ground apart from a few months of the season.
Can’t knock them for trying though.

[rougegorge]

Why is the phone signal and wifi so shit at Villa compared to everywhere else? I've been away to Forest, Newcastle, Arsenal, Leeds and Man City this season, and been able to stay connected somehow in all of them.

Yes it's rubbish and there is no real excuse as they have been 'working' on it for ages, and we know about catering and crammed concourses.

Even if people want a basic experience off the pitch, I think the stadium facilities are falling behind what a minimum level should be nowadays, particularly as a Premier League game is very expensive and it's branded as a 'premium' event.

Agreed. When you go to the likes of Spurs, Arsenal or Man City for example, you realise just how crap the facilities mostly are at Villa Park. Lovely historic ground maybe, but crap to get to, crap to get away from, no decent pubs or restaurants in the immediate area and rubbish service once you're inside the ground.

Yes, different generations of our family has been going for years, and whilst we love the historic nature of the stadium, we don't appreciate the facilities and you are spot on. I know those grounds you mention are modern and so have an advantage, but at a base level, everything about the 'off-pitch' experience is generally better, down to the club shop, marketing, and even little things like a slicker and more up to date pre-match and half-time presentation etc. Also, by modernising they have elevated the surrounding area as well. Hopefully the new stadium improvements will help, but we have a long way still to go.