The Terrace View - Holte End Upper

[chrisw1]

They managed to achieve smaller queues in the Trinity by charging £6.30 a pint.

They're playing 4D chess right there.

[Mister E]

The general state of the Upper Holte was awful. Alongside the blocked toilets, the floor was filthy, the paintwork on the girders peeling away and the screen end overlooking Aston Park covered in dust, debris and cobwebs. I didn't attempt to buy anything but did notice that the lights were off on the dedicated Purity Bar so that looked shut.
Whatever is happening with the Holte Suite, having a money making facility as large as that out of use is awful. Something is terribly wrong with the management of the facilities.

Yep. As an Upper-Holte STH, it felt to me that they are deliberately running things down, perhaps in order to push more people into the TV. I can't honesty believe they would do that, but it feels that way.
In my commercial experience, if an organisation wants to introduce a premium product, the starting point is to make the 'standard' service really good - in this case, decent toilets, good consumable product, great kiosk service, etc. Then, when you bring in the premium product the audience will trust you to make it great value and assured quality. At the moment, Villa is (are, for those who prefer) failing on all counts. Very sad.

[Mister E]

Oh, and the guy who sits next to me has a mate who signed up for TV. He says that access to away tickets has not been formally offered but that it has been implied (the guy was asked on his application whether he would be interested in buying away tickets).

[London Villan]

I'm sure this is the reason the roof has been taken off the dugout. It's a great view and allowed for interaction with the players. That is surely why they are going to be able to charge a premium for those seats in the coming seasons.

[astonvilla82]

I'm sure this is the reason the roof has been taken off the dugout. It's a great view and allowed for interaction with the players. That is surely why they are going to be able to charge a premium for those seats in the coming seasons.

can't see them leaving it this way due to weather conditions, can't have footballers getting wet and cold

[john e]

Viewed From the Doug the Terrace thing didn’t look as bad as the earlier photos suggested
I thought it was going to be a proper eyesore but in fairness it wasn’t too bad

[Dr Butler]

Wow there seem so many people with different issues from around the stands at the ground, I have a ST in the Lower Holte and think that everything there works fairly well....the payment screens work well, we queued for a beer no longer than 5 mins I reckon and although I never eat at the ground there were plenty of people tucking in to the food that was on offer.

It did not seem that busy on the concourses in the Lower Holte and as for the Terrace View it did not really impact my view etc even though I am very close to the left of it as you look at it from the pitch.

The windows that were behind me  have been removed and bricked up.

Let's hope the club can sort some of these problems out for the fans as it is not a cheap day out anymore.

UTV
The Doc

[UK Redsox]

I'm sure this is the reason the roof has been taken off the dugout. It's a great view and allowed for interaction with the players. That is surely why they are going to be able to charge a premium for those seats in the coming seasons.

This is where I sit.

My comment was that it was the first step towards gentrification and us being priced out of the section.

There's got to be a temporary roof to go back on the dugout, or else they'll get soaked

[London Villan]

The only change in the lower Trinity was a new non-slip covering on the steps... The toilets were horrendous by the sounds of things.

[danno]

Noticed in the lower Holte you do have to use the pay and collect machines now.
The place I went last season (spurs game) for a pie is now a “collection point”.

Not a big deal really, but it appeared that there was only the one place to go and get food.

[UK Redsox]

The only change in the lower Trinity was a new non-slip covering on the steps... The toilets were horrendous by the sounds of things.

If you want crappy toilets, look no further than those at One Stop Perry Barr

I thought that they'd be sorted out before the Commonwealth Games, but all they did was put a new bucket under the worst leaking urinal.

Once cubicle has been out of order since part way through last season

[VILLA MOLE]

I wonder what the refreshment offerings were when we got 76k back in 1946.

None and you pissed in your mates pocket. So the legend goes

well it keeps them warm

[nick harper]

It really does feel like the match-day experience for fans is deteriorating in the chase to upgrade bits of the ground for corporates. I long gave up on spending more time than I needed to in the ground as the experience in the upper tier of the Witton Lane has been grim for a long time as other posters have said many times.

It does seem that with full houses and waiting lists seemingly guaranteed at the moment, there is no motivation for the club to improve facilities for most fans and that is really poor given the spiralling costs. Basic service initiatives and acceptable toilet facilities should be the bare minimum but they are seemingly unwilling to even aspire to that.

I should also mention the inability to get people in the ground quickly and efficiently on the Witton Lane is embarrassing these days. 15/20 min queues for the upper tier and the Everton fans were inadvertently blocking the whole road due to how slow it was. It seems to get worse every year. Is it like that elsewhere?

[Fasth56]

One bonus on Sunday was the new bar in the Holte Pub garden, granted £6.30 for a tepid pint of Morretti, but its a start. Hope the chillers are installed for the next game

[luke95]

I should also mention the inability to get people in the ground quickly and efficiently on the Witton Lane is embarrassing these days. 15/20 min queues for the upper tier and the Everton fans were inadvertently blocking the whole road due to how slow it was. It seems to get worse every year. Is it like that elsewhere?

It was noticeable how big/long the queues were to get in on Trinity Rd & North Upper at around 1-40 not seen it that hectic for some time.