Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[Bad English]

“Our fans are like, ‘We like tradition,’” .Edens said “And I tell them: ‘No, you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t."

What an arrogant c**t.

This bloke doesn’t get it and won’t ever get it.

I'm not disagreeing with the sentiment, but does everyone realise it was Wes Edens saying this and not Heck?

Well, there is a devious and cunningly-disguised clue in 'Edens said' but who knows if people know what that means. ;-)

[Dogtanian]

It's all continuing to point to a Villa Park rebuild. They're confident that if they knocked it down tomorrow and built something modern that gives a better experience we will all be happy with it afterwards.

There's no way these people are sacrificing revenue growth by improving the 'customer' experience in order to appease our sense of history. Especially when the physical manifestation of that 150 years of history was built in the 1990s.

[Chico Hamilton III]

After the final whistle at Brighton last week we went down to the bar under the stand and had a few pints and watched the Spurs Liverpool game which was being shown on a few screens. It didn’t cost us anything ( other than the usual rip off beer prices) , there was no street food or school dinner benches to sit at, no unnecessary frills, just somewhere to get a few pints down instead of queuing up for the train back into Brighton. It’s really not difficult, it just takes a club to approach it from a human perspective instead of seeing dollar signs in front of everything.

[Villan82]

It's all continuing to point to a Villa Park rebuild. They're confident that if they knocked it down tomorrow and built something modern that gives a better experience we will all be happy with it afterwards.

There's no way these people are sacrificing revenue growth by improving the 'customer' experience in order to appease our sense of history. Especially when the physical manifestation of that 150 years of history was built in the 1990s.

I have this image of Heck getting a kick out of how much intrigue his statement has caused!

I literally have no clue what the future for Villa Park is.

[dalians umbrella]

“Our fans are like, ‘We like tradition,’” .Edens said “And I tell them: ‘No, you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t."

What an arrogant c**t.

This bloke doesn’t get it and won’t ever get it.

I'm not disagreeing with the sentiment, but does everyone realise it was Wes Edens saying this and not Heck?

Well, there is a devious and cunningly-disguised clue in 'Edens said' but who knows if people know what that means. ;-)

I  still suspect Chicago Lion might have been referring to Heck - maybe I'm just wrong.

[Bad English]

Oh CL! Well, yes, anything is possible there. ;-)

[pablo_picasso]

Who would have thought that giving seated service where you can actually purchase beer & food would be a desired commodity when the only only other alternative is to stand around a cold concourse waiting for 20 mins for a pie & beer that you have no time to eat & drink.

But that wasn't the issue with The Lower Grounds for most people kicking off about it. The issue is The Holte Suite was a service that was sold as part of your season ticket & this was being taken away mid season with no consultation, very little comminication & absolutely no respect.

IF, some communication was given in a timely manner, I very much doubt that most people would care too much about it.

Certainly not the bloke who "swung for me because he lost his place to eat his sandwiches."

What an incredibly disingenuous way of explaining why some people were irritated by the situation.

And then to be told that our opinions on "tradition" don't matter because we can get an extra £100k per match in a situation that actually has fuck all to do with tradition & everything to do with respecting your core fanbase.

And all it would have taken to ease ourselves into this change would have been a bit of communication, a bit of patience & a bit of respect.

[Beard82]

I know all the arguments etc - but I think people want the Hertigage of the club maintained.  Having a stadium that is "more traditional" and famous for being "more traditional". I get it basically Triggers broom etc - but it still has a feeling of evolution to it, and it doesn't feel corporate, which gives it some integrity.   

But what I think they need to be careful about is the idea of this Great Old Historic club is and should be part of our Identity and "Brand".  If you don't make changes sensitivity we risk losing that which from a Marketing Perspective is part of what sets us apart. 

If I was head of marketing, I would be thinking about how we can modernize sensitively. 

[Dogtanian]

The problem is that the tradition and heritage aspect appeals to us lot who are going to be Villa fans forevermore because it's ingrained in us.

Build a stadium like Spurs and the young generations will lap it up and love it, because they see things like that and then look at Villa and think we're old fashioned and crap.

Everton are a great case in point. The bloody Z Cars and 'Everton!' song they play at the start of every match... the old boys who've been going since ration books love it, yeah, but any kid going must think it's embarrassing crap.

In short, modern, big, and new will get more people through the door and more success on the pitch than trying to present the club as traditional.

[LeeB]

Speaking of Everton, have they learned how many points will be deducted for that fucking squeek they do in the middle of that song yet?

[Pat Mustard]

Who would have thought that giving seated service where you can actually purchase beer & food would be a desired commodity when the only only other alternative is to stand around a cold concourse waiting for 20 mins for a pie & beer that you have no time to eat & drink.

But that wasn't the issue with The Lower Grounds for most people kicking off about it. The issue is The Holte Suite was a service that was sold as part of your season ticket & this was being taken away mid season with no consultation, very little comminication & absolutely no respect.

IF, some communication was given in a timely manner, I very much doubt that most people would care too much about it.

Certainly not the bloke who "swung for me because he lost his place to eat his sandwiches."

What an incredibly disingenuous way of explaining why some people were irritated by the situation.

And then to be told that our opinions on "tradition" don't matter because we can get an extra £100k per match in a situation that actually has fuck all to do with tradition & everything to do with respecting your core fanbase.

And all it would have taken to ease ourselves into this change would have been a bit of communication, a bit of patience & a bit of respect.

Exactly.  Looking at that piece, if I was being kind I'd call it revisionist - unkind and I would say someone is telling a few porky pies.  The Holte Suite was not 'derelict' as I believe it was called, and had far more business than the current incarnation is attracting.  We would go in there before probably 5 or 6 games a season to eat and get a few drinks - as a family I'd say conservatively spending £60-70 each time. 

At the higher capacity it used to have, if there was an average spend of even £15 per head you have to knock that off the figures being quoted, then suddenly the 'Lower Grounds' isn't half as profitable as being made out. That's before you get to the loss of goodwill from taking away a benefit that we all had as season ticket holders without any consultation.

[chrisw1]

Just saw this from the Man U owner
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4sg-QeMK1M/?igsh=bnN6NTEyMWhsbGxk

This is all pretty reasonable - give people somewhere to have a pint after a game and some will use it.

As for the Lower Grounds, it's news to me that it's selling out every week, I thought they were struggling to give it away?

I still don't have a problem with the concept though or them using that space, just the way they went about it was shit and on the back of taking the Holte Upper concourse felt a step too far.

[Beard82]

I am not 100% sure that the "young kids" do like Spurs type stadiums - don't get me wrong some do - but I think they are more decerning then given credit through.  I think young people are looking for things with a sense of integrity.

It's why only the dickhead young ones support Man City, it's why kids are buying LP Players and Vinyl, it's why Craft Ale is a big business. 

So I think it is a niche we should target - as everyone else goes after being the shiniest and best, we could go for those who are looking for things more meaningful. 

A shinny new stadium is trumped by the next shinny new stadium - but ultimately they will all look dated in 20 years. 

There is plenty we can do, like Villa Live to complement what we have - and upgrade what we have so you can buy a drink - but I don't think we need revolution just well targetted evolution building on what makes us special currently.

[Dogtanian]

The Terrace View pisses me off more, because it took away a lot of space and it's now even more congested for the average fan.

[London Villan]

There is a massive uptapped market, left by the dozens of pubs that used to cater for pre and post match drinks, in the proximity of the ground.

Now, while habits have changed, I'm sure there are few thousand fans who would quite happily spend a couple of hours having a beer, watching the next match on TV, in an environment that is pub-like. This alone would help the traffic problems.