Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[LeeB]

I think we'll sell a lot more gear under Adidas. Not £80m worth, but even snobs like me will pick up a jacket and shirt.

Me too, I don't buy lots of sportwear but when I do it's Adidas for clothes and usually Nike for trainers.

[Dogtanian]

I think we'll sell a lot more gear under Adidas. Not £80m worth, but even snobs like me will pick up a jacket and shirt.

I've already ordered £300+ of Adidas stuff simply because they did the deal, so they're already raking in the coin. 

[Dante Lavelli]

In round numbers we need to find an extra £150m. Which revenue streams will he be targeting?

£150m divided by 40,000 seats = £3750/season or about £200 per game. That’s never going to happen so wonder where the rest will be logically be generated.

The plan isn't to get it all from matchday revenue. Taking his figures, we're about £270m now, and on-course to add £50m to that next season. So that's about £320m, leaving £80m shy of the target and two seasons to achieve it.

You have the new venue coming in 2026, so they'll be looking to exploit that. We will also need a new main sponsor that year, so the expectation will be that our profile will command a considerably larger fee there.

They're talking about making us a global brand, which means raising the profile and our success to build the fanbase abroad, which then means more shirt sales and things like Villa TV increase.

Interesting. £80m seems much more obtainable across shirts, sponsorship and potentially a few more games on TV.

Born pessimist, but we’d be foolish to expect CL qualification as part of the plan. Consistent european qualification sounds more sustainable.

[Ads]

I think we'll sell a lot more gear under Adidas. Not £80m worth, but even snobs like me will pick up a jacket and shirt.

Me too, I don't buy lots of sportwear but when I do it's Adidas for clothes and usually Nike for trainers.

I'm hoping they bring out some Adidas specials for trainers. Would love a proper claret and blue pair.

[AV82EC]

I’m glad he’s been open about what the business target is. To do that in the next 2-3 seasons is ambitious but there’s no doubt it’s achievable.

[Dogtanian]

I’m glad he’s been open about what the business target is. To do that in the next 2-3 seasons is ambitious but there’s no doubt it’s achievable.

To put this into context;

Man City	£702m
Man U	£633m
Liverpool	£580m
Spurs	£536m
Chelsea	£500m
Arsenal	£452m

So still a long, long way to go!

[Dogtanian]

What's frustrating is looking at the revenue of Spurs, considering they've won the sum total of fuck all in this period;

2013	147m
2014	180m
2015	196m
2016	209m
2017	306m
2018	380m
2019	460m
2020	402m
2021	361m
2022	444m
2023	549m

 

[eamonn]

Emery’s new contract means that he is no longer a head coach but a manager – and one in whom the owners and club have placed all trust. Not hard to see why with the struggles others have had to appoint a similarly transformative figure in that role. “He is truly our manager,” Heck says. “It means [the role change] that there is stability, that we have trust in Unai and we are working in conjunction with Unai.

“We have the same vision but he is leading this club to a place that we haven’t seen. You cannot underestimate this. He is a remarkable individual. Not only in how he works with players individually and as a team but also his support group with the coaches. We are running something that is transformational for the club. It really is.”

Can someone explain what this means on a practical level - Unai now being our manager and not the head-coach. Does he have more say on transfers? I would have assumed that Monchi would run everything by him first anyway. It's often been said that Emery had nothing to do with the Duran purchase - now, will he have more oversight on the signing of youth prospects? What else will change in his job-description? He eats and sleeps Villa as it is...

“We are in a really interesting time of English football right now,” Heck says. “It has been a good decade of big six stability, meaning they have kept everyone out. Newcastle last year, us this year. I think it is changing and I wouldn’t bet against us.”

Did he mean to evoke Ron Saunders at the end, there?

[Risso]

What's frustrating is looking at the revenue of Spurs, considering they've won the sum total of fuck all in this period;

2013	147m
2014	180m
2015	196m
2016	209m
2017	306m
2018	380m
2019	460m
2020	402m
2021	361m
2022	444m
2023	549m

 

It's almost like having a massive new stadium has inflated their income forever.

[Dante Lavelli]

Would Wembley be from 2017?

[Dogtanian]

Would Wembley be from 2017?

2017 was the last year at White Hart Lane.

2020 would have been the first accounts with the new stadium, but also with covid at the end of it.

[Dogtanian]

The big jump for 2019 I suspect was down to Champions League prize money from losing the final.

[Chris Smith]

What's frustrating is looking at the revenue of Spurs, considering they've won the sum total of fuck all in this period;

2013	147m
2014	180m
2015	196m
2016	209m
2017	306m
2018	380m
2019	460m
2020	402m
2021	361m
2022	444m
2023	549m

 

Comparing our finances to Spurs takes me back to the Ellis Out years on here.

[eamonn]

Yeah, fuck that shit until VillaDawg comes back.

[Toronto Villa]

Chris Heck: “We just came back from the Premier League meetings. We know what we are up against & we almost feel that we have to do this on our own. Because these rules are not set up to reward an ambitious club — or a challenger. When something doesn’t evolve in 11 years & with the cost of living alone, you scratch your head..”

He’s absolutely right. Yes a new stand would have helped but it’s not a quick fix. We wouldn’t realize those revenues for a few years. But the rules are fucked now. I’m glad we are taking a stance.