Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[CT Villan]

Just in the last 12 months we have:

Cancellation of North Stand rebuild
Removal of Holte Suite from general supporters
Seats in all areas being converted to GA+
ST holders being moved to accommodate GA+ and corporate
Badge fiasco
General treatment of fan consultation group
Massive uplift in ST prices
Doubling price of parking for disabled supporters
Non-existant seats being sold
Toilets covered in piss and a ground not ready for the first game of the season
Turnstile chaos v Arsenal
Champions League ticket prices

and whatever happened to the allegations of harassment made by former employees, were they untrue ?

[LeeS]

I wasn't going to post this as it's a bit close to home to say the least, but I've changed my mind.
My wife has a disabled badge, she's 49
The reason she has a disabled badge is because she has terminal cancer.
She hasn't been to Villa for a couple of years, so the disabled parking is no issue for us.
But some of the people who do use the disabled area will be in a similar situation to my wife.
When we have the Holte Enders in the Sky at half time at the end of the season...some of those people would have used those spaces. Youngsters who have terminally ill conditions, who sometimes are mascots or appear in the program, their parents would use those spaces.
It wasn't long ago that Acorns was on the front of our shirts, and what a wonderful gesture that was.
And now here we are advertising betting and kicking blue badge holders in the teeth.
What a time to be a Villa fan..

Well said, that man. And best wishes to you, your wife and your family. Cancer is a fucking bitch.

[stubbsyandy]

I appreciate everything that NSWE have done for us but this is shameful, truly worthy of our neighbours but surely not us

[PeterWithesShin]

Fuck cancer the ******. Very best to you, your wife and other family and friends.

[brontebilly]

I wasn't going to post this as it's a bit close to home to say the least, but I've changed my mind.
My wife has a disabled badge, she's 49
The reason she has a disabled badge is because she has terminal cancer.
She hasn't been to Villa for a couple of years, so the disabled parking is no issue for us.
But some of the people who do use the disabled area will be in a similar situation to my wife.
When we have the Holte Enders in the Sky at half time at the end of the season...some of those people would have used those spaces. Youngsters who have terminally ill conditions, who sometimes are mascots or appear in the program, their parents would use those spaces.
It wasn't long ago that Acorns was on the front of our shirts, and what a wonderful gesture that was.
And now here we are advertising betting and kicking blue badge holders in the teeth.
What a time to be a Villa fan..

So sorry to read this.

To be honest I think it's a scandal there's any charge for disabled parking at the ground, not to mind doubling it for no reason. Not that they really should but to really shame Heck, maybe McGinn and the players would cover the cost? A huge part of our Phoenix like recovery as a club was that the severed connection between fans, players and management was restored. Heck seems on a mission to destroy it again using his fancy excel charts and corporate waffle. Penny rich and pound poor!

[PeterWithesShin]

Another risk with them smashing a big chasm between the club and the fans is that negativity affects the team. I don't mean they'll cop shit from fans but once there isn't unity at a club the fallout can be quite wide.

[The Edge]

I wasn't going to post this as it's a bit close to home to say the least, but I've changed my mind.
My wife has a disabled badge, she's 49
The reason she has a disabled badge is because she has terminal cancer.
She hasn't been to Villa for a couple of years, so the disabled parking is no issue for us.
But some of the people who do use the disabled area will be in a similar situation to my wife.
When we have the Holte Enders in the Sky at half time at the end of the season...some of those people would have used those spaces. Youngsters who have terminally ill conditions, who sometimes are mascots or appear in the program, their parents would use those spaces.
It wasn't long ago that Acorns was on the front of our shirts, and what a wonderful gesture that was.
And now here we are advertising betting and kicking blue badge holders in the teeth.
What a time to be a Villa fan..

Straight from the heart mate and you nailed it. I would love to print this off in letters 2ft high and stick it up at the entrance to the Trinity Rd. The entrance where the owners go although I doubt very much that Chris Heck would even bat an eyelid. Best wishes to you and your family.

[Brazilian Villain]

Is that orange blanket that did for DOL still around? Hang it off the Holte again in honour of Heck

'We're not fiscally austere, we just don't like you'?

[PeterWithesShin]

Cock, Piss, Heck

[purpletrousers]

Thanks for changing your mind and braving the share Mr Butty, I hope it feels it honours your Mrs that it helps reinforce the injustice and unethical decision, possibly even legally challengable prejudice of the parking charges (I don’t think £20 is the going rate anyway?).

Either way I wish her you and your family all the very best with your journey. If you do want to get her along let us all know on here and we’ll make it happen I’m sure.

I had the exact same thought re: Acorns or even the Villa Foundation on shirts.

Thinking about it, maybe we should apply to the Villa foundation to fund the increase as a community project, at the very least in a generously means tested way, if not universally.

It would remind me of the last Govt annd overseas health workers trying to come to do learning and development placements here funded by one dept and being stopped from taking them up by bizarre visa decisions by another.

Maybe the charitable aspect of the club should start picking up some of the damage, inaccessibility and social exclusion other parts of the club are creating.

[Ads]

It's not hard to get right. This is what I don't get. Villa Park isn't fit for purpose, electronic ticketing is crap everywhere you go. But there's still tonnes of things you could do;

Forgo £4m across the 4 home games by pricing the Champions League matches at an expensive, but not eye watering price.

Ensure toilets are clean and well furnished to cater for fans. A job lot of white tiles, proper plumbing, flooring etc isn't expensive.

Don't rip disabled fans off. In fact don't charge them anything to park or if they can't park on site, sort a mobility bus. The costs are peanuts. The revenue generated does nothing.

Have your fancy GA+ and your corporate, price it correctly and make more money. Don't come the ****** with loyal supporters who don't want to pay through the nose for it.

All basic stuff. I'm not sure who Heck delegates to, but they are clearly incompetent. If he's not going to go (and he surely won't as he's making increasing fortunes as directed) then the useless dick who thought they could do Foos and Arsenal ought to at least.

It's fucking dire and it's so disappointing that we are just as predatory and exploitative as all the other sides in the CL. Success really does come at a price. It doesn't have to be this way.

I'd say build a new fucking ground worthy of the volume of support we have so we can have your 15k GA+ Tarquinistas and your 45k GA legacy lager drinkers. But we'd end up paying double bubble anyway. So what's the point.

[Skerra]

If being "successful" (we still haven't actually won anything)  means rinsing disabled fans and OAP's / kids etc i'd rather return to being shite.

With you all the way with that Tim. Unfortunately, some fans will still scrabble for tickets, so the Club won’t mind at all about us abstaining.

[Villan82]

Just in the last 12 months we have:

Cancellation of North Stand rebuild
Removal of Holte Suite from general supporters
Seats in all areas being converted to GA+
ST holders being moved to accommodate GA+ and corporate
Badge fiasco
General treatment of fan consultation group
Massive uplift in ST prices
Doubling price of parking for disabled supporters
Non-existant seats being sold
Toilets covered in piss and a ground not ready for the first game of the season
Turnstile chaos v Arsenal
Champions League ticket prices

and whatever happened to the allegations of harassment made by former employees, were they untrue ?

I was alarmed at the way so many online sort of doubted it could be true. It would have been a really elaborate thing to invent.

[Villan82]

I wasn't going to post this as it's a bit close to home to say the least, but I've changed my mind.
My wife has a disabled badge, she's 49
The reason she has a disabled badge is because she has terminal cancer.
She hasn't been to Villa for a couple of years, so the disabled parking is no issue for us.
But some of the people who do use the disabled area will be in a similar situation to my wife.
When we have the Holte Enders in the Sky at half time at the end of the season...some of those people would have used those spaces. Youngsters who have terminally ill conditions, who sometimes are mascots or appear in the program, their parents would use those spaces.
It wasn't long ago that Acorns was on the front of our shirts, and what a wonderful gesture that was.
And now here we are advertising betting and kicking blue badge holders in the teeth.
What a time to be a Villa fan..

Straight from the heart mate and you nailed it. I would love to print this off in letters 2ft high and stick it up at the entrance to the Trinity Rd. The entrance where the owners go although I doubt very much that Chris Heck would even bat an eyelid. Best wishes to you and your family.

To echo this, Thinking of you and your family, fk cancer

[PeterWithesShin]

If we didn't have to pay UEFA a 60k fine we could have used that money to give free parking to our disabled fans for the next 15-20 years.