The Holte Suite

[Nev]

Without coming over all Wilma, it's pretty obvious who they want in the ground and who they don't. They know that they were ripping us off by removing access to this area hence the lack of information on it's future use. They believe by driving down standards in other areas they will drive the custom into the new ventures and thus extract more money which explains the fact that the place has become a shit hole.

I felt ripped off many a time following football but never more than this.

[pauliewalnuts]

if you sell something and you have over 30,000 on a waiting list for the privilege of giving you hundreds and hundreds of pounds for a year's product in advance then you are going to feel pretty empowered to milk that for as much money as you can get. That's the other side of the equation.

Not saying I like it, but it's basically supply and demand.

[simboy]

As someone said, we are 2 miles or so from the city centre. I can go to a city centre pub have some scran and a proper pint or two (without pipe cleaner in) , share a taxi with my mate to get to the ground 20 minutes before and have quite a lot of change from £70.

That’s the difference from spuds or Arsenal … there’s a close diverse alternative.

Arsenal is a five minute walk from Islington which has got hundreds of bars and restaurants, and that section of the A1 is literally rammed with places to eat and drink. It's also one stop and five minutes on the tube from Kings Cross/St Pancras and everything going on round there. They've probably got 50 times more places they can go than in Birmingham. It's ridiculously easy to get to, and because there's so much choice nowhere is overly busy, unless you get the away fans deciding to take over one or two pubs. And yet they still sell out the posh bits.

Tottenham never struck me as as a decent place to have a pint (especially as an away fan) - always quite enjoyed the Ashburton experience but it never struck me as a 10 minute walk for a good pint, think we have always ate/drink two tube stops away - just to queue for the tube. I will have a look. Do they allow football shirts in those places?

With 30,000 season tickets which are increasingly difficult to pass on …. perhaps more a parochial fan base were a city centre start to our “match day” experience will be the way to go. As I say £70 … meh. Perhaps for a table of 10 yep …

[Nev]

It is indeed and we won't be the first club to exploit the unique nature of supporting a football team. I'm a realist and know that the game is changing but it still leaves a sour taste. Not least with the disingenuous way they have gone about this, I suspect it's because they know naked greed isn't very cool.

[algy]

I reckon for £70 you'd get admission, decent quality buffet and then you pay for any drinks. As you say, the problem is their solution to shit service is to improve it in small areas, charge way more (more than ticket price), and for good measure, take away something fans have been able to use as part of their ST for years. We just seem to be walking wallets to them these days.

I can only get to a small number of games a year anyway due to the random days/times that the fixtures are played at. And in honesty the effective standing charge of claret membership (since getting tickets together for me and my kids is best impossible one things get to general sale - and I'm not sitting several rows/seats away from a pair of 6 year olds & a 9 year old!) on top of ticket prices ... I think I've been completely priced out now. Was looking to come to a European match with my dad and maybe a league game with the kids, but honestly ... I can't fucking afford it. It'll cost more for a single game than we spend on groceries for a month FFS. Completely unjustifiable for me.

And these pricks think they can make the service so poor that I'll pay double or more just to avoid it?

I'm livid today.

[PeterWithesShin]

Assuming the rumours are true, the lack of transparency and information to the people that have been using it for years when they were renewing season tickets in the summer doesn't reflect well on what they actually think of the fans imo.

[Dante Lavelli]

The difference with those clubs is London. You can get away with charging a premium in that rip off City.

I don't really agree with that. The difference is demand. They had it and still do, we didn't and now increasingly have. When you have a big excess of demand over supply for a product like football where people are emotionally invested, it's an amazing opportunity to make more money than you were before.

There’s loads of cracking pubs and restaurants around arsenal (and to a lesser extent Spurs) so the supply of decent alternatives should keep their pricing competitive.  Villa, on the other hand, probably know that they can charge what they want because the alternatives are generally average or a last minute taxi from the city centre.

You’d hope that providing a good service will become a greater priority once the warehouse etc are established.  At the moment they appear to be taking the piss.

[Nev]

Assuming the rumours are true, the lack of transparency and information to the people that have been using it for years when they were renewing season tickets in the summer doesn't reflect well on what they actually think of the fans imo.

Absolutely. I've always believed that Clubs need to create revenue but must try to respect and look after their core support and I think that has happened at the Villa more or less in my time.

Until now. My support counts for nothing because I don't earn enough.

[Dante Lavelli]

Weirdly, me and my mates have often said we’d happily get to Aston earlier if there were some decent places to eat and drink i.e. take my money!. 
The Villa warehouse or Villa Live seemed to be that opportunity but it will be missed if they insist on having membership or a charge to to get in.

[Chris Smith]

We’ve started using the Aston Tavern before and after the game. It’s a fiver on the door or seventy quid for the season and for that you get hot food thrown in, usually something like a choice of curry or chilli cooked in a a decent kitchen because it’s used a wedding venue. They do a nice pint of Guinness and has the advantage of only being a hop and skip to the ground. After the Swan and Mitre closed we did use the Holte Suite occasionally but there’s no way I’d pay that sort of money.

[Des Little]

I’d precisely the supporter they don’t want, I drink (and sometimes eat) in town, and we jump in an Uber at 2.30 to get in for kick off, just about.  That won’t change no matter what ‘memberships’ they introduce, they can whistle.

[Mister E]

Yesterday, I went into the Holte Hotel pre-match and was pleasantly surprised: good service and not massively busy.
Because I travel from the north, I routinely arrive 3 hours before kick off and have tended to go to the Holte Suite... the proposed changes disappoint but don't surprise me. Our commercial performance as a club has been terrible for years and - with the s.t. demand so high - it's not surprising to see the price-gouging going on.
As ever, it's the long-serving attendees that have the most to lose.

[RamboandBruno]

I dont tend to drink for that long before a game and normally just go in the Holte concourse about 45 mins before k/o have a pint and get the kids a drink & some chips and maybe have another one at h/t. Sometimes I’ll go the Sacred Heart before or most likely after, but at the moment the teenagers haven’t discovered the joy of staying out for hours after a game.

About three or four times a season I might pop in the Holte Suite before a match. I do however know lots of supporters who go in for an hour or more post every home match before moving on.

None of this really matters and Im rambling on, except as season ticket holders there has always been the choice. PWS has nailed this, it’s about the club actively removing the choices that have been available to the loyalists of supporters for many years, the Holte Suite, cup games, and wrapping it up as the result of consumer research, so telling us we’ve asked for this…..fuck right off!!

All the while, the ques remain the same downstairs with us plebs and we continued to get served shite by under paid, under trained disaffected kids.

I know things move on and we are trying to move forwards commercially and the very last thing I want to sound like is Wilma, but shitting all over your bread and butter supporters just seems illogical? Unless their sacred consumer research tells them the holy grail waiting list is made up of people willing to pay for this.

[Fin Feds Dad]

I’ve said it before - can’t think of any other business that treats its most loyal customers with such contempt.

They were emailing us , begging us , to bring others to the game 6 years ago in the championship when the trinity upper was closed .

Something very wrong at B6 - and for the first time in a very long time it’s everywhere apart from on the pitch.

[N'ZMAV]

We are customers. Simple as that. Long gone are the days of looking after the loyal fans at football clubs.