Aston Villa Kit 26/27

[VILLA MOLE]

What will you do with yourself Martyn ? 

He can't hear you. He's gone.

I think it is a lot of time to fill ..  Also what about the sulking you miss out on when we lose 

[Dave]

Breaching all the financial rules, dodgy deals with Chelsea, Harvey Elliot, selling our arms to our legs...

And if he had written stories about those, you might have had a point.

Oh, I do have a point, because I'm not talking about a no-mark local BBC reporter, but responding to generalised, relentless self-pitying bleating.

He did a Harvey Elliott piece, if that helps anyone's point - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cdxp0dwe1nno

[astonvilla82]

Villa warned over sportswashing after Visit Rwanda deal - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cm20211g25lo

Is this the same Visit Rwanda that Arsenal were advertising all around their ground?

[PeterWithesShin]

Villa warned over sportswashing after Visit Rwanda deal - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cm20211g25lo

Is this the same Visit Rwanda that Arsenal were advertising all around their ground?

Yep

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cj45z1yq2nzo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c15v10l5w2go

[SamTheMouse]

I haven't been paying attention and only just noticed this. Bit perplexed, to be honest. I'm all for maximising our commercial income and everything, but this is... Well, it's far from ideal.

[Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle]

Hi all,

I know some will see this as 'this isn't an airport' or 'don't let the door etc', but the reason I'm doing it is to say a fond farewell to the many friendly acquaintances that I have made on this site

With this announcement about the new sponsorship deal, Villa have pushed me far enough. Following the ramping up of tickets for a similar seat from £44 to £58 in one season, the club has shoved me out of the exit door. There is a shameless, soulless commercialism about the place these days which goes above and beyond hard-nosed business sense. There is no sense of morality to the club any more

And that coupled with the PSR or whatever it's called rules which favour cost savings over on pitch success, and other factors over the years, I'm just done with the game. Cancelling my Sky Sports subscription

So, been nice chatting on here for the last 20 years (and of course buying the paper fanzine for 17 before that), but all good things

Perhaps one day in the future, if and when the club and the game as a whole discovers a few ethics again, I might return. Till then I'll be following it with an occasional glance at the sports pages at most

All the best everyone. Mods could you delete my account please

Surely this should be in the Announcements thread to maximise footfall. People shouldn't miss out on matters of great import.

[Toronto Villa]

This is an article on how Rwanda has tried to change from the civil war ravaged nation that saw such a devastating genocide in the mid 90’s. It’s going to be hard to move past that but it appears they are trying. This doesn’t change my position on the sponsor on the shirt or that Rwanda doesn’t need to be promoted in a sports washing kind of way. But the country has tried to evolve.

https://www.npr.org/2024/05/20/1248540834/rwanda-genocide-africa-politics-economy

I appreciate the balance TV, but did it occur to you you might be lapping up the exact message Kagame and the sports washing want you to?

If you genuinely think the current political repression, silencing of dissenting voices in population and press, kidnap, torture and murder of those that dare to speak the truth, opposition diaspora around the world fearing for their safety and life (I could go on a lot) justifies the the economic successes (and apparently - my knowledge is weak on this, but rural poverty tends to get overlooked by articles like that, there is a world beyond Kigali etc) then that’s an opinion, but it’s not hard to argue you don’t have to have oppression to achieve/justify alleged economic successes.

I’m genuinely unsure where to go with all this, as ever continue to encourage a close friend to stir things up at his own risk, but if I have the urge to offer a video call with someone kidnapped, and tortured by the current Rw Govt, just to make a point, maybe it’s right to suggest that to one of the Villa podcasts.

I will get back in touch with my contact at Freedom From Torture I was liasing with around the time our Govt was trying to send folk there.

I wish Villa were not soiling their name.

I’m not trying to do anything really. We all know what went on and it’s horrific. No getting away from that. And I certainly don’t want that to be our sponsor. Especially front of shirt. But there probably have been significant efforts to change the country as there has been in Germany post WWII. The country isn’t what is was despite its history. Something most Germans are embarrassed by. So my position is unchanged on promoting Rwanda while accepting there has been change there. But they will never truly move past what happened.

[PeterWithesShin]

Kagame is still in charge. Any change is because he's had tens of thousands slaughtered so not much opposition now. Comparing it to post Hitler Germany is ridiculous.

[Coop]

There seems to be quite a consensus here, and on the youtube publicity video. Is anyone considering starting an online petition against this obscenity? If so, we need to ensure that we don't end up with several competing examples.

[Dogtanian]

There seems to be quite a consensus here, and on the youtube publicity video. Is anyone considering starting an online petition against this obscenity? If so, we need to ensure that we don't end up with several competing examples.

I haven’t seen anything, would definitely support one.

[pauliewalnuts]

Now he’s gone has anyone else always thought that Martyn was;

1. A fucking Tory, and
2. Shit at tv quizzes.

[pauliewalnuts]

Villa upon signing the deal -

Very well, I accept. A man may fight for many things: his country, his principles, his friends, the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally I'd mud wrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock, and a sack of French porn. You're on.

Let's be honest, though:

Lerner - fortune from MBNA, known for being particularly rapacious in selling debt
Edens - made a fortune in the sub prime mortgage markets
Tony Xia - actual crook, in a Chinese jail
Years of gambling sponsorship - personally, I don't have a problem with this morally, far from it, but I know a lot of people do.

I agree, the Rwanda thing is disgusting, and embarassing, frankly, but we, as part of the entitled, have been wallowing in shady shite for years, as has every other PL club.

I mean, you can argue the ethics of a lot of these things, but realistically NSWE can't do a huge amount about people who've owned the club in the past.

I'd also wonder if, unethical though they may be, sub prime mortgages can be thought to be equivalent with genocide, torture, and so on.  Whilst I wouldn't want to delve in to the murky world of moral relativism, I think you can think both are bad whilst feeling that one is perhaps less tolerable than the other.

Gambling sponsorship - yeah, I'm a long time opponent of that myself.  I don't have an issue with people doing what they want with their own money, but again there's a difference between that and actively promoting/encouraging it (and there's no point in advertising of any sort if it doesn't do exactly that).  Again, you can argue against the moral relativism of anything, but I think encouraging the use of anything that is addictive isn't on and should be steered clear of.  And yes, I would also oppose sponsorship from either fags or alcohol.

Now, to my mind that's one thing, but it becomes a different thing entirely when you start dealing with governments.  That is an explicitly political move, a political statement.  I'd be very, very wary in the first place of taking money from foreign nation states in any case.  But ones that've been particularly singled out by Amnesty International seem like they'd probably not be the sort of people we should be associating with regardless of the money involved.

This is really, really not a good look for the club and I hope we terminate this as soon as possible.  I've been largely priced out of Villa games in any case, but there's absolutely no way I'm financially supporting the club whilst they're willing to take money from them.  I'll not quit here as a result, mind, so you can put your minds at ease in that regard

For clarity, and also for purple trousers

1. I am not in any way engaging in whataboutery by pointing out the things I did. Having Visit Rwanda on our shirts is morally disgusting.

2. The point I was trying to make is that year on year we adjust our moral standard downwards, and football is one of the very least defensible businesses around when you look at the people involved and how they behave.

3. It isn’t going to get worse not better. Villa don’t give a shit about this sort of thing, and the reason they don’t is because they don’t have to.

We all know how morally grim the game is. Yet here we are year on year lowering our standards.

Except Martyn, obviously

[Coop]

There seems to be quite a consensus here, and on the youtube publicity video. Is anyone considering starting an online petition against this obscenity? If so, we need to ensure that we don't end up with several competing examples.

I haven’t seen anything, would definitely support one.

As you wish, sir....

https://c.org/F78BFfxZs2

Time to stand up and be counted, folks. Please share only in ethical places like bluesky. I don't want to be tracked by the likes of Leon Skum and his followers.

[cdbearsfan]

Done, thanks.

[Dogtanian]

Signed, and I’ll pass it on.