andycv

Was there an informal FAB meeting on 30 January?  I think I saw there was somewhere, but can't find anything to back that up....

I think this may well be the start of moving to a new location.  If they're saying the current public transport infrastructure and parking doesn't support a 50,000 stadium and that's what they want, I think there's a real chance of looking at a move....

I think this is being used to raise funding for the North Stand and other Villa Park improvements - it says the money will be used to fund growth and infrastructure investment.

12 hours ago, wishywashy said:

Another £80m worth of shares have been invested into the NSWE UK Limited parent company, although unusually there is no accompanying notice of shares invested into the "Aston Villa Football Club" company (the subsidiary company that covers most of the club's assets and day to day running) that usually happens when money is put into the club.

Given the size of the figure and the fact it isn't going directly into the club's balance, I assume it's probably financing for the Villa Park expansion, which would be separate to Aston Villa's accounts given the stadium was sold to NSWE.

This may well be the case - but there is a separate company that holds the stadium as I understand it: NSWE Stadium Limited.  https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/10883540  So wouldn't this be the place to transfer funds for the North Stand?  I don't know as I'm not an accountant and all this stuff confuses me!

I think the new North is about 13k capacity?

6 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Last night there was an informal meeting with Ben Hatton and Lee Preece - one of the additional meetings that Mr Hatton has added to the calendar as he's very keen to keep communication open and regular.

There was quite a bit of discussion around the game next week against Legia with some points worth noting.

This will be classed as a high risk fixture in terms of its policing and the arrangements made for the movement of the away support - it will look very similar to the way in which our games again small heath are managed and policed.

That means you can expect Witton Lane to be closed off before and after the game and that you may need to walk a little further around the stadium to reach your seat.

The club is making efforts to make the Legia fans welcome - inviting local Polish business's to provide traditional Polish food offerings on the away car park and pushing to ensure that the fans are treated properly - I think that's a good thing, sometimes in our fear of reputation games get policed in ways that affect the behaviour of fans. So, we're going to try to treat them well, as guests, but have a police presence and organisation that ensures everyone is safe on the night. I like that, it seems to me like a very 'Villa' way to do things and i hope the Legia fans enjoy their visit to Villa Park...although not the result.

If you're exiting from the North Stand or the Trinity, the exit behind the store, directly onto Witton Road will be open again - the club have added some lighting at the exit following feedback from supporters at the Alkmaar game.

For our part, the club have again asked that people get there as early as they can - at the Alkmaar game, the club had a record number of 'red 'lights' at the turnstiles - where someone (usually with the right ticket on them) tried the wrong way to get into the ground. They're going to put out a communication on this, but there are some really simple things we can do.

• Check the ticket you have in your hand, whether it's the phone one or a printout, is for the right game - you'd be amazed how many people tried the wrong one - it's easily done because of the deal where all three European tickets came as a bundled group - but please check!
• If you're the buyer for multiple tickets, please check that the people you're taking with you use their own ticket and not just the top one on the email you forwarded to them - there were hundreds of people who made that mistake and then had to fumble through their phones again.

There were something like 1,400 incorrect attempts to enter the ground against Alkmaar - those people get into the ground eventually once they've found the right ticket, but the delays they cause are making it difficult to get everyone inside in a timely fashion and we can really help to stop queues at the turnstiles with a couple of quick checks.

The club have also taken some action at the North stand where the number of turnstiles was causing delays and they've found a way to add two more - hopefully that should ease entry at that end of the ground.

There is a final additional kiosk scheduled to open in the Upper Holte which they're hoping will be in operation for the next game, pending a fire safety check on the shuttering - they've also added to the toilets and have given them a check over as well giving the place a bit of a spruce - they seem satisfied that the area is now a lot better than on opening day. your feedback on that would be appreciated.

The club are thinking about FA Cup 3rd round pricing if we get a home draw and there was a discussion on this, centred largely on two different aspects - fair pricing for those of us that regularly attend, and the right way to use any potentially empty seats to attract new people to Villa Park. They won't say so, but I think they're learning from the feedback they had from the Everton cup game and I'm hopeful we'll see something that's better received if we get a third round game - the only caveat being that we'd need to agree pricing with the other club involved for FA cup games.

The club are continuing to work with Castore and the team on the shirt issues and although (and i might be wrong) I don't think we have a resolution yet, there has been plenty going on behind the scenes to get the first team shirts right and I think it's improved.

In terms of upcoming developments - the club confirmed that there have been no changes to the situation with Witton Station - it's something the club are extremely keen to get done and that has support from both Mayoral candidates - it'll most likely feature as part of the upcoming mayoral election campaign for both candidates and the club remain hopeful of getting it done for the Euros.

The Academy building behind the North Stand will be open next season and will be able to accommodate up to 3,000 fans on matchday. The group stressed that we would hope it will be a free-to-enter facility and though Mr Hatton couldn't commit to that at this stage, he did suggest that he wouldn't be looking to sell it in the same way as the Terrace View or Lower Grounds - we're hopeful that's the case.

It looks like there will be a new shop in (or attached to) the Academy building, although in the interim the current shop will be extended within its current building - on matchdays, it's very difficult at the moment to get through there.

The club will be in a position to start talking to us about when works will happen and how they'll affect us toward the end of the season.

The club have appointed a Transport Officer whose whole job is sorting the transport issues before and after games at and around Villa Park - good luck to him - he's got some experience at Man City and we'll be introduced to him at a future meeting.

Plans for our 150th anniversary celebrations will be released before Christmas, and we'll most likely see the new crest around February of next year.

Mr Hatton seems to be more settled and he'll be taking these meetings - he's honest enough to say no when he means no and appears to be listening. He runs the days to day business of the club and it appears that he's been driving getting stuff like the extra toilets and turnstiles done. From what i can gather he seems to be someone who can make things happen, where in the past processes seem to have been very, very slow.

Mr Hatton said he's happier in a way that he's "chasing the football" and that he'd rather the football be great and him suffer criticism where the business and corporate element is playing catch up than for it to be the other way around - the football will bring him opportunities and his job is to take advantage of those - he appreciates that right now, some of what the club are delivering to fans isn't as good as he'd like and improving that is the challenge put to him by the owners.

Our owners continue to push him, he said that they are more critical than we are - and that they want to drive fan experience - he also said that FFP is a limiter. We won't cheat it but that the owners are on occasion both frustrated and baffled by FFP. It sounds like they are extremely keen to push on - which is really good to hear.

There was a little bit of to-and-fro around specific instances where communication from the club has caused fan difficulty and the group has again mentioned the importance of ensuring that the club doesn't ignore the feelings around Lower Grounds, Terrace View and the way in which some things are being handled - the group certainly thinks that the relationship between fans and club can be improved and that it's important we do that, even when the football is going really well.

I always like to mention mood and following his arrival at his first meeting in the Terrace View which was a bit of a battle, I think Mr Hatton is now much more settled, he's quite comfortable with this type of thing, he seems to genuinely want to improve the way in which the matchday experience is delivered, he's driving the additional communications and there is a chance he might be listening. 

If I remember anything else, I'll let you know!

Thank you.  An excellent summary. 

Thanks!

- Update on the stadium project - when will the Warehouse be delivered (I am sure I read the hope was to have it open Summer 2024) and what is the plan for the North Stand and Trinity

- What are the plans to improve the Dough Ellis Stand - both in the short term and long term?

- Master plan for Aston - keeps getting mentioned - how is it progressing?  When will we see it?

- Commercial Strategy - how are they doing bringing in partners that are top tier (ie not BK8) are they going to do a training gear sponsorship?  What is the target for income from sponsorship?  How close are we to closing the gap with the likes of Spurs, Arsenal and Newcastle?

Sorry - lots like normal!

On 13/11/2023 at 13:45, OutByEaster? said:

The club have committed to holding more frequent meetings with the group.

Prior to Christmas there will be an informal meeting on Wednesday 22nd November - and then a formal meeting on the 20th December with a full agenda and notes.

 

 

How did the informal session go last night, @OutByEaster??  

Is it likely there'll be an update at the informal Fan Advisory Board tonight?

11 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

The club have committed to holding more frequent meetings with the group.

Prior to Christmas there will be an informal meeting on Wednesday 22nd November - and then a formal meeting on the 20th December with a full agenda and notes.

 

 

Thanks.  I guess you won't be able to give a readout of 22 November?  Will the club ask for agenda items for 20 December?  

Any news on when the next FAB will be?

Is this open yet?  I would have thought the club might make a big announcement about it?  Isn't it meant to be used for match days too?

I don't think they'd be able to get away with that, given I understand the bid is binding.  Might be wrong though!

@OutByEaster? What was your view on the the North Stand/Warehouse development starting?  In the MOMS write up, they seem to suggest further delay?

@OutByEaster? given planning permission has just been granted for the North Stand and the Warehouse - could you ask when the work will start and be completed on both please?

Permission granted for both.

It may have been mentioned elsewhere in the thread - sorry if it has (I couldn't see when I skimmed).

Both of the new applications are coming to the planning committee on 28 September - and both have recommendations from the planning officer to grant:

Warehouse: http://eplanning.idox.birmingham.gov.uk/publisher/docs/A052B29C4280E1D878C47A51AC983DEC/Document-A052B29C4280E1D878C47A51AC983DEC.pdf

North Stand: http://eplanning.idox.birmingham.gov.uk/publisher/docs/5504253B551A22A551760706A00A3793/Document-5504253B551A22A551760706A00A3793.pdf

Interestingly the planning for the North Stand will only be valid for 2 years - so they'll need to get a move on, and it does allow for the building of Villa Live - just separate from the North Stand.

Hopefully the club will let us know the plan pretty soon after permission is granted (if it is)

@OutByEaster? are there formal minutes yet, or are the club dragging their feet?

5 hours ago, Villatillidie95 said:

I do hope that the fan advisory board were notified of “The Lower Grounds” opening up for the Brighton game. 
 

if not then that should be seen as a major insult to the group and people who take the time to be there, and they clearly were not consulted as this would be the first time they are finding out about any of this 

They did mention it at the meeting according to the readout?  That's why @OutByEaster? said the meeting went a bit off agenda....

14 minutes ago, Villatillidie95 said:

Definitely not just a Holte/Witton Lane issue, North stand facilities are appaling. Another new thing the serving staff seem to be doing is leaving half pints of beer lined up at the front of the bar, however there is no method to the madness, the beer is sitting there going flat, then they poor another half in and serve it to you. What needs to happen is some common sense applied, with one person taking payment and another handing out full pints out rather than 1 que dealing with things....honestly it won't take much to improve the service but no one wants to get a grip on it it seems. Then there is the queing issue before games meaning you need to be there at least 30 mins before if you are at the back of the que

I made assumptions the North is a bit rubbish as they're demolishing and rebuilding it!

I was in the Trinity at the weekend - and everything work fine there.  Is this just a Holte/Witton Lane issue?

Just now, Davkaus said:

Is the club contributing in any way? If it was anything other than a football club, I imagine people might be a bit miffed about public funding to get more customers into the facilities of a very wealthy private business that will be completely wasted and underused for all but about 2 hours once a fortnight.

I expect the club may well contribute partially to this - but the Euro 2028 bid is crucial too - as the Government will have supported that and there'll be an expectation of some public sector investment to host - similar to the commonwealth games.

56 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Won't this be through the transport for west midlands, not BCC? Hence Street's tweet. Perry Barr got refurbished for the Commonwealth so when 2028 is rubber-stamped surely that should green light this project?

Totally this - it is the West Midlands Combined Authority, Transport for the West Midlands and the Mayor who will fund this - so BCC's issues aren't really here or there for the station expansion.

Oh - and one final one - when do they anticipate opening the Warehouse - I think the plan is for the Euros this coming summer - but would be great for confirmation.

In terms of the future of Villa Park, I'd be interested to hear when they intend to share the details of the master plan they're developing; where the extra 2.5k seats that they have suggested will be ready for the Euros come from, what the options are for extending the Doug Ellis (don't need plans - just how they could do it based on advisers' views) and also what they want to do with the car park outside the Holte and the pub - could be something very interesting.

I would also be interested to hear the partner strategy - we have fewer official partners at the moment - is that because we're focusing on getting the right partners who are prepared to pay a certain value?  Linked to that interested on hearing if we're getting a training kit sponsor. Used to be part of the Cazoo deal - but clearly not part of BK8 - and I would think the most valuable after front of shirt and sleeve sponsorship - so a real opportunity.

Finally it would be great to have something on camera from Chris Heck - just on his experience of the last few months (including learning from Terrance View etc), his vision of how to grow the club commercially to support team development and something about where we're going with VP......

Sorry that's a bit long!!