Villa_Vids

Good news? Or does it mean Witton Station is not being redeveloped?

Hopefully this will increase the chances of the North Stand being built before the euros.

https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2024/march/28/New-express-city-centre-shuttle-buses-set-to-launch-on-matchdays/

Quote

Aston Villa is delighted to introduce a new city centre shuttle bus service, helping supporters to travel more easily and efficiently to and from Villa Park on matchdays.

With a nod to the club’s finest hour and our 1982 European Cup victory, the ‘AV82’ service will start on Saturday 30th March for our home Premier League fixture against Wolves. The service will run on a trial basis for all other men’s home matches until the end of the 2023/24 season, covering all Premier League and UEFA Europa Conference League fixtures.

I am not convinced by Ramsey this season. I can see him being injured again against Wolves and holding his foot. Hope to be proved wrong.

4 hours ago, Mazrim said:

I don't think its any lack of ambition. Quite the opposite. A rethink over the North stand could just be to do with reappraising the project as a whole. I have no doubt at all that they want to improve capacity significantly.

NSWE have demonstrated that they have "sensible" ambition. There are a multitude of reasons why the NS is delayed/cancelled (even though that has not been officially confirmed). I think Heck has outlined some reasons but not all the reasons. The club mentioned wanting to deliver some benefits of Villa Live in a quicker fashion when the warehouse was announced. Money/P&S/FFP will be major factors. OBE has already alluded to the club monetizing areas within VP for hospitality. I think in the short term the club are being financially stable/sustainable, and are focused on building the sporting/commercial aspect of the club.

The board would have played a blinder having VP selected for the Euros without the major construction of Villa Live & North Stand which was initially proposed. It isn't that far fetched that a bigger project could arrive which ties Villa Live/V Sports/Villa Park/Atairos (poss other local entities) all together. Wouldn't it be lovely to unveil new re-development plans on the club's 150th year birthday
 

Would it be feasible to build a new stadium with more land near the new inner city academy?

1 hour ago, bickster said:

Not waste money chasing income that doesn't exist and cant exist on a scale a lot of members of this forum imagine does exist

We need to concentrate on being a football club, any extra income from events would buy us one of John McGinn's legs

I think that is happening tbh. I think the sporting aspect is NSWE's main objective (rightfully so) - that is the product and in which everything is linked around. But the fans could have more offerings and a better match day experience than is currently available at VP. I think that is the attraction to a new stadium, I also believe a little fear of seeing other clubs taking those steps to build new stadiums/entertainment/leisure zones is making us a bit jealous and nervous.

At the end of the day, a new mega stadium is a bit of fun and fantasy. I think most of us want a successful sporting side rather than a concrete entertainment/event shell. Aston Villa is football.

4 minutes ago, bickster said:

It doesn't matter, the times are still similar and most WCML trains do not go through Brum. The point isn't about the exact times though in my experience those times are more or less correct. Liverpool is almost as close to London in travel time as it is the Birmingham. Shall I drive to Birmingham - 2 hrs or get the train to London - just over 2hrs. The point is that Birmingham will never replace London as an event destination no matter how much Birmingham exceptionalism you apply. The sheer mountain of industries you'd have to change to achieve that is insurmountable. Birmingham would obviously get a few events, it already does a new stadium increased capacity stadium with multi roles isn't going to change that isn't going to change that. The versatility would be wasted money. Birmingham already has the NEC for a very large, well connected high capacity indoor venue, it doesn't put on that many events of the nature we're talking about

What do you think the club should do in regards to VP/New Stadium?

25 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

I can think of many phrases to describe Tony Mowbray, "hollywood" or "hip and swankey" wouldn't be in the top 1 million

I think it was "shit, we need somebody who can manage these lot for a few games until we hire our next hollywood coach" - it is predictable attention seeking noise.

1 hour ago, The Fun Factory said:

And yet they aren't ambitious enough to build one new stand as they had second thoughts in being able to sell thousands of GA+ plus admission seats.

No official confirmation of the North Stand being cancelled. We will get a clearer picture within the next 12-16 months if the North Stand is truly cancelled.

14 minutes ago, nick76 said:

That will never happen, the London bias will never let it happen.  It’s happened for decades, the new Wembley was a classic example that even though the public poll wanted the new stadium in the middle of the country, the powers that be decided London.

London is over saturated. Birmingham/West Midlands is ripe for growth.

57 minutes ago, Zatman said:

They did especially since he wrote a book about them

I badly worded that. The likes of Thomas Shelby didn't exist. Billy Kimber was the only fictional brummie character (even he was born in Aston )

Steve Knight is using blues as a marketing vehicle for his TV/Digital content. Listening to that Wagner bloke - it is entertainment before the sporting side. The guy wants to compete with Disney and Netflix. "Young kids aren't watching football anymore, so we have decided to disband the team." 

The focus of their club is very much on being an entertainment outlet rather than a sporting one. John Eustace wasn't hollywood enough for them, not hip or swanky enough.

@bickster - Your take is very NW and London centric. Birmingham/West Midlands has the capacity to take on the North West & London in the longer term. Villa will be an anchoring force in that goal.

Carl Chinn has already said the Peaky Blinders didn't exist and those who resembled those people were absolute scum. Popularising gangsterism....

41 minutes ago, bickster said:

London or Birmingham, London will win 99% of the time. Birmingham is an hour from London by train. Rapid cross country transport is Londoncentric.

So you are saying relocate to London?

It is just a bit of fun guys. At the moment we are just getting a polished up VP in the coming seasons, it is what's on the pitch that matters anyway.

50 minutes ago, villarule123 said:

Will be interesting to see the plans.

I can see this being more about getting the city a big stadium to host events/concerts etc than it is being a Small Heath stadium. Assuming the owners will own it and not the club, it will be interesting to see what happens when they come to sell as the stadium (if it is as big as rumoured) might be worth a lot more than the club itself.

Yh. Wagner has said that is a stadium that will welcome all fans even if they support a rival club/team.

1 minute ago, tinker said:

The infrastructure around the HS2 interchange will be unrivalled in this country, the opportunity presented by it is a complete non brainer I'm just glad SHA aren't in a position to jump ahead of us because any stadium located there is a sure fire financial success.

I can imagine the owners thinking about a bigger stadium and a remote, accessible location in the long term. If we build near the HS2 interchange there is a strong probability that we could grow our fan base, resources & revenue thus become one of the biggest clubs in the world. This location could potentially be a game changer if done correctly. The biggest club in the West Midlands being at the heart of the country that links north to south would be very fitting imo. The V Sports West Midlands sporting complex/campus/Resort?

Slightly off topic but Blues are apparently looking at the wheels site. They are trying to build a sports quarter similar to Manchester City's campus (I want something similar at VP too). I saw a clip on social media of that Wagner bloke saying they are competing against Netflix & Apple, not directly against one rival club. He also welcomes fans in the area who support other teams to come down to St Andrews.   I think he need to get real. SHA are heading to League 1. It also smells like the Ricoh mk2.

Back on topic. In the short to medium term we will be at a polished VP but I do suspect the owners will be planning for the future. I believe NSWE are doing it "right" - We have been on a journey since 2018, and the first team is currently in the process of building a sporting portfolio to back up any future growth plans. It is exciting. I trust NSWE/V Sports will make the bigger leap in ambition when the time is right. UTV!

1 hour ago, Captain_Townsend said:

MOMS pod today is excellent  today on why it is concerning that  we have ditched these plans for Villa Park and the potential long term implications of it. Another consultation just binned off really. Back in the late 00s we as a club knew the North Stand couldn't be fixed and had to go. Yet here we are.

As MOMS state, just because things are great on the pitch,  we should be concerned at the decisions off it.

I think that is harsh on the owners imo. Saved us from going out of business and restored us back at the top. I think the club is boxing clever, it is adapting to the challenges of the league/europe. We need to get behind them until they give us real reason to question their intentions.

3 minutes ago, mrchnry said:

Personally i think the wheels are in motion for something anyway. There is more to gain financially by having a new stadium but time will tell. 

Villa's new stadium announced April 8th -  A new build at the wheels park. A Claret and Blue dome built in the shape of a boot towering over St Andrews - just for our u21 team though.

1 minute ago, nick76 said:

What is the business case for a mega stadium?  If we had just over 50k that would be more than enough for the near future.  The North Stand development, which unfortunately been paused would’ve been enough at 52k.  I just don’t believe the 30k waiting list are people that are really going to buy season tickets now.

I agree to an extent. I am probably jumping the gun, I just believe the club can become global and reach that level of demand based on sporting merit - I don't think VP can hold the owners' ambitions. We will see though.

There are so many obstacles to overcome for VP to become a mega stadium and complex that all of us deserve. I think the best we are going to get in the short term is a small increase to 46k, improved Witton station for euros and refurbed existing facilities.

The West Midland Metro is extending to the HS2 interchange. So more transport links. Maybe a bigger stadium (70k plus) with a sporting resort is the long term goal for the club. Wembley of the West Midlands housed by the biggest club in the region.

2 hours ago, GlobalVillan said:

Theres not much scope for redevelopment of that due to Witton Lane itself.

Yes, it will be more difficult. The club will probably need to buy the houses/road behind the stand too. I am just interested to know whether it could be redeveloped without the stand being demolished/lost of capacity.  And with the Trinity Rd hospitality over subcribed - does a side stand make economic sense rather than rebuilding the north? Could Witton fund the north stand rebuild?

Liverpool's new main stand is 21k  - if a new witton lane stand is similar that would put us at 54k.

We are the top club in the West Midlands.