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Saw this on twitter, I’m not involved or anything, but thought I’d share: -
The Government are now moving forward with this and it's interesting to see the various reactions. I think as with a number of things it was inspired by 'somebody trying to stop the Saudi's doing what they wanted' and the effect that had on relations with the UK government, but there's still an awful lot of positive stuff in it. It promises an oversight for football with the potential ability to stop clubs ripping off supporters, attempting to join other leagues, move away from their local areas and fall into real financial difficulties. The Premier league hate it - which probably means it's a good thing. Anyways, if you're as bored as I am in international week and you want to have a look, all of the documents are here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/football-governance-bill-supporting-documents#:~:text=The Football Governance Bill will,local communities football clubs service.
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There's was a meeting of the Fan Board and the club last night, unfortunately I was unable to attend on behalf of VT, but notes on the meeting are below:
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The other night at the informal FAB meeting, the club introduced us to their new Traffic & Transport man, Andrew Watkin, a calm, pleasant, professional and peculiarly optimistic fellow about to embark on a near impossible job. It got me to talking to @bickster about taxis around the ground and then to thinking about transport around Villa Park altogether. So, I'm interested in your thoughts on the various ways of getting to and from Villa Park and the ways in which you think it can be improved. Your thoughts on: Walking - the pedestrian experience around Villa Park - whether you walk to Witton station, to a car park or all the way back to the City centre - what works, what's dangerous, what would help? Trains - from Witton or Aston, heading into or out of town, the trains themselves, the stations, the queuing, the waiting, the experience, the cost - all of that stuff Busses - how many, how often, how much, how full are they, how hard is it to get away from Aston in one, are they convenient, do they go where you want to get to, how many of you use them, how could the service be improved? Taxis - how many of you get a cab, where from, how easy is it, how expensive, how practical, how could it be better? Driving - how hard is it to park, how easy is it to get in/out, how many of you come in the car, why do you drive rather than use public transport, what would make it easier for drivers or make you want to leave the car at home? Cycling - how many of you cycle, is it easy, do you take advantage of the clubs new storage in the inner city academy, do you feel safe. what would help? And also on Aston - how you feel about paasing through, the way things are set up, local transport issues like that white Mercedes that parks on the double yellow lines in the bus stop outside the jewellers on Witton Road, the lighting in Aston Park, how Villa Park affects the people that live around it and what you'd do on matchdays to make things simpler for everyone. Easy peasy and I'm sure if Andrew peeps in, he'll find all the answers he'll ever need - and if not, we'll take anything that needs to be raised back to the club. I've included a map in case (like me) you like to moan about specific roads but can't remember what they're called.
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In kilometres, please. Here's one way to work it out, but there are others: https://www.freemaptools.com/how-far-is-it-between.htm
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Are Villa Plastics coming -- and do we want them? A few years ago, it would have seemed unthinkable and laughable to me. I've never once seen someone except myself wearing a Villa kit in the USA until last summer. But I've been wondering about it as this recent success for Villa continues. Are we going to get our share of fair-weather supporters finally? Do we have them already? Do we want them? Surely it's not a bad thing to have supporters whose commitment to the club is fairly shallow, whatever that means, but I do wonder if Villa like some other Midlands clubs might be sort of weirdly resistant to plastification.
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What's happened to him? We only see Bela these days? Have the pantomime villains of Purslow or Heck killed him off?
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So my daughters boyfriend (age 19) comes from a Villa family but has been a Man United fan since childhood, as per many many from his generation. Anyway he's now decided to ditch United and announced himself a Villa Fan. Putting aside if we actually want a fan like that, it's a great illustration of where we are. For years we've lost so many fans like that to the Sky 4 /6. They've sucked away what would be our fans due to their "celebrity" status coupled with our poor state. So I think we could be at a watershed here. Stop hemorrhaging fans to celebrity clubs, because we're actually becoming one and also maybe attracting new fans elsewhere in The UK and around the world. Make no mistake, if our trajectory continues and especially if we can cement Champions League and for a few years we WILL attract plastics. Imagine some dad in Stockport or somewhere devastated because his sons decided he's a Villa Fan and wants a McGinn shirt for Christmas. It's going to be a bumpy ride for many die hard Villa fans
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Kind of a weird topic I've been thinking about a lot this autumn into winter, although I don't really have a name for it: How do we keep up with Villa's improvements, as supporters? I was saying to a mate the other day that I wasn't sure Villa supporters have really "kept up" with the team's successes. I may be speaking mostly for myself, I realise. But I've wonderecd whether there are some aspects of my usual Villa fan attitudes that I'm starting to question more. An example would be the knee-jerk negativity, thinking, "Oh, classic Villa." It doesn't really make sense any more. I haven't always been that way with Villa, but I'm so used to waiting for the other shoe to drop before and during matches, I think I need to re-evaluate myself a bit. Do you think Villa fans need to grow, too? Do we have a responsibility to mature and embrace change right along with our squad?
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The club have confirmed the next scheduled meeting with the Fans Advisory Board for 20th December. This is a formal meeting with a written agenda and the club have requested that any agenda items are submitted in advance so that the right people can be present. If there's anything you'd like to see on the agenda, please let us know in this thread - we'll need to be ready to submit those items to the club by 13th December.
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Would love to hear from other Villa supporters not based in Britain about how they get on as Villa supporters sometimes very, very far from Villa Park. I could go on for hours about this, but I've inferred after many years that there are some big differences among non-British-based Villa supporters obviously, but occasionally, some interesting similarities, no matter where you are. I think the main difference being outside Britain is that you often are quite "Villa isolated." Where I live, almost no one has ever even heard of Aston Villa, and people look at you funny if you mention them. They'll say something like, "Oh, soccer! My son loves Manchester United -- the team with the red shirts?" And you're supposed to like that and be all, "Oh, soccer! Yes! Love it!" And that's another thing. The tribal hostility of British Villa supporters towards other British clubs is something we simply don't grow up around, so it always seems a little weird to me. I can understand it, intellectually, but I don't feel it at all. I've been somewhat "re-educated" on Villa Talk, but it's a thin layer of ire, and I mostly still just find it confusing. I have my little Villa trinkets, etc., and those things are nice, but they're kind of meaningless when very few people recognize the crest, etc. I think there's an upside to being isolated. It feels special. There's something kind of awesome to witness a big win and then be the only one you know who gets it. I don't know. I've grown used to that feeling, and it's normalised now. You appreciate certain things, don't take them for granted. When you do encounter Villans in the flesh (usually if I'm in New York), it's incredibly exciting. One way you can keep a kind of fun rivalry thing going is if you have a friend very into another club. It will never be Villa. But there is a chance to take digs, etc., but often, there's an underlying understanding that you sort of need each other. One thing really bad is relegation. I think it's much worse in some ways for non-Britain-based supporters. You instantly lose all kinds of access. It gets much harder to keep up with the club, and it's frustrating. There are "workarounds," but that's not really the point. Relegation is damaging on many levels for the club.
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Hello, There are a number of concerns that the Fans Advisory Board would like to take to the club at an upcoming meeting. Our primary concerns are around ticketing and I've listed a number of the outstanding issues below. If there's anything you'd like to add, on anything at Villa Park or with the club that affects you (other than the actual football), please add it to this thread and we'll look to add it to the agenda where possible. Thank you
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There was a meeting last night of the newly renamed Fans Advisory Board at Villa Park. The clubs notes are below:
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There was a meeting this evening between the club and Fans Consultation Group at Bodymoor Heath. Paul Tyrell COO, Tommy Jordan, Communications Director and Lee Preece, Supporter Liaison Officer, brought the group together to go over the upcoming changes to the way the group will work and indeed how fans consultation will change over the Premier league as a whole. On Wednesday, the Premier League will launch it's Fan Advisory Board initiative. That's essentially a formal instruction to clubs to set in place the kind of relationship that we already have with Villa - there will be some changes to the make up of the group and a more formal structure to the way in which meetings are minuted and recorded, with more responsibility for clubs to engage in meaningful consultation. These measure will enable the Premier league to be ahead of compliance requirements expected with the governmental white paper on football, expected later in the year. Whilst this wasn't a formal meeting there was also some talk about the potential for a trial of rail seating next season and some of the good work being carried out by the Player Care department. What was notable was that at 19:45 on a Thursday night, many of the key staff were at their desks. Unai Emery left just before our meeting ended, Johan Lange joined us for twenty minutes to talk Duran, Vittoria and developing our future and we were lucky enough to bump into Pako Ayestaran and Victor Manas as we walked through the facility, alongside Austin McPhee. I'll update on some of that tomorrow (nothing too juicy, but some very positive stuff) and would mention that all of these people had been at Bodymoor since 07:00 this morning, yet still took the time to talk with us - there are some good people here. The club have taken some questions away with them, and there will be a first formal meeting of the new FAB in April at which those will be discussed - if you have anything you'd like to be added for that meeting, please let us know below. We'll also be forwarding all of the more recent items in this thread to the club next week - if there's anything in here you don't want to be missed, please mention it in this thread and I'll capture it - if there's anything you want to add, please post that here too. Thank you
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I think it's about time Project B6 gained their own thread on VT. The 'Villa Park Atmosphere' and 'How Toxic Is Our Fanbase' threads are regularly on the front page of the forum and PB6 have really stepped their efforts up this season in trying to get more Villa fans and the club itself on board in trying to improve the matchday atmosphere at VP. The feedback from fellow VT'ers towards Project B6 from what I've read has been overwhelmingly positive and whilst that is the case with Villa fans on social media I believe there are many VT'ers who won't be able to engage in that way simply because they post on VillaTalk and not through Twitter/Instagram etc. In my opinion - we've got such a magnificent and historic stadium that is soon to be refurbished and modernised with an increased capacity, and seemingly such a large portion of our fanbase that agrees there is much room for improvement with regards to the atmosphere at Villa Park on home matchdays that I'm surprised that we're not talking about Project B6 more. We've seen what can happen when the club themselves are on board with displays etc (the '82 anniversary display last season was a goosebumps moment for me personally which I'm sure many will agree with) and I'm really hoping that something can happen and these guys are backed and the atmosphere reaps the benefits. Would be really interested to read fellow VT'ers thoughts and feedback on PB6 for those who are familiar with their efforts and also from those who aren't.
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Apologies if this is in the wrong place or has been answered before. I did do a search. But I wondered if anyone on here has been to the Villa Fan zone at the back of the North Stand. I've heard you can get a beer but are there toilets there ? Essential if you are going to have a few beers before the game.
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I am extremely brassed off to not allowing to have a vote on my clubs future decisions Feel this deserves a thread on its own, not about the crest, but just on how the club thought it would be a good idea to isolate a section of the fanbase by not allowing them to vote on the crest - Aston Villa, please explain yourselves I can understand they dont want random people jeoprodising the voting, but surely thats where the fan ID comes into play. My ID will show how many tickets I've bought over the years, that I was at Wembley for the losing play off final, hundreds of league and cup games over the years. Spent god knows how many thousands of pounds following my club since 1987. I'm even on the season ticket waiting list but they don't care about my opinion on such matters. I swear if football clubs didnt involve such emtional attachments I would have given up on Villa years ago Just when I thought the club was becoming supporter friendly again they pull a stunt like this to make a huge part of their fanbase feel unwanted and worthless. Anyone else annoyed by this? Or am I over reacting?
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I think this needs to be discussed generally as it was raised on talksport and a villa fan that called in said the fans are a problem as we make it hard place for our own team. He gave a good example of the liverpool win with no fans. I was on luiz instagram page where he apologised for red even though he doesnt ahve to have been retracted, leon bailey put some heart emojis then if you read beneath the baileys comments he is getting absolute dogs abuse from some "villa fans" for his performance and one even says "go with gerrard". El ghazi had it at one point and i am pretty sure there are many more. How much of a problem do you think this is? Is it a myth or this legs to it? I must admit i havent been villa park much this year so cant comment. But its just villa park its on social media im seeing players getting abused
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Let's start with this
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Regular FCG attendant @OutByEaster? generously passed the baton to me this time around, as the main subject was going to be the badge/identity redesign. Here are my notes - They began by talking us through the stadium plans (as shown publicly this morning) and it all sounds great. Thought out, considerate of the local environment (in terms of the materials used fitting in with Aston Hall etc, recycling rainwater and creating something that is of benefit to the community). There are a few hurdles to get over in order to bring this all to life. Firstly, transport. Until there are commitments from central and local government that Witton station can be improved and extended they won't begin work. There's no point increasing the capacity if people can't get safely in and out of the area. There has been a lot of groundwork done on both sides of the political fence with regard to this, and whilst local support from the likes of Andy Street appears to be guaranteed, they're also working hard to communicate with cabinet ministers etc. With all of those "important people" being either on holiday or uncertain whether they'll be in the same role in a month's time, it's hard for the club to progress the conversation right now. Personally, I think there's value in any of our fans who live in the West Midlands writing to their MP and making the case for the redevelopment of Witton station in order for Villa to expand - and all the benefits that will bring. It's estimated that the cost of the works at Witton would be £20-35m. Theoretically, the club could just pay for it, but where does that stop? Are we then responsible for maintenance, for renovating Spaghetti Junction, etc? Secondly, there is a lot of infrastructure within the North Stand - it's where all the offices are. This will need to be relocated into a temporary space before the demolition can take place. Thirdly, the construction market is absolutely crazy at the moment with prices up and down like mad. They want to time the appointment of a company with when they will get the best price on materials. Equally, the big companies don't want to get caught with their pants down. Fourthly, the more reputable builders of football stadiums have a lot of work on right now - Everton, Liverpool, etc - but it's expected that these projects will be completed by the time the Witton Station situation is resolved. Finally, the metal plinths and trusses that make up the transparent roof are enormous. There are only 3 cranes in Europe capable of moving them. These cranes will need to be available. Second topic was the crest redesign. You can find the details of that conversation here - The final topic was matchday catering v Everton. The club are furious at the contracted supplier, Levy, for the lack of preparedness, lack of professionalism and lack of common sense. From closed kiosks to incorrect pricing to slow service - it was all wrong. Levy have been given clear instruction by both the club COO and CEO that this level of performance cannot be tolerated again. There will be a statement before the weekend confirming that the feedback were heard loud and clear, have been emphasised to Levy in the strongest possible terms and demands have been made on specific ways in which things need to improve. The club is beyond pissed off about it all. There was a record number of complaints and the club have taken those complaints very seriously. It's a shame for the frontline staff in the kiosks that they are the cannon fodder for the anger and disappointment in the moment, when in reality it is their managers who have created the issues. Getting so much feedback from fans was a huge help to the club in addressing the issues with the supplier and, I'd suggest, any repeat performances should be documented (pics, tweets, Facebook, whatever) and shared with the club. They can only fix these things to the extent that they know about them. That was the big 3 this time out. The question of transfers was raised and whilst, obviously, no specifics were shared there is certainly still a lot of work going on with regards strengthening the team. It's not a case of "job done" but equally we won't be signing anyone who doesn't add value. Thanks for listening to my TED Talk.
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When do the renewals for Claret & Cub membership go on sale? Last year they had a discount for renewing early, I guess that’s not going to happen this year? I wonder if the price will increase from £40 for Claret and £20 for Cubs?
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Apologies if this thread already exists, but I couldn't find it. People have been talking about adding more songs to the repertoire. This is a good singing melody and cadence..the "Hurrah" part could be replaced with "Villa"...and all the other lyrics changed, of course.
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Villatalk was represented at the meeting that took place last night with Christian Purslow and the club's management team to discuss a number of issues that are currently affecting the club and supporters. Mr Purslow and the whole of the exec team spent more than two and a half hours with fans groups discussing the Premier league, Covid, performance on the pitch, the redevelopment of Villa Park and season ticket prices. The club are preparing some notes on the meeting which will be released hopefully on Monday. Given that the club gave up so much time to speak with us and were open and frank with those in attendance, we 're going to respect that and not comment until those notes are out -with one exception. I can tell you that the meeting was a really good one, that the exec team and Mr Purslow spoke openly about our ambitions and some of the exciting things that are coming up - hopefully that's reflected in the notes and if not, I'll spill the beans! The one exception in terms of reporting back is on season ticket prices where there had been some talk before the meeting and where the club are happy for us to begin discussions now rather than waiting. We have a thread on season tickets for 2022/23 here: And there will be some information from the meeting in there shortly. Notes on the rest of the meeting and some comments will appear here as soon as they are released.
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So I have a membership for the club (I think claret membership) just for priority access to tickets (I don't get to go often so it's nice to know I can get a ticket when I'm available). Long story short, I'm planning on taking the wife to the Watford game but I only have 1 membership (usually a mate also does it so we use each others but he hasn't this year). I'd like to get tickets before the season ticket holders take them all, there's about 300 different memberships to choose from, does anyone know the cheapest membership to get early tickets, or does anyone have a membership that they aren't using for the game that I could borrow this once? Appreciate any help guys, thanks all!
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Not sure if this is real - but theres to be a movie about 1980/81 League Championship Season* https://just14themovie.com/ *We beat Liverpool 2-0 in this season
