sidcow Posted January 6 VT Supporter Share Posted January 6 3 hours ago, HolteExile said: At the time it was commissioned, a ground with close to 50,000 capacity would have been seen as more than adequate. We nudged 40,000 fairly regularly in the early 80s. From about 1984 to the early>mid 90s 25000 or less was not unusual. We were doing well to get 20k in the latter part of the 80s at times. I don't recall any serious discussions to rebuild that end until Ellis took a wrecking ball to the old Trinity. Hard to believe, but the North Stand seemed gargantuan in its day - not the raw capacity as such, more the overall size of it compared to the rest of the ground and most of the other behind-goal efforts across the country. The Witton was always the obvious focus when expansion was being mentioned. There was also a fair bit of scarring from the original North Stand build going way over budget and fraud allegations against the contractors if memory serves. Events that played a major role in Eli$$ returning to the club and the breakup of the 82 squad. The North Stand was pretty revolutionary at the time. A lot of clubs would have looked on at us with jealousy at this new stand bristling with double decker modern executive boxes and behind the scenes restaurants. The reduction in capacity when it was built means it probably embodies completely the modern age where corporate seats are much more important to clubs than bums on seats. The issue is those corporate areas are no longer swish and you can't charge that much for them any more. They are old and tired and cramped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted January 6 VT Supporter Share Posted January 6 1 hour ago, Captain_Townsend said: I think one thing we can united around is the fact that Purslow was a good communicator whereas Heck treats us like we are stupid. And yet Purslow was accused of being nothing more than a self publicist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 On 28/12/2023 at 21:53, Delphinho123 said: Saw this crude mock up on Twitter, but seriously, how much better would VP be with the corners filled in? tbh, i have always thought they should fill the 4 corners in. Whether its the best thing to do overall, i dunno, tbh it probably needed the stand rebuilt, THEN the 4 corners being filled in. But i do like the idea of Villa park fully enclosed with the corners filled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meregreen Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 17 hours ago, spiezels said: Being in London is a HUGE factor. We simply wont ever get the tourist money they get. HS2 will make it easier to get to us than some of the outlying London clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meregreen Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 4 minutes ago, MaVilla said: tbh, i have always thought they should fill the 4 corners in. Whether its the best thing to do overall, i dunno, tbh it probably needed the stand rebuilt, THEN the 4 corners being filled in. But i do like the idea of Villa park fully enclosed with the corners filled. That would require a complete removal and replacement of the roof. If we’re going down that road we might just as well replace the whole thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted January 6 Moderator Share Posted January 6 To fill in all four corners, you'd first need to knock down the Doug Ellis Stand and rebuild it far enough back so that you'd have corners. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Townsend Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Which is why the plan they had was perfect. New stand with all the bells and whistles at the end we have acres of space behind and in keeping with the aesthetic of the stadium. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano & Dalian's Umbrella Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 (edited) On the FFP thread, somebody has posted a Football Insider link to an article from a finance expert criticising the decision to not rebuild the North Stand. One line from it which stood out was: “It seems they will now only add just 3,000 seats, which admittedly will be premium price seats, but it does seem to be a short-term decision. If this is correct about these being premium seats (and I don't know how this person would know this anyway) then this wouldn't fit with the concept of these extra seats being in out of the way parts of the ground like the corners. It has also reignited my paranoia that I might soon be kicked out of my season ticket seat on the halfway line in the Doug Ellis. Edited January 6 by Deano & Dalian's Umbrella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiezels Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 5 hours ago, meregreen said: HS2 will make it easier to get to us than some of the outlying London clubs. It wont. They’re all on the tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lichfield Dean Posted January 6 VT Supporter Share Posted January 6 Don't know about anybody else, but when I've been abroad to capital cities I've hopped on a train to go to a famous old attraction many times. Example: in Prague I went off to Plzen to look at the pilsner brewery. No reason at all in my mind why tourists wouldn't want to visit the place where the football league began (well, close enough anyway), to see the first, original "most famous club in football". All the club need to do is make it attractive to visit, with a quality museum space (like Barcelona do) and something like the Warehouse concept. I honestly think with the right marketing Villa Park could easily attract tourists from London for a day out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheltenham_villa Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 4 hours ago, Deano & Dalian's Umbrella said: On the FFP thread, somebody has posted a Football Insider link to an article from a finance expert criticising the decision to not rebuild the North Stand. One line from it which stood out was: “It seems they will now only add just 3,000 seats, which admittedly will be premium price seats, but it does seem to be a short-term decision. If this is correct about these being premium seats (and I don't know how this person would know this anyway) then this wouldn't fit with the concept of these extra seats being in out of the way parts of the ground like the corners. It has also reignited my paranoia that I might soon be kicked out of my season ticket seat on the halfway line in the Doug Ellis. I dont think it's anything more than a guess, but it's probably a sensible guess. I can't imagine villa adding more seats without increasing the premium seating. Maybe we will see them linked to the lower grounds. I think you're safe on the Doug Ellis half way line, I think the closeness to the away fans would prevent them making it premium. More likely to extend premium seating in the trinity. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 4 hours ago, Deano & Dalian's Umbrella said: On the FFP thread, somebody has posted a Football Insider link to an article from a finance expert criticising the decision to not rebuild the North Stand. One line from it which stood out was: “It seems they will now only add just 3,000 seats, which admittedly will be premium price seats, but it does seem to be a short-term decision. If this is correct about these being premium seats (and I don't know how this person would know this anyway) then this wouldn't fit with the concept of these extra seats being in out of the way parts of the ground like the corners. It has also reignited my paranoia that I might soon be kicked out of my season ticket seat on the halfway line in the Doug Ellis. They're adding 3000 premium seats, which are currently just normal seats that will be rebadged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Townsend Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 26 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said: Don't know about anybody else, but when I've been abroad to capital cities I've hopped on a train to go to a famous old attraction many times. Example: in Prague I went off to Plzen to look at the pilsner brewery. No reason at all in my mind why tourists wouldn't want to visit the place where the football league began (well, close enough anyway), to see the first, original "most famous club in football". All the club need to do is make it attractive to visit, with a quality museum space (like Barcelona do) and something like the Warehouse concept. I honestly think with the right marketing Villa Park could easily attract tourists from London for a day out. I read at one time that Villa Park was one of the top visited spots for visitors to Birmingham? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidlewis Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 On 31/12/2023 at 01:50, paul514 said: I'd love us to move, I HATE that area. It’s Aston, that’s where it is and where we are. The site is massive and we have loads of land. we shouldn’t be looking at something new, we need to keep VP. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meregreen Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 7 minutes ago, kidlewis said: It’s Aston, that’s where it is and where we are. The site is massive and we have loads of land. we shouldn’t be looking at something new, we need to keep VP. We really don’t have loads of land. Outside of the immediate footprint of the stadium, it’s a shit hole. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Townsend Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 33 minutes ago, kidlewis said: It’s Aston, that’s where it is and where we are. The site is massive and we have loads of land. we shouldn’t be looking at something new, we need to keep VP. 100% correct 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul514 Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 1 hour ago, meregreen said: We really don’t have loads of land. Outside of the immediate footprint of the stadium, it’s a shit hole. Indeed, personally I think dale end is the perfect place for the stadium right next to Aston uni 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted January 7 Moderator Share Posted January 7 11 hours ago, paul514 said: Indeed, personally I think dale end is the perfect place for the stadium right next to Aston uni Dale End is about half the size of the current site. The only city centre site that might work would be Smithfields, but even that would be really tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 19 hours ago, Deano & Dalian's Umbrella said: On the FFP thread, somebody has posted a Football Insider link to an article from a finance expert criticising the decision to not rebuild the North Stand. One line from it which stood out was: “It seems they will now only add just 3,000 seats, which admittedly will be premium price seats, but it does seem to be a short-term decision. If this is correct about these being premium seats (and I don't know how this person would know this anyway) then this wouldn't fit with the concept of these extra seats being in out of the way parts of the ground like the corners. It has also reignited my paranoia that I might soon be kicked out of my season ticket seat on the halfway line in the Doug Ellis. They will move ST Holders from a part of the ground for premium tickets, push ST into other areas and push the general ticket sales into the corners. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 11 hours ago, paul514 said: Indeed, personally I think dale end is the perfect place for the stadium right next to Aston uni Dale End is SHA territory, like Digbeth. No thanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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