Villa Park redevelopment

[sidcow]

1 hour ago, ender4 said:

Is that site big enough?

No, you'd need to take the leisure centre next door.  It's certainly long enough but nowhere near wide enough.

[Captain_Townsend]

Yes allani, that was a poor choice  of wording by me. I was trying to argue they may well be considering a new stadium despite the denials because it would not be the first time the plan changed!

[ejs1111]

To everyone saying we won't move cause ownership said so...  please go back and re-read what they actually said.  It was worded very delicately in 'corporate speak'.  They said on several occasions there are NO PLANS to move/relocate from VP.  That means in simple terms- at the time of the question being asked no plans existed regarding moving away from VP.  So the statement was true at that time. 

So what happens when they actually DO have plans?  Villa will move away from VP and the previous statement will still be true.  Reality is we are likely looking to acquire more property to build a new VP.  NSWE wants long term success- the only way we can catch up to the teams above us financially is with a new stadium, full stop, in conjunction with European football, global marketing and sponsorships.

[thabucks]

Can people please stop pissing on my dreams of a new super stadium next door to Villa Park - thanks 

[alreadyexists]

2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

People do realise that redeveloping Villa park and the surrounding area would also count as a “big infrastructure project” right?

Did someone say ‘infrastructure’?

 

[allani]

1 minute ago, Stevo985 said:

I know. I’ve literally said as much. This whole thing was in response to me being asked “who says we’re not moving”

 

Ive literally said in more than one post above that things COULD change. 
 

The fact is the biggest bit of evidence as to whether we are or are not leaving villa park is a statement by the club categorically stating that we are NOT moving. 
 

Call me crazy but that would indicate to me that the most likely scenario is that we’re not moving. 
 

There is absolutely no evidence to the contrary except for the recent appointments. But they could quite easily be to do with expanding/redeveloping the ground. In fact that is a far far more logical scenario

Did they categorically say that?  I thought it was more like "we have no plans to move" (but I could well be completely wrong ).  Which is a very different statement.

Plenty of clubs categorically state that the position of their manager is not in question before losing, sacking said manager and recruiting a replacement within a period of time that suggests that they'd already decided who they were going to approach. 

[sidcow]

1 hour ago, ender4 said:

The club literally said they were building a new north stand and a 'boxpark' entertainment complex. They showed us videos of what it will look like, had the mayor on board, had planning permission. Then one day the CEO just casually mentioned it was cancelled with a throwaway line halfway through a non-related video interview.  And then lied through his teeth as to why they were cancelling it. 

And that was after they had told the fans meeting they categorically had no plans to redevelop the stadium at all.

So we've flip flopped from:

1) No development at all to

2) Major stand development with huge "boxpark" development

3) To major stand development with no huge boxpark but a smaller converted warehouse

4) To no major stand development with a smaller converted warehouse and minor additional seating

That's 4 major changes in position in little over 2 years.  frankly I don't believe anything they say.

 

 

[Captain_Townsend]

To be fair, while I want to stay at Villa Park, a new stadium would be a better option than a position of "nah, feck it, just cram another 3,000 seats in and it will be fine" which was quite concerning.

[Mazrim]

7 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Seeing as people seem to have forgotten this happened, and I’ve posted it before, here is what the club said. 
 

These are from the official notes from the FAB on 20th December 2023 which the club has published on its website here

No offence but this back and forth is getting a bit boring, now, so I'll try and sum up where I am. I know about these FAB comments, as does everybody in the Villa world by now, I'm sure. You can take them as a cast iron guarantee we will not be moving. I don't. Not because I think the club have been misleading or deliberately lying, but because it may become apparent that expanding the stadium as initially planned is no longer viable for several reasons. I also get the feeling the situation is fluid and changeable.

What was in reply to social media comments in December may be out of date now too. Nor what was that a club statement, but the minutes of a meeting.

I say again, I don't expect that its more likely that we'll move. Quite the opposite. I just think we'll have to expand the land we own around VP to get where we want to be and possibly build a stadium next to VP to minimise disruption. Does that scenario mean we're moving or not? I'd say its a matter of opinion / perspective.

[alreadyexists]

42 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

I've personally been present on occasions when Wes Edens, Christian Purslow and Chris Heck have each stated they don't have any plans to move from Villa Park and that they see it as our home. I'm sure it's been mentioned by key people at the clubs in interviews too. It's why I think a redevelopment of the site we're on (and its surrounds) is much more likely than a move.

 

 

With some innovative design, huge ground works and a lot of steel and concrete, we could use the existing site to make a 60000 seater I’m sure (if that’s the figure we’re aiming for). 

[Stevo985]

4 minutes ago, ejs1111 said:

To everyone saying we won't move cause ownership said so...  please go back and re-read what they actually said.  It was worded very delicately in 'corporate speak'.  They said on several occasions there are NO PLANS to move/relocate from VP.  That means in simple terms- at the time of the question being asked no plans existed regarding moving away from VP.  So the statement was true at that time. 

So what happens when they actually DO have plans?  Villa will move away from VP and the previous statement will still be true.  Reality is we are likely looking to acquire more property to build a new VP.  NSWE wants long term success- the only way we can catch up to the teams above us financially is with a new stadium, full stop, in conjunction with European football, global marketing and sponsorships.

 

2 minutes ago, allani said:

Did they categorically say that?  I thought it was more like "we have no plans to move" (but I could well be completely wrong ).  Which is a very different statement.

Plenty of clubs categorically state that the position of their manager is not in question before losing, sacking said manager and recruiting a replacement within a period of time that suggests that they'd already decided who they were going to approach. 

Their statement was as clear as you can get. What else could they have said to be any clearer than this?

You guys are verging on conspiracy theory stuff

Quote

For clarity, rumours on social media suggesting that this decision will result in a new stadium elsewhere are entirely false. Moving away from Villa Park is not part of any plans

 

[thabucks]

The club have stated categorically on numerous occasions they plan on adding 3000 seats to Villa park but some don’t believe that. 
 

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, Mazrim said:

No offence but this back and forth is getting a bit boring, now, so I'll try and sum up where I am. I know about these FAB comments, as does everybody in the Villa world by now, I'm sure. You can take them as a cast iron guarantee we will not be moving. I don't. Not because I think the club have been misleading or deliberately lying, but because it may become apparent that expanding the stadium as initially planned is no longer viable for several reasons. I also get the feeling the situation is fluid and changeable.

What was in reply to social media comments in December may be out of date now too. Nor what was that a club statement, but the minutes of a meeting.

I say again, I don't expect that its more likely that we'll move. Quite the opposite. I just think we'll have to expand the land we own around VP to get where we want to be and possibly build a stadium next to VP to minimise disruption. Does that scenario mean we're moving or not? I'd say its a matter of opinion / perspective.

Ok. You say you know about them but you didn’t seem to know about them the last time I replied to you when you said they were just second hand comments. 

[allani]

5 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

People do realise that redeveloping Villa park and the surrounding area would also count as a “big infrastructure project” right?

As I said in the post that you've part quoted.  The question I asked about that exact possibility were - how can we do that in a way that doesn't adversely impact on our revenues?  Can we afford to have 1 or 2 stands closed or partially closed for 3 or 4 years (given that it isn't just the NS that needs updating) with reduced attendances?  Is there somewhere else that we can play - like Spurs did - whilst we redevelop the existing site?  Can we acquire enough land in Aston to build a new stadium whilst still playing at VP?

[sidcow]

31 minutes ago, Mazrim said:

I would imagine so.

I wouldn't having measured it on Google maps.

[sne]

1 minute ago, Stevo985 said:

 

Their statement was as clear as you can get. What else could they have said to be any clearer than this?

You guys are verging on conspiracy theory stuff

 

Yeah, but can we be sure they were not crossing their fingers behind their backs?

[Mazrim]

2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

Ok. You say you know about them but you didn’t seem to know about them the last time I replied to you when you said they were just second hand comments. 

Jesus Christ. I did know about them. I wasnt referring to them when I said second hand comments but rather the local media reporting.

Edited April 17 by Mazrim

[Stevo985]

Honestly this thread is mental

 

I feel like the mad conspiracy guy trying to convince everyone of some weird far out theory. 
 

When in fact it’s the most logical scenario and something that is backed up by a statement from the club.

[OutByEaster?]

3 minutes ago, thabucks said:

The club have stated categorically on numerous occasions they plan on adding 3000 seats to Villa park but some don’t believe that. 

Have they?

[thabucks]

2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

 

Their statement was as clear as you can get. What else could they have said to be any clearer than this?

You guys are verging on conspiracy theory stuff

 

I’m in agreement with you but for balance it would be massively counter productive and expensive to come out and say yeah we wanna move stadium and we’re looking for land openly. That’s 20,30,40% increase in asking price right there. We may be quietly doing due diligence, negotiating for land, and working on feasibility studies and designs so all options are thoroughly explored.