Villa Park redevelopment

[Mazrim]

To the people saying 60k isn't needed. We max out home games now, have north of 22k waiting for season tickets and also have to turn down plenty of fans wanting sporadic matchday tickets. Some of those might be the same people  but not all, so realistically we're turning away 20-30k per home game. Villa Park holds 43000.

So yes, it is needed. Not just commercially but logistically. You can have 60k attendances and have a great match day experience too. They're not mutually exclusive.

If we want to truly compete with our peers / get back to the highest peaks of English Football, we need the biggest Villa Park possible. Plus, imagine the sound of that many fans singing a godawful bastardisation of Ghostriders in the Sky.

Edited November 29, 2021 by Mazrim

[Steero113]

2 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

No point having 60k and it been 10k seats empty.

I remember the days of Doug Ellis and we'd regularly have 30k attendances. It was embarrassing seeing half the doug Ellis empty on MOTD.

I agree, its was like watching Man City... well... now actually 

[rodders0223]

2 minutes ago, Mazrim said:

To the people saying 60k isn't needed. We max out home games now, have north of 22k waiting for season tickets and also have to turn down plenty of fans wanting sporadic matchday tickets. Some of those might be the same people  but not all, so realistically we're turning away 20-30k per home game. Villa Park holds 43000.

So yes, it is needed. Not just commercially but logistically. You can have 60k attendances and have a great match day experience too. They're not mutually exclusive.

If we want to truly compete with our peers / get back to the highest peaks of English Football, we need the biggest Villa Park possible. Plus, imagine the sound of that many fans singing a godawful bastardisation of Ghostriders in the Sky.

Being on a waiting list "just in case" isn't the same as buying a ticket l.

We still have a very recent history or losing a few games and having 10k knocked off the attendance.

[rodders0223]

Football fans are fickle. We are on an upwards trajectory at the minute. At some point in the very near future we will reach the peak of how far we can go. We will 'stagnate" and all the good time casuals we've seen every since Brian Little and JG and O'Leary and O'Neil will be gone.

[Mazrim]

3 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

Being on a waiting list "just in case" isn't the same as buying a ticket l.

We still have a very recent history or losing a few games and having 10k knocked off the attendance.

Who says that's all they are? Football is as popular now as it has ever been and Villa are massive. Despite the iffy results recently we're still owned by very ambitious and wealthy people and a lot of fans who have been less enthused are buying back into it. Demand is, I believe, genuine. 

[rodders0223]

Just now, Mazrim said:

Who says that's all they are? Football is as popular now as it has ever been and Villa are massive. Despite the iffy results recently we're still owned by very ambitious and wealthy people and a lot of fans who have been less enthused are buying back into it. Demand is, I believe, genuine. 

I think 50k is a good number. We'd sell out a 60k maybe once in a blue moon even now.

I have a season ticket aside from the first few games I've had no bother getting an extra ticket the past few games.

[Mazrim]

2 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

I think 50k is a good number. We'd sell out a 60k maybe once in a blue moon even now.

I have a season ticket aside from the first few games I've had no bother getting an extra ticket the past few games.

I'm not sure how. I'm constantly bugged by people who can't get tickets. And I know at least 12 people who are genuinely waiting for season tickets, can easily afford them, and would go.

We'd sell out 60k often, even if we boosted away allocation. But I'm not bothered by some empty seats anyway. I'd rather have them and everybody who wants to can go.

[The Fun Factory]

The club may have a couple of plans - first roughly 50,000, and perhaps a plan  for more if the demand is there.  They might as well think of all the possibilities now. Personally I think about 50K is about right. It would put us back to Villa Park's pre Taylor capacity of 48,000. I suppose the bigger the ground the more it may make the  FA to play some England and FA Cup Semi Finals back at Villa but it wouldn't really make a good business plan to spend millions for the benefit of a couple of bonus games a year.

Edited November 29, 2021 by The Fun Factory

[Mazrim]

I think the plan is around 55k. I've seen some plans based around that. A new North Stand and corners filled in. 60k would involve a new  stand also going up over Witton Lane, making that a tunnel of sorts. That must involve purchasing extra land though.

[Villa_Vids]

53 minutes ago, rodders0223 said:

Football fans are fickle. We are on an upwards trajectory at the minute. At some point in the very near future we will reach the peak of how far we can go. We will 'stagnate" and all the good time casuals we've seen every since Brian Little and JG and O'Leary and O'Neil will be gone.

I totally disagree with this. IMO, this is the healthiest state the club has been in my lifetime - under the best leadership I have seen at Villa. I am of the belief that there is no cap on our aspirations in the future. The times you refer to were under terrible owners - who gave us no hope for the future and were content to be solely in the Premier League. This feels like the beginning of an exciting journey, I think the club can keep growing and expand the fanbase. The sky is the limit! IMO we have barely scratched the surface.

Edited November 29, 2021 by Villa_Vids

[The Fun Factory]

Witton/Doug Ellis issue is the residents behind it. The original plan was for the stand to be 10,500. 500 had to be reduced as the stand had to be lowered to get planning permission. That is why the concourse is so cramped. Then seats had to be taken out in the lower tier and had to be reprofiled. I think the capacity now is about 9,000 which is quite small for side stand for a club like Villa.

If the DE and North mirrored the Holte and Trinity Villa's capacity would be about 53,000. If the Holte and Trinity were the same as DE and North Stand we would only have about 32,000 so we have a bit of a unbalanced stadium. Not Newcastle level but still.

[MWARLEY2]

Build it and the fans will follow . 

West Ham and Spuds went from 35k to 60k .

[tomav84]

13 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said:

Build it and the fans will follow . 

West Ham and Spuds went from 35k to 60k .

london is a huge factor, not to mention you can get a season ticket at west ham for about 300 quid

spurs get a lot of tourists now too, son probably attracts about 5k himself every home game.

we would have to look at our pricing if we expand. we couldn't get away with charging £50 for a wednesday night game for example

[Junxs]

8 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said:

Build it and the fans will follow . 

West Ham and Spuds went from 35k to 60k .

This is a very good point, I never thought West Ham could attract so many fans.

I think football is at a very good point right now, with all round attendances at all clubs the highest theyve been in my lifetime -  and we are missing out.

I think we could easily get 60k for most games, people are remembering bad periods when we couldnt sell out due to having a poor teams and clouding their judgment.

Maybe they can design it so in future if the demand does go downthey could convert a part of the stadium into something else, more corporate, or take the seats out of an upper tier and turn it into a go kart track or ice rink with massive screens / advertising boards on the crowd facing walls so it stays hidden.  

[Mic09]

60k stadium with 5k empty > 42k full stadium

[mrchnry]

I hope the North Stand if rebuilt gets a new name. The Ron Saunders stand for example. Would probably need to do a vote on it. 

[Follyfoot]

2 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

Witton/Doug Ellis issue is the residents behind it. The original plan was for the stand to be 10,500. 500 had to be reduced as the stand had to be lowered to get planning permission. That is why the concourse is so cramped. Then seats had to be taken out in the lower tier and had to be reprofiled. I think the capacity now is about 9,000 which is quite small for side stand for a club like Villa.

If the DE and North mirrored the Holte and Trinity Villa's capacity would be about 53,000. If the Holte and Trinity were the same as DE and North Stand we would only have about 32,000 so we have a bit of a unbalanced stadium. Not Newcastle level but still.

I make it 64K Holte  holds roughly 15,000 and trinity 17k

[Brumstopdogs]

I think 50k capacity is the way to go or if we can't do that then go for 49k with a world class elite cheese room.

[Follyfoot]

6 minutes ago, Brumstopdogs said:

I think 50k capacity is the way to go or if we can't do that then go for 49k with a world class elite cheese room.

Latter please, As a matter of interest what cheeses would you put in it

[The Fun Factory]

22 minutes ago, Follyfoot said:

I make it 64K Holte  holds roughly 15,000 and trinity 17k

Holte 13.5 Trinity nearly 13k