Stevo985 Posted May 31, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted May 31, 2017 Getting away from the ground is by far the worst part about going to see Villa. If there's any way that can be improved then I'm all for it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post blandy Posted May 31, 2017 Moderator Popular Post Share Posted May 31, 2017 56 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: Getting away from the ground is by far the worst part about going to see Villa. If there's any way that can be improved then I'm all for it. In recent years it's been the best bit! 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLillis Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 On the transport bit... Witton station is very near to the ground. Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow purchase enough land leading up from the station to the ground to create a concourse similar to Wembley. On match day it could be filled with bars and fast food joints, leading up to a Fan zone type area that other clubs already have. Our match day experience could be so much better!(both on the pitch and off it ) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 On 31/05/2017 at 08:47, Stevo985 said: Getting away from the ground is by far the worst part about going to see Villa. If there's any way that can be improved then I'm all for it. I have only started going back to Villa in the past few years since learning to drive. I have always wondered with 30k it is a complete nightmare getting out....what was it like when we were successful and were hitting 42,000? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted June 2, 2017 Author Moderator Share Posted June 2, 2017 Gents, this meeting has been postponed until the 26th June - but please use the thread to continue to add any questions you'd like asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 Plenty of fans park at Star City on a matchday, it could easily work as a park and ride facility if some buses were laid on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It's Your Round Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 17 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: Gents, this meeting has been postponed until the 26th June - but please use the thread to continue to add any questions you'd like asked. Is this due to Keith's ban? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted June 21, 2017 Author Moderator Share Posted June 21, 2017 Quote Catering With the promised Capital investment from Compass, what is planned to improve the infrastructure to ensure staffing is more efficient, in-order to avoid pinch points on match day? The club announced Heineken as their new beer partner last year. However, with the changing culture of beer drinking in Britain with a focus now on craft and local beers, what is being done to address this? To improve the match day experience around Villa Park and catering offering would the club consider holding a trial street food event? Match Day There is a lack of half-time entertainment. What is being done to re-introduce fan competitions?. There has been positive move by changing the music building up to the start of kick-off. For example, Hi Ho Silver. Is this going to continue and what will be the entrance music for the forthcoming season? What is the likelihood of the Lions Club re-opening in the Doug Ellis Stand? To support the Project B6 fan funded flags initiative; can the club please provide concourse signs on the exit of the Lower Holte & North for the return of flags to a designated drop off point in addition to a stadium announcement pre/post match? With heightened security levels due to terrorism, what is the club doing to improve security when supporters have been able to smuggle in flares which have then been set off in the ground? At the Leeds United away game last season there was overcrowding and altercations with the police as well as stewards after a flare had been released as supporters tried to exit via the emergency exits. The overcrowding and handling of supporters created a safety hazard. Can the club please request a report from Leeds United of what happened that evening? Ticketing Print at home tickets attract an admin fee. Considering the cost of printing the ticket is at the expense of the supporter, can the club please explain the basis of this fee? Supporters continue to experience problems accessing the online ticketing website. What is being done to address the server capacity to cope with the extra traffic? Not all ticketing requests can be serviced by Ticketmaster and some supporters have to be re-directed to the club. Can the club please be transparent on the ticket service offering as this isn’t clear when dialling in? When away tickets are released on-line the qualifying criteria does not feed through in a timely manner to supporters’ accounts. As a result supporters often experience delays in being able to purchase tickets contrary to the criteria advertised. Supporter Engagement & Welfare Following the introduction of Villa Support Twitter account, what other channels is the club considering in order to drive effective supporter communication? For example, has it considered a Facebook Q&A or an enterprise live chat solution? What progress has the club made in transmitting live feeds of games (U23s) from Facebook to AVTV for those that do not have social media accounts? Can the club please provide supporters with an update on the forthcoming new loyalty program? What is the club’s alternative to the EFL’s iFollow? What is the club doing to support fans with autism? For example, Middlesbrough have set-up a special sensory room so that children with autism can attend matches. Other When can supporters expect the club to reveal the new shirt sponsor? When will supporters be able to purchase the 2017/18 kit and how will prices compare to last season? What’s the update on safe standing? Where is the club at in terms of increasing the provisions for disabled fans? Is it adhering to the deadline of Aug that was set when we were in the Premier League in 2015? If not, when do we expect to meet the requirements? The North Stand what other areas of the ground have been identified for increasing disabled seating? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted June 21, 2017 Author Moderator Share Posted June 21, 2017 That's the agenda for the meeting next week - if there's anything pressing that you feel is missing from it, please let us know. (Pardon the strange numbering - I'm having formatting trouble) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen_Evans Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 28 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: That's the agenda for the meeting next week - if there's anything pressing that you feel is missing from it, please let us know. (Pardon the strange numbering - I'm having formatting trouble) I would quite like my point about the match day programme put forward. The standard has been genuinely awful in the last couple of years. See previous page for details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted June 21, 2017 Author Moderator Share Posted June 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Stephen_Evans said: I would quite like my point about the match day programme put forward. The standard has been genuinely awful in the last couple of years. See previous page for details. I'd agree with you actually, I'd noticed a few errors last season which are out of keeping with our usual standard - given the chance, we'll bring it up - sorry I couldn't get it onto the agenda, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted June 28, 2017 Author Moderator Share Posted June 28, 2017 Quote Fans Consultation Group Meeting 28th June 2017 Club representatives Keith Wyness Chief Executive Officer Brendan McGlinchey Operations Director Tommy Jordan Head of Media & Comms Lee Preece SLO Catering With the promised Capital investment from Compass, what is planned to improve the infrastructure to ensure staffing is more efficient, in-order to avoid pinch points on match day? Investment is being spent on catering retail, looking at the service triangles and replacing equipment to improve the transaction times. The club announced Heineken as their new beer partner last year. However, with the changing culture of beer drinking in Britain with a focus now on craft and local beers, what is being done to address this? Although craft beer sales are on the increase this still only represents a small percentage of what we sell. The demand for regular beer products represents about 95% of our beer sales so we will always ensure that we have a product range to meet this demand. We are in discussions with Heineken to explore what craft beer products we can introduce for the coming season as we want to ensure that we are trying to cater for all our fans requirements. To improve the match day experience around Villa Park and catering offering would the club consider holding a trial street food event? We have had the Holte Car Park licenced so that we can hold events like this on a match day and it’s something we will be looking at for next season. This is not something we can do every match as an event like this takes time to build up, something the club will be looking to grow over a few seasons. Match Day There is a lack of half-time entertainment. What is being done to re-introduce fan competitions? Every aspect of the matchday experience, we are attempting to improve. We want to ensure that fans are not only entertained by the football but at everywhere they turn on a matchday. Halftime entertainment is something that is dependent on personal choice and is therefore difficult to please all parties. We will conduct some research to determine what people want to see and then look into reintroducing it if the desire is there. There has been positive move by changing the music building up to the start of kick-off. For example, Hi Ho Silver. Is this going to continue and what will be the entrance music for the forthcoming season? As mentioned above, we want to improve the matchday experience for the fans, but also improve the atmosphere for players. It is a careful line to tread to ensure we’re pleasing fans but we’re also getting players suitably fired up to go out and perform. We are currently looking into developing an AVFC Spotify playlist that we’ll encourage people to follow. We will use this in the build up to matches and will take feedback on what songs our fans would like included. The entrance music we will need to discuss with the first team Captain. What is the likelihood of the Lions Club re-opening in the Doug Ellis Stand? No likelihood for 17/18. The Holte Pub will remain available for Lions Club Members for weekend matches. The Pub is likely to close for mid-week matches with the Holte Suite Mezzanine being used as an alternative. To support the Project B6 fan funded flags initiative; can the club please provide concourse signs on the exit of the Lower Holte & North for the return of flags to a designated drop off point in addition to a stadium announcement pre & post-match? We recently met with Project B6 and will support their venture in any way we can. With heightened security levels due to terrorism, what is the club doing to improve security when supporters have been able to smuggle in flares which have then been set off in the ground? Searching is a hot topic. To be brutally honest we have had complaints from those who do not want to be searched and of course have other fans concerned that there is not enough. The reality is that we have to abide by laws. We cannot search an under 18 the same way as an adult and even then until we can strip search, this is the strongest deterrent we have. We have a really strong relationship with the police and always react to any intelligence or new ideas. This is as powerful a tool as any other security method. We are investing in further training for all of our stewards as we understand the need to continually develop. The use of dogs is another option but again they have limited ability and limited time windows that they can operate in. At the Leeds United away game last season there was overcrowding and altercations with the police as well as stewards after a flare had been released as supporters tried to exit via the emergency exits. The overcrowding and handling of supporters created a safety hazard. Can the club please request a report from Leeds United of what happened that evening? As a club we did not get involved in the investigation as it is not our place to do so. They operate under their own safety certificate as do Aston Villa. I know the LUFC safety advisory group were involved along with the local police and that really positive action was taken including the removal of seats and widening of gangways. To that end, as a club, we just need to be satisfied that the laws that apply to all clubs are being monitored and adhered to and we have no reason to doubt that. Ticketing Print at home tickets attract an admin fee. Considering the cost of printing the ticket is at the expense of the supporter, can the club please explain the basis of this fee? 17-18 will see a change in the booking fee structure, including the introduction of no booking fee for print at home tickets purchased on-line. Full details will be announced in due course. Supporters continue to experience problems accessing the online ticketing website. What is being done to address the server capacity to cope with the extra traffic? As has been recently highlighted, we have a new ticketing software system being launched week commencing 10th July. This answer applies for question 12 & 13. Not all ticketing requests can be serviced by Ticketmaster and some supporters have to be re-directed to the club. Can the club please be transparent on the ticket service offering as this isn’t clear when dialling in? See answer to 11. When away tickets are released on-line the qualifying criteria does not feed through in a timely manner to supporters’ accounts. As a result supporters often experience delays in being able to purchase tickets contrary to the criteria advertised. See answer to 11. With more supporters being directed towards on-line ticketing for its added convenience, when will disabled supporters be able to purchase tickets on-line? The new system will enable disabled supporters to purchase on-line. How will the Away Scheme work this season and how will the club be consulting on away ticketing for the forthcoming campaign? Applications were sent out week commencing 19th June to Away scheme members who had attended the minimum number of games last season (18 out of 23). The letter states that these are to be returned by 30th June to guarantee inclusion on the scheme for 2017/18. No change in application fee of £25. This left us with some scope to increase the size of the away scheme membership if we chose to go in that direction. Unfortunately, once the fixtures were released, away games 5, 6 & 7 were Burton Albion, Wolves and Blues, and our big concern was that a season ticket holder could sign up having been to no away games at all last year, get their tickets for these games and then drop out of the scheme. Whilst they would lose their £25 admin fee they would be able to attend these games where as someone who attended 15 away games last year might not have enough games to guarantee a seat. We have contacted members of the away consultation group and they have unanimously agreed with the proposal to limit new members to season ticket holders who attended a minimum of 15 away games last season. Whilst ideally we don’t want the away scheme to become a closed shop we think it is extremely important that loyal supporters who attended numerous games last year have priority over new members. Supporter Engagement & Welfare Following the introduction of Villa Support Twitter account, what other channels is the club considering in order to drive effective supporter communication? For example, has it considered a Facebook Q&A or an enterprise live chat solution? We monitor Facebook messages and are currently scoping a ChatBot technology partner to better help serve queries out of hours. Live chat is not an option currently due to staffing but we’re always investigating options to enhance and open the communications channels. What progress has the club made in transmitting live feeds of games (U23s) from Facebook to AVTV for those that do not have social media accounts? U23s games in the 17/18 season are currently under contract review but we hope to be able to bring as many as possible to our audience online and via social channels. This will utilise open platforms that do not require accounts for access. Can the club please provide supporters with an update on the forthcoming new loyalty program? The Club have invested in a new loyalty programme, available through web and app, which rewards fans for online engagement and for spend with the Club. We are also introducing a new e-cash system, which is integrated with the rewards scheme, and allows fans to spend at Villa Park, and beyond, with their season card. More news on both will be released in July, launching in August. What is the club’s alternative to the EFL’s iFollow? Will UK based supporters who spend time overseas whether for work or vacation have the opportunity to purchase access to the streaming service? We are currently sourcing production partners to help deliver an excellent live experience to overseas fans, matching and exceeding the quality of that made available via the EFL’s iFollow platform. How many games will be available remains an unknown due to broadcast games being excluded from the agreement. What is the club doing to support fans with autism? For example, Middlesbrough have set-up a special sensory room so that children with autism can attend matches. We are working to see if a similar facility to that provided at other stadia (such as Sunderland & Watford) can be created here at Villa Park. Our North Stand Boxes are being explored for this. Other When can supporters expect the club to reveal the new shirt sponsor? The two-year deal with Intuit QuickBooks will conclude later this month. A new main partner (one year deal) will be announced on July 1. When will supporters be able to purchase the 2017/18 kit and how will prices compare to last season? The new Aston Villa/Under Armour shirt will be revealed on July 1 with fans able to view the home and away offering. There will then be a one-month pre-sale period with supporters able to receive, collect and buy both kits at the end of July. The price will remain the same as last year. What’s the update on safe standing? The Club are preparing a piece of research to understand the attitudes of fans towards rail seating and how this might impact upon their matchday experience. Where is the club at in terms of increasing the provisions for disabled fans? Is it adhering to the deadline of Aug that was set when we were in the Premier League in 2015? Regrettably, we will not meet the deadline of set in 2015. However, we are currently working with individual wheelchair users to provide access to our North Stand Boxes which will increase our provision by 12 wheelchair spaces for 2017/18. If not, when do we expect to meet the requirements? There is no specific date at the moment but clearly a return to the Premier League will accelerate our plans. Apart from the North Stand, what other areas of the ground have been identified for increasing disabled seating? A new development of the North Stand would clearly be an opportunity, but areas such as North Stand Boxes and Doug Ellis Boxes (along with the project in R Block) have been identified so far. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewie Posted July 1, 2017 Share Posted July 1, 2017 Thanks @OutByEaster? - Being a non-UK based fan a lot of it doesn't apply to me, but it all feels a little underwhelming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wezbid Posted July 1, 2017 Share Posted July 1, 2017 Just seems like a lot of palming off. We'll look into this, do some research here etc. Why ask Heineken about craft beer? Not picking up on the fact that people with AVTV are miffed their custom and loyalty is rewarded less than Facebook users in terms of watching U23's. Little commitment to sorting adequate disabled viewing. It's good to have this dialogue but there's more meat on Peter Crouch's little finger. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morley_crosses_to_Withe Posted July 1, 2017 Share Posted July 1, 2017 (edited) Who the **** wants a street food event at a football match!? Oh I know, let's go down the Villa and queue up for ages to chuck the best part of a tenner at some bearded hipster with wealthy parents for a piddly serving of so called 'street food' Agree with the post above as well. It's all a bit 'meh'. Some of it sort of worth knowing, sort of, and some of it not. A lot of nothing about anything. Edited July 1, 2017 by Morley_crosses_to_Withe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted July 1, 2017 VT Supporter Share Posted July 1, 2017 6 minutes ago, Morley_crosses_to_Withe said: Who the **** wants a street food event at a football match!? Oh I know, let's go down the Villa and queue up for ages to chuck the best part of a tenner at some bearded hipster with wealthy parents for a piddly serving of so called 'street food' I don't think I've ever heard any one so enraged by street food! Ha ha! I agree though, it would be silly to have at a football match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thabucks Posted July 1, 2017 Share Posted July 1, 2017 7 hours ago, Morley_crosses_to_Withe said: Who the **** wants a street food event at a football match!? Oh I know, let's go down the Villa and queue up for ages to chuck the best part of a tenner at some bearded hipster with wealthy parents for a piddly serving of so called 'street food' Yeah cause the current offering of some greasy horse meat burger with some limp half cooked frozen chips for the same price which you have to queue for and be served by pimpled teen is SOOOO MUCH better isn't it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 18 hours ago, Morley_crosses_to_Withe said: Who the **** wants a street food event at a football match!? Oh I know, let's go down the Villa and queue up for ages to chuck the best part of a tenner at some bearded hipster with wealthy parents for a piddly serving of so called 'street food' Agree with the post above as well. It's all a bit 'meh'. Some of it sort of worth knowing, sort of, and some of it not. A lot of nothing about anything. If it helps get people down to put some money into the club I am all for it, along with any number of events. I am more than happy to just go, watch my football and sod off,I don't even drink round VP...but the world is changing and young people expect more, more, more!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 The responses on provision for disabled fans seem very disappointing. We are a big club in a major city so should be able to do more in this area without being pushed into it if and when we get back into the premier league. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan_007 Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 On 02/07/2017 at 11:13, rodders0223 said: If it helps get people down to put some money into the club I am all for it, along with any number of events. I am more than happy to just go, watch my football and sod off,I don't even drink round VP...but the world is changing and young people expect more, more, more!! It's not just the young fans, it's for fans that don't live locally as well. I've gone from a season ticker holder living locally, then moving for work and coming when I can. It's a long way to come for 90mins and when the football has been as bad as it has in recent seasons it makes it even harder. If you can leave earlier and make a day of it at, having different kinds of food and entertainment before going in to watch the match then it makes a big difference. We're behind a lot of clubs in this respect and I hope it does change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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