"The Terrace View" - Upper Holte Lounge

[Stevo71]

Sickening parochial bulls***. We won't go anywhere as a club if we're turning on other fans and verbally abusing children trying to enjoy a day out. Disgusting.

The club wants and needs to grow in order to compete. If there's even a slight chance this causes trouble, there is significant and / or increasing push back on these initiatives, or they stop being used because people feel victimised, then I think we'll be out of Aston in no time; our big, new posh stadium will have all the facilities and transport you could hope for.

Hoping this settles down quickly. 

 

 

[cheltenham_villa]

i dont think we should get carried away here, a small minority treated it the wrong way. The majority i spoke to just commented with jealousy of how good it looked. Im starting to think id contemplate it for next season

 

[delboy54]

I am a "normal" ST holder in the upper Holte and I never heard or witnessed any chanting yesterday. For fellow Villa fans to do that to others is awful, and no way do I support that behaviour, but i wonder if it is just frustration at what has been done this Summer in implementing the TV and hopefully it was just a one off.

There will always be options in life to pay more to upgrade, eg a front row ticket at a gig, business class air travel, 5 star hotels, or upgrade to the TV at the Holte etc and that's entirely a personal choice.

For me to pay out the thick end of £700 odd quid for 19 home games a season, the minimum I would expect is clean facilities, quick turn around for food and drink and clean bogs. Yesterday the Holte End upper was a mess, no clean up after the builders and still queues for food and drink (I don't bother at half time).

To not have this you have to pay another £500, I am sorry that is not reasonable and adds to the frustrations of fans.

The Holte End in my view is not the place for "gentrification", it has been marketed like it is like a "Virgin" experience you can buy. I get the fact that the club want to make money out of us, but in reality how many TV tickets were available when they went on sale?, and take away 2 free drinks and a free program I don't think they are making a massive amount of money at this poor thought out venture.

Two things, perhaps it will be scrapped next season or maybe the money raised by the TV can pay for a manager to sort out and improve the facilities that the rest of us non TV members have to suffer.

[blunther]

21 minutes ago, delboy54 said:

For me to pay out the thick end of £700 odd quid for 19 home games a season, the minimum I would expect is clean facilities, quick turn around for food and drink and clean bogs. Yesterday the Holte End upper was a mess, no clean up after the builders and still queues for food and drink (I don't bother at half time).

To not have this you have to pay another £500, I am sorry that is not reasonable and adds to the frustrations of fans.

This is just it to me. A few years back when it was more like half the price I was willing to put up with it. But now, I'm paying a premium price and it's not on that I have to get splashed with 100 other blokes' piss that hasn't drained from the urinals. And that's after queuing up for five minutes in a smoky stinky toilet. Obviously it's not beyond our ability to build half-decent facilities, but our £700 isn't enough to have a splash-free piss. Extra £500 if you want dry legs.

[The Fun Factory]

23 minutes ago, delboy54 said:

I am a "normal" ST holder in the upper Holte and I never heard or witnessed any chanting yesterday. For fellow Villa fans to do that to others is awful, and no way do I support that behaviour, but i wonder if it is just frustration at what has been done this Summer in implementing the TV and hopefully it was just a one off.

There will always be options in life to pay more to upgrade, eg a front row ticket at a gig, business class air travel, 5 star hotels, or upgrade to the TV at the Holte etc and that's entirely a personal choice.

Essentially I don't disagree with that principle, but what has happened in the upper holte is that you have either had to downgrade for less space (plus a 15% price rise) or pay a lot more money for a new facility built on a previous public space.

[Hereford-Villan]

13 hours ago, tomav84 said:

so it sounds like any berating of the terrace view fans was possibly driven by the state of the rest of the holte upper (not that i'm in any way condoning it). it needed a lick of paint and some toilets fixing anyway, but if the state of it has somehow gotten worse in addition to being much more crowded, it's bound to have left a sour taste in mouths.

sounds like it's going to be a hot topic of discussion at the next FCG anyway but i can see them scrapping the whole thing...the fan reaction is just going to be too strong to ignore. they'll just make all holte upper season tickets more expensive. it'll still piss people off, but everyone will have access to nicer facilities.

No chance them doing that. Terrace view will definitely stay. 

[DaveAV1]

45 minutes ago, delboy54 said:

I am a "normal" ST holder in the upper Holte and I never heard or witnessed any chanting yesterday. For fellow Villa fans to do that to others is awful, and no way do I support that behaviour, but i wonder if it is just frustration at what has been done this Summer in implementing the TV and hopefully it was just a one off.

There will always be options in life to pay more to upgrade, eg a front row ticket at a gig, business class air travel, 5 star hotels, or upgrade to the TV at the Holte etc and that's entirely a personal choice.

For me to pay out the thick end of £700 odd quid for 19 home games a season, the minimum I would expect is clean facilities, quick turn around for food and drink and clean bogs. Yesterday the Holte End upper was a mess, no clean up after the builders and still queues for food and drink (I don't bother at half time).

To not have this you have to pay another £500, I am sorry that is not reasonable and adds to the frustrations of fans.

The Holte End in my view is not the place for "gentrification", it has been marketed like it is like a "Virgin" experience you can buy. I get the fact that the club want to make money out of us, but in reality how many TV tickets were available when they went on sale?, and take away 2 free drinks and a free program I don't think they are making a massive amount of money at this poor thought out venture.

Two things, perhaps it will be scrapped next season or maybe the money raised by the TV can pay for a manager to sort out and improve the facilities that the rest of us non TV members have to suffer.

I couldn’t agree more especially on your pointy about gentrification. Wrong place for it completely and smacks at a club that doesn’t really understand its self particularly its own fans. If the sim is to make money out of customers then whilist thst is understandable and necessary we need to find a way of remaining connected to our true and most important fans. As a former Holte Ender until I moved with my family too far away to attend many games I’m saddened by what is happening to the upper Holte. Stupid idea from conception particularly regarding location. Trying to bill it as experience as if it was still the halcyon days of the 70/80s is so out of touch and ridiculous, I’d expect it to be something you may find in Manchester or London but never at Villa Park. Whoever came up with the idea should be sacked if they are still at the club!? They clearly have no idea what the true Holte End experience is or ever was. They certainly weren’t there when the division fence was ripped out of the ground all those years ago!  You’ll never take The Holte End. This is cultural vandalism by stealth!!

[Milfner]

13 hours ago, Paddywhack said:

 

I know this is probably a bit over dramatic but it’s the most unwelcome I’ve ever felt walking in to Villa Park.

I'd echo this.

The price hikes on absolutely everything really leave a sour taste. My usual routine would be to have a pint before the game, maybe one at half time and then definitely a few in the Holte Suite. I don't think I can justify £30+ on five pints, especially when I can find a pub where it's about £2 less per pint. All the chat about making the ground a better place for before & after just doesn't work with the prices that they are. The club is getting my season ticket money and nothing else any more, they're just taking the piss. 

[AvfcRigo82]

9 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

Whoever came up with the idea should be sacked if they are still at the club!? They clearly have no idea what the true Holte End experience is or ever was.

I highly doubt they are.

I wonder what other catastrophes await to be discovered around Villa Park now that they are no longer with us.

It was also interesting to read a comment from another poster back in the thread that there was issues in the Trinity and getting drinks and service at HT was shockingly poor service. This was like that in 2010 when I last sat in the Trinity. Alarming to learn that the same shit is still going on 13 years later!

[DaveAV1]

On 16/08/2023 at 17:25, sidcow said:

The always used to bring shutters down before the game starts.   I imagine this will stay the same.  I don't think you're supposed to watch the game from inside.

Can you confirm the flavour of the vol au vents please Sid and if there are sandwiches, preferably cucumber cut into little triangles with no crust? Thanks. 

[delboy54]

5 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

Can you confirm the flavour of the vol au vents please Sid and if there are sandwiches, preferably cucumber cut into little triangles with no crust? Thanks. 

Who would have thought, triangular cucumber sandwiches with no crusts on the Holte End...!

Was the tea served in a China cup with a saucer?

[DaveAV1]

22 minutes ago, Milfner said:

I'd echo this.

The price hikes on absolutely everything really leave a sour taste. My usual routine would be to have a pint before the game, maybe one at half time and then definitely a few in the Holte Suite. I don't think I can justify £30+ on five pints, especially when I can find a pub where it's about £2 less per pint. All the chat about making the ground a better place for before & after just doesn't work with the prices that they are. The club is getting my season ticket money and nothing else any more, they're just taking the piss. 

No idea of every day reality for most normal fans. Sad times indeed. When all those years ago the club was in crisis and slid into the third division it remained in touch with its most important stakeholders, the fans. Proven by huge crowds both home and away. Those fans are being driven awaybyymuddkes and misguided thinking about what fans are and indeed want/need. Tragically this is happening at a time when we have lots to be post and optimistic about. Come on Villa don’t blow it now! We’re Aston Villa not a concept created in a board room by people with no idea about football or it’s real fans particularly Villa fans. Wake up and smell the coffee before it’s too late. We’re not cool and trendy we’re from Birmingham the industrial midlands where we bash steel and talk proper. Let’s not try to be what we’re not. It never works!

[Hank Scorpio]

3 hours ago, Captain_Townsend said:

I wish the club had put more effort into getting the North stand redeveloped in time, as in 2023 had previously announced, instead of dicking about with the Holte.

I'm in the Upper North. It's dire as we know. Can't wait for it to be bulldozed. Guess that's not happening until the train station issues are sorted.

 

[1HoV]

Thought I’d chip in with my own Terrace View experience and compare to elsewhere in the ground over the last few years.

1)      Service within the Terrace View is great, it’s not packed in there and the bar is well manned. Drinks vouchers accepted on anything you fancy and soft drinks are served from the tap rather than bottled. I’d prefer a bottle to take up the stand tbh. Food is pre-paid on the screens and collected from the food counters like in the lower Holte.

2)      Food – I went to Yard Birds in the main concourse as my lad fancied the chicken and chips, which was £12.50. Pricing within the Terrace View was much the same, Fish and Chips at £12.50 and a couple of other options at a similar price.

3)      Getting in was easy from up the steps at the Holte, programmes, lanyards and vouchers handed out on the door and a wristband put on. I detest the damn wristband, I’m not all inclusive on holiday I’m in the bloody Holte End.

4)      Atmosphere inside from the get go was pretty good cheering on the England Women which was showing throughout the screens. The people seemed a good mix of fans in shorts and Villa tops and families with kids. Certainly didn’t have a corporate feel to it, definitely geared towards fans who are familiar with the Holte over those who are used to corporate hospitality.

5)      My seating is at the top of K2. It’s a solid atmosphere up there, I’d rather be at the top of K3/4/5 than in the wings. I’ve sat up there for a few games last season and the lower Holte for 6/7 last season as well. Central upper Holte is by far and away my favourite place to be.

To compare service, I never usually attempt to get a drink at half time at games it’s always a problem. The Doug Ellis upper being by far the worst, I went down on the half time whistle once and didn’t get a drink until the second half had kicked off. And I still needed a piss.

Atmosphere is by far and away the best in the Holte. I don’t really like being outside of the main atmosphere, that’s why I love away games the most and I don't like sitting in the Trinity at all. I won the Leicester Away ballot from last season and only Brighton at home superseded that for game experience of the season. All in all I went to 2 away games and 18 home games as a member in 22/23 and been going to about 8-10 a season before that, but as my lad has been more and more into it we’ve been going more and more. I was a Lower Holte STH in my teens (O'Neill era) but couldn't afford it in my early adult life as a young parent. 

I didn’t hear the derogatory chants at half time, so can’t really comment on that. I did feel much like another poster as soon as I was exiting the Terrace the lanyard was pocketed and I felt awkward with the wristband. I just want to be like any other fan in the Holte and stand for the 90 chanting my head off. 

My main complaints with the Terrace View are outside of the actual experience like being locked onto Terrace View only for cup games which I simply cannot pay on a game by game basis. I wanted to have normal access tickets for Hibs, but the Terrace View manager basically shunned that idea and I couldn't buy them online despite being a 'Season Ticket Holder' and I still have an active membership. I wanted to sit in the Doug Ellis lower for the night with family and friends who are members given the upper Holte is locked off to them and I'm now locked out of the other places in the stadium. I'm sure my complaints to them about this will fall on deaf ears.

Edited August 21, 2023 by 1HoV

[DakotaVilla]

The idiots making the derogatory chants and snide comments probably don’t even realise that their season tickets are in part subsidised by the TV. 

[Wainy316]

It doesn't have any of the other nice shiny things but waiting ages for a beer is all but eliminated in the Lower Holte now with the tap and pay bar.

[OutByEaster?]

1 hour ago, Hank Scorpio said:

I'm in the Upper North. It's dire as we know. Can't wait for it to be bulldozed. Guess that's not happening until the train station issues are sorted.

They've announced demolition after the Foo Fighters gig - there's no dependency on the train station development.

[OutByEaster?]

11 minutes ago, Wainy316 said:

It doesn't have any of the other nice shiny things but waiting ages for a beer is all but eliminated in the Lower Holte now with the tap and pay bar.

I think most people were expecting the same sort of things to be put into the Upper Holte - but it doesn't look like any improvements at all have taken place in the Upper Holte End concourses.

[DaveAV1]

5 hours ago, 1HoV said:

within the Terrace View is great, it’s not packed in there

I’m not having a dig at you, but a not packed Holte End is hardly a Holte End experience is it? The games gone!

[DaveAV1]

1 minute ago, DaveAV1 said:

I’m not having a dig at you, but a not packed Holte End is hardly a Holte End experience is it? The games gone!

A few years ago a mate of mine got given corporate tickets for a match for him and some mates. He gratefully accepted them and we all went along and gave our Holte End season tickets to some other mates. it was a night game against Sunderland who were in a relegation battle with us. Di Canio had gobbed off some rubbish about Villa park being easy to come to, so that added further spice to the occasion. Theytook the lead but we stuffed them 6-1. It was a good match and we enjoyed the grub but I really wanted to be on the Holte as did the other lads who’d come to be “Spoiled too!”