Villa Park revamp needed but club must get it right
- Published
Last week we asked you what nobody is talking about at your club but should be. A number of your replies focused on Villa Park and whether an upgrade or change is needed in order to satisfy demand. Here's what our football reporter Nick Mashiter thinks about the issues you raised...
There is no doubt a Villa Park redevelopment will help Aston Villa move to the next level. The progress of the last two years has put the club on a steep upward trajectory and a revamped stadium would be part of that.
Yet while they have planning permission to redevelop the North Stand, president of business operations Chris Heck put the project on hold at the start of the year.
He was concerned about muting an atmosphere which can give Villa a home edge, given the potential - which was realised - of Champions League football this season.
It would have reduced capacity to 36,000 from the start of this season until 2025-26, which could have handicapped the team going into a historic campaign.
Work on the North Stand would have added less than 8,000 seats, based on a new 50,000 capacity, but with the costs and upheaval it could have been detrimental to Villa's progress this season for a fairly minimal increase.
Transport links, an external factor, also have to be considered given any increase in capacity would put additional strain on a small station at Witton.
The problems which hit Villa's opening home game against Arsenal, as fans struggled to get into the stadium after teething problems with new contactless tickets, are just a small example of what could go wrong as the club upgrades the ground.
Heck called the plans "ambitious and thoughtful" which, oddly enough, is what Aston Villa need to be after the criticism of their Champions League prices and the upset caused by the introduction of the Terrace View in the Holte End last season.
Upgrading the stadium is important for the club to maintain, and improve, its place challenging in the Premier League. Villa have already shown they are willing to tread lightly when it comes to the whole project, even if there have been some missteps along the way.