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Villa Park redevelopment latest - Aston Villa's £400m plan, train station upgrades and more seats
Aston Villa will continue work next summer to increase the capacity of Villa Park after around 400 seats were added for the start of this season.
The club's former CEO Christian Purslow outlined his plan to take Villa Park's capacity to 50,000 in time for Euro 2028 by building an entirely new North Stand, while a longer-term plan of adding a further 10,000 seats was mooted too. But shortly after being appointed as the club's president of business operations, Chris Heck shelved those plans given that the process would've slashed the stadium's capacity to around 36,000 for two seasons while a new North Stand was being built.
Heck is determined to oversee a redevelopment plan of Villa Park nonetheless, which started with improvements made inside and outside the stadium last summer. Here's a lowdown of what work has been completed at Villa Park and what plans the club has to increase capacity further...
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No plans to leave B6
Neither Villa's owners nor Chris Heck want to leave Villa Park. There could be more financially lucrative opportunities to pursue elsewhere, but there are currently no plans to either relocate or build a new stadium.
"I have spent time watching the Holte End every single game and it is truly extraordinary," Heck said on Villa TV. "What they bring to Villa Park makes this place so unique and so special, and what I've learned is that you know when to leave it alone. So we haven’t had that conversation [about moving]. There is nothing planned, and I don't expect to see it in my lifetime.”
He added: "We see this all the time about the stories of generations and generations [of fans]. We don’t want to lose touch with that and we are seeing it first hand with the celebration that is coming, 150 years of Aston Villa football."
"This is the best home field advantage in the Premier League. Our record has shown that over the last couple of years. There’s nothing like the Holte End, it’s truly iconic. But we also have the Doug Ellis Stand, we have new areas and premium areas, a new restaurant on the Doug Ells side, which we had only seen before on the Trinity Road side. Now we’re spreading that around the stadium. In the North Stand we have three new areas for hospitality, so it is a special time."
Plan to increase capacity
Last month, Villa confirmed to the club's Fan Advisory Board that Villa Park's capacity could rise by more than 800 seats over the course of next summer as more gangways are realigned in other parts of the stadium which weren't worked on in recent months.
The Holte End and North Stand upper were both attended to over the summer, where the stadium capacity increased to approximately 42,900 after that work.
Senior representatives of Villa, including chief operating officer Ben Hatton, were in attendance at the latest board meeting [minutes published by My Old Man Said], during which the club meets with selected supporters to answer questions, outline plans and take on concerns and suggestions to improve the overall experience of supporters and keep the fanbase informed of the club's intentions.
Off-season improvements
Work began on renovating Villa Park not long after the final home match of the season against Liverpool. The Holte End lower and upper saw the introduction of rail seating, while there was also gangway re-alignment in the lower section as well as seating adjustments.
Gangway re-alignment also took place in the North Stand upper, while seating readjustments were made too. Rail seating was also implemented in the Doug Ellis lower, where the away fans stand.
Other projects across the summer included an increased number of hospitality spaces, a new club shop, a new fan zone - which houses up to 1,500 fans – replacing the Trinity Road fan zone and LEDs inside the stadium.
In August, Heck told Villa TV: "It’s been day and night labour for about three months. It is quite special, the opportunity we have to improve Villa Park, but also to protect what is so special about this place. We are going to build on some of the things we did last year, like transportation with the shuttle buses coming from Birmingham New Street directly to Villa Park as well as returning, that’s been a magnificent success.
"The LED helps lift it all up and it puts more life into Villa Park before the games, during the games and even after. It will certainly help celebrate night time games in the Champions League. What a year we have in front of us and what better way for our players to walk through a brand new tunnel."
Season ticket relocation issues
The redevelopment of Villa Park resulted in the displacement of approximately 900 existing season tickets in the North, Doug Ellis and Trinity Road stands.
"Our priority has been to ensure that those who will need to be relocated have been notified by the club, and have not found out through social media," the club said in June. "Letters have now been sent to all affected season ticket holders and explains the process on how we will find them alternative seats.
"We have worked as fast as we could to identify them. Unfortunately, we were not able to complete this work ahead of the end of the current season. For clarity, everyone that needs to relocate will be offered a seat for the 2024/2025 season."
Bu many Villa fans felt they were left in the dark after finding out that they had been displaced at Villa Park shortly before the season ticket renewal window opened. BirminghamLive was advised that supporters were notified of these changes as soon as the club had a firm plan of the redrawn stadium.
Final plans of the first phase of the redevelopment were received on Wednesday, May 29, five days prior to the season ticket renewal period going on sale on the Monday. Some changes to the bowl and other modifications, which allow for additional seats, had followed even since then.
It was only phase one of a wider project which will see Villa Park’s capacity increase by 1,200 seats. After the renewal window closed, the club's full focus was on those being moved and providing as personal a touch as possible regarding their relocation.
Via the FAQs section of the season ticket renewal page, the club told displaced fans: "We are so grateful for your continued support of the club and understand the impact that the seat adjustment and movements will have on your matchday experience.
"While these changes are being made to benefit the fan base as a whole and deliver results on the pitch, we are sorry this has affected your seat."
Concourse improvements
The matchday experience for many supporters on the first home match of the season was a nightmare. The club introduced a new contactless method to enter the stadium, which caused issues as some supporters were made to wait over an hour to get to the turnstiles.
Once in the ground, other problems arose such as overflowing toilets and long queues in concourses at half-time. Some supporters even entered the stadium to find their new seats did not exist.
Problems were quickly resolved by the club over the two-and-a-half weeks they had to find solutions to the issues fans faced before the second home match of the season, against Everton.
Improvements to some concourses are ongoing, however. The North Stand upper concourse extension will take a few months to complete. In relation to toilets, the club said a longer-term programme has begun, including the installation of air admittance valves being added to all male urinals to aid waste removal, hand dryers installed in all toilets to replace paper towels, while new flooring will be laid and facilities painted too. Villa will work through the stadium as quickly as we can throughout the season, using gaps in the fixtures to address every area.
Increase in premium seating
The development plan across the whole of Villa Park has the overall aim of offering fans more choices of premium seats at a range of price points, which the club say will help create one of the best fan experiences in football. Its income will also contribute to investing in their on-the-pitch successes to ensure they continue to compete at the highest level following Champions League qualification last season.
The club have outlined that "these changes aren’t making changes for the sake of it, and the fans are at the heart of every decision the club makes." And while the majority of Villa supporters will understand the importance of expanding Villa Park's capacity and in turn, the revenue that brings to aiding the club's progress, many are unhappy with how the situation had been dealt with.
Villa spent tens of millions of pounds on hospitality renovation in three stands at Villa Park because premium seats can be a big earner for the club. There are now 18 new premium offerings at Villa Park, including private club space and other suites across the Doug Ellis, North and Trinity Road stands.
“Premium meant [at Villa Park] you got a suite, 12 tickets and a rectangular table for a sit down like a family meal,” Heck told Telegraph. “It’s wonderful and everyone enjoys themselves but that was the only option. My thought is ‘let’s give people more options and I bet you they are going to be interested’. There is not just one type of English football fan.”
Villa announced a huge loss of nearly £120m across 2023, which UEFA claim to be the highest by any club in Europe. On pitch performance has improved significantly over the last two years since Unai Emery's appointment, but it has come at a cost and to sustain their bid for European football year-on-year, Villa must close the gap to the 'big six'.
Villa's total revenue for the 2022/23 campaign stood at £217.7m, up from £178.4m in the previous year. In terms of revenue earned by Villa's rivals, Manchester City earned over £700m in 22/23, while Arsenal pocketed £464.6m. Manchester United brought in revenue of 648.4m, while Liverpool raked in £272m.
Tottenham Hotspur, with their plush new stadium, saw another revenue increase as they brought home £589.9m, while Newcastle recently announced annual revenue of £250.3m.
Villa chief Heck plans to boost their revenue to £400 million by 2027 as the club feels the strain from PSR. He told The Telegraph: “The first year we were successful. We generated £50 million more and that’s our plan to generate £50 million more each year. That has never been done before and we are doing it. We are already well on our way. We were [on] £219 million [annual turnover] so what is the magic number to get to? We think it’s £400 million to get into the game of sustainability. We have a path to get there."
Matchday gate revenue is derived from season tickets, ticket-related membership fees, single match purchases and matchday hospitality and concessions. The number of fans attending and the general level of ticket prices are both important in driving gate revenue. However, clubs’ ability to generate high yields per match and per fan is increasingly being driven by the amount of premium seating and the hospitality service on offer.
The most extreme example is Paris Saint-Germain, who generated the second highest aggregate gate revenue in 2022 and the second highest yield per home match, despite having only the 26th highest number of fans attending home matches in 2022/23.
Villa say they are endeavouring to enhance the matchday experience for fans by improving existing facilities across the stadium and its footprint, creating new hospitality offerings and integrating new sponsorship assets. Enhanced experiences, such as the Lower Grounds and Terrace View, are a key part of their commercial strategy to increase revenue and improve the long-term financial strength of the club.
UEFA claim Villa posted an average gate yield per home match of roughly £1.3m, compared to Tottenham's £4.8m average gate yield per home match, which is the highest in the Premier League.
'The Warehouse' to open next year
Villa's exciting north precinct masterplan took shape over the summer with the club shop given a major facelift. The project revitalises and improves the area north of Villa Park, enhancing the fan experience on matchdays to create an active hub used by fans all year-round.
On a match day and non-match day, Villa Park already accommodates an estimated 975,000 visitors per annum. Elsewhere, the current Academy building - located next to the club shop - is to be transformed into an impressive new fanzone offering that will be known as ‘The Warehouse at Villa Park’.
"We are going to start renovating the Warehouse area, which is a massive space that we think can be a hospitality zone and an entertainment zone for 3,000 fans," he explained on Villa TV earlier this year. "Not only pre-game and post-game, but also for concerts and other shows that we have at Villa Park."
The Warehouse is set to be completed by Christmas 2025, while the wheels are in motion for a new matchday ticket office, for which the process will begin next season.
A new kids-focused players entrance zone was also created over the summer, as well as a fan zone which includes a stage, big screen, and external bars.
Witton station latest
Last month, West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker confirmed a meeting took place between Villa, himself and other stakeholders regarding the pledge to deliver an upgrade to Witton Station in time for Euro 2028.
Villa Park has been selected alongside iconic venues such as Wembley Stadium and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Cardiff's Principality Stadium, Man City's Etihad Stadium, Everton's new venue, Newcastle's St. James' Park, Hampden Park in Glasgow and Dublin’s Aviva Stadium to stage tournament matches.
For events of such scale transport links will be key, therefore Villa are taking care of supporters in advance. One idea - one that has been on the agenda for many years now - is to redevelop Witton Station, which is less than a half-mile walk from the ground.
Improvements will include new passenger ramps to both platforms to increase queuing capacity after matches, a new pedestrian and cyclist subway under the line at Station Road, while there will also be wider and deeper platforms to allow more people to queue for bigger and longer trains.
Mayor Parker took to X, formerly Twitter, to confirm his meeting with representatives of Villa, the Rail Executive and Transport for West Midlands.
"We’ve made positive steps towards finding solutions with regards to Witton Station and travel to and from the stadium," he said. "We’ve got a lot to do now to move it forward but I reiterated my commitment to the project, and have asked to meet again soon.
Securing an upgrade for the station was a key pledge in Parker's election campaign, which was won in April this year. His predecessor, Conservative candidate Andy Street, had also been working towards the same goal.
Back in March, the club said at a FAB meeting: "We continue to work with local authorities to find appropriate solutions that will allow fans safe, efficient and affordable access to and from games."
