Aston Villa kicking off stadium upgrades

Article posted by Coliseum, May 21^st, 2024

Image: Aston Villa FC

Premier League club Aston Villa is pushing ahead with the development of Villa Park having just secured UEFA Champions League qualification.

The club will be making a number of improvements to Villa Park in order to turn the stadium complex into a first-class supporter experience.

Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham (UK), with a seating capacity of 42,657. It has been the home of Aston Villa since 1897.

The club, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year, said it is committed to delivering the best fan experience it can at Villa Park and to allow as many fans as possible to support manager Unai Emery and the players in achieving their goals on the field, while at the same time building the solid foundations necessary to see the club through the next 150 years.

The redevelopment of the venue will kick off this summer with the installation of new rail seating, additional seats in the stadium bowl to increase capacity for supporters, and new hospitality areas across a range of price points, all providing greater choice for fans.

The club said the redevelopment of Villa Park will result in the displacement of approximately 900 existing season tickets in the North, Doug Ellis and Trinity Road stands.

Villa Park will host matches in the UEFA EURO 2028 Championship.

Earlier this year a larger redevelopment project envisioned for the venue was put on hold, despite the club having been granted planning permission to redevelop the historic stadium.

The aim was to increase Villa Park’s capacity to over 50,000 and modernise the stadium to create a world-class sports & entertainment venue that could host major international tournaments and compete at the highest level.

But the club’s president of business operations, Chris Heck, put plans for the redevelopment on ice.

Heck expressed concerns that the stadium’s capacity would drop to 36,000 during the reconstruction process.

The key elements of phase one would have seen a brand-new North Stand wrapping into Trinity Stand and enhancements to the existing Trinity Stand.

There were also plans to create a new multi-use space called ‘The Warehouse’ including a new Fan Zone destination to offer a dynamic event space and community use on non-matchdays.

But Heck told the club’s website, “We have 42,000 seats. A substantial amount. To add on 10,000 right now doesn’t seem practical to me. I’ll tell you why. We talk about Villa Park being a fortress. It is true. There’s no better home advantage than at Villa Park.

“I think it would be a bad idea to tear down one of the stands for two years while we are playing like we are. I think that going forward, everything should be about all fans and not just one particular stand.”

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