Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[PeterWithesShin]

Much as a lot of us don't like them i'd imagine both Lower Grounds and Terrace View were successful otherwise they wouldn't be doing more areas along the same lines.

[algy]

The "Aston Villa" sign with the ornate swirls on the Trinity, Villla-nerd that I am, is incredibly pleasing to me and makes me think Heck genuinely gets the Club and its traditions (see also the mosiac and red brick lion in the club store).  It's a great detail, a part of our visual identity that has been underplayed for decades.   When the new North is built, I feel more confident that Heck and his team might look to build something with more of a traditional Villa feel, something to mirror the Holte, with brickwork, stained glass and mosaics.

Agree totally. I was quite underwhelmed with the Purslow North Stand. It looked … OK. But considering the North Stand is our best opportunity to build a genuinely amazing stand - there’s loads of room, there’s nothing we need to preserve especially, it’s right by the entry tunnel to the pitch, it’s the first stand you see coming in from Witton station … it all just looked a bit vanilla.

IMO we need the new North Stand to be a massive statement stand, something on a par with or even exceeding the Holte End (yes, I know it’s “only” 30 years old, but it’s still a stand other clubs’ supporters lap up .. and in modern football stadia terms 30 years is a long time)

I want a stand worthy of the Stately Home of Football, not some 2 bit, half arsed job that someone like Fulham or Leicester would try to build. A genuine statement that, even if there are bigger grounds that Villa Park - there aren’t better grounds than Villa Park. One that other clubs’ supporters come to and think “this lot are on another level to us”.

[astonvilla82]

Selling the like of terrace view to old fuddy duddies is probably impossible  anyway

[Dogtanian]

I still don't know what these new LEDs are... I couldn't see anything new in the background.

They're 'light emitting diodes', as I understand it.

I thought it was to do with the new pouring facilities ensuring a Lager-Enhanced Day.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I suppose it's down to how you define "wildly successful"; commercially, I'm sure they were. Customer satisfaction? I have my doubts, at least from what I read on here last season. The term 'make hay while the sun shines' ('they are taking advantage of a situation that is favourable to them while they have the chance to' as defined by Collins) seems to fit rather well.

The updated corporate facilities in the Witton Lane look a big improvement judging from the CGI and the club shop a massive upgrade. As for the state of the art players' tunnel, I hope it's not so impressive it scares the shit out of our younger players.

[chrisw1]

Much as a lot of us don't like them i'd imagine both Lower Grounds and Terrace View were successful otherwise they wouldn't be doing more areas along the same lines.

I honestly don't think they are.  They rarely, if ever, sold out last season.  It looks like they may just about get close to selling out for our first league game of the season against a glamour club.

The only additional GA+ space is the Cells, which I believe has probably sold well season ticket wise as it's the entry level way of getting a ST without waiting for a few years.

[Risso]

I don't know overall how successful the new areas have been, but I do know that they're having a massive push on selling match-by-match hospitality packages, which they didn't need to do last season. I know lots of people who haven't renewed their places because the prices have doubled. We didn't, for that reason.

[chrisw1]

The "Aston Villa" sign with the ornate swirls on the Trinity, Villla-nerd that I am, is incredibly pleasing to me and makes me think Heck genuinely gets the Club and its traditions (see also the mosiac and red brick lion in the club store).  It's a great detail, a part of our visual identity that has been underplayed for decades.   When the new North is built, I feel more confident that Heck and his team might look to build something with more of a traditional Villa feel, something to mirror the Holte, with brickwork, stained glass and mosaics.

Agree totally. I was quite underwhelmed with the Purslow North Stand. It looked … OK. But considering the North Stand is our best opportunity to build a genuinely amazing stand - there’s loads of room, there’s nothing we need to preserve especially, it’s right by the entry tunnel to the pitch, it’s the first stand you see coming in from Witton station … it all just looked a bit vanilla.

IMO we need the new North Stand to be a massive statement stand, something on a par with or even exceeding the Holte End (yes, I know it’s “only” 30 years old, but it’s still a stand other clubs’ supporters lap up .. and in modern football stadia terms 30 years is a long time)

I want a stand worthy of the Stately Home of Football, not some 2 bit, half arsed job that someone like Fulham or Leicester would try to build. A genuine statement that, even if there are bigger grounds that Villa Park - there aren’t better grounds than Villa Park. One that other clubs’ supporters come to and think “this lot are on another level to us”.

IF they ever build it it may look nice but it's not going to be a fans 'yellow wall' stand or anything iconic like that.  It will be hospitality focussed and I would expect an entire middle tier of padded seats.

[PeterWithesShin]

I doubt they need to sell out to make a profit. Main thing as far as the club is concerned is are they making more money this way than the same seats and areas were before and I reckon it will be a big yes. So they will be viewed as successful.

[itbrvilla]

I doubt they need to sell out to make a profit. Main thing as far as the club is concerned is are they making more money this way than the same seats and areas were before and I reckon it will be a big yes. So they will be viewed as successful.

Spot on. I been in touch with a few North America fans who are trying to get tickets for home games and this will be an easy sell to them.

[Toronto Villa]

Watched it just and it had an overwhelming smell of bullshit.

Why is it bullshit? Are the things he said not true?

The Lower Grounds were "wildly successful"? News to me. If they were wildly successful I'd imagine it's because with such high demand for tickets, many fans were left with the choice of either miss the game or buy a Lower grounds package. It's easy to sell ice cream on a hot summer day.

It’s nitpicking. The statement about bullshit was made about the entire interview not specific to a certain aspect of it.  It’s ok to say that you or anyone doesn’t like him or that some things he says don’t sit right. He called it wildly successful. So what? It’s probably a bit of a stretch but hardly bullshit. It’s been successful and they have done similar things elsewhere. As we become better on the pitch those venues will sell out to wider audiences than regular fans. And I would say given where our revenues were and now are, he has been by any definition wildly successful in his first year or so in the job .

[Rudy Can't Fail]

There are still tickets available for Saturday for the "wildly successful" Lower Grounds if you're still after a ticket, Risso?

[CT Villan]

In my head I see 360 degree screens in the tunnel playing videos of our past glories and a few serious faces in menacing voices saying to the opposition players, "Welcome to Villa Park, you're probably already nervous, but you are about to be completely overwhelmed. This OUR home, not yours and you won't feel happy while you're here. You're not the first and won't be the last. "

[Villan82]

Two things. One, it is highly unlikely any new stand will go up so long as Heck is here. Pulling the plans for 2024 has surely set that back by at least 5 years if not more.

Two, I am frustrated beyond belief at this guy. In December he dropped the biggest bombshell of the NSWE era- the expansion of Villa Park is not going ahead and was a 'bad idea' he said. No further explanation was offered.

Now, this announcement caused a right shitshow as it brought into question our commitment to the current stadium, the mid- to long-term aims of NSWE and it reeked of the kind of decision that has seen us spurn opportunity after opportunity over the past 40 years.

Yet, any chance Heck has had to clear things up he just completely ignores it. He talks about everything except proper stadium expansion, even when he is stood in the god damn stand that would be rubble today but for this unexplained u-turn. Whatever we thought about Purslow he was usually clear about the overall direction.

[eamonn]

Have we installed rail-seats?