Aston Villa News 24/7Writer: J P Fear 
Date:Monday February 26 2007
Time: 1:55PM
UK time is: 20:21:15
Vital Login
Social Login
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
Improvements Due To Villa Park.
Randy Lerner has said categorically that Villa Park will not be expanded until we fill the existing stadium but promises that any future plans will take into account our history and reflect it.
The Chairman and owner of Villa said: 'I think the stadium is beautiful.' Adding 'The idea of building without success is out of whack. You've got to be a winner not only to build a bigger stadium, but also to feel good about doing it. I want to make sure the stadium is full. That helps you win games.'
'My understanding is that we have planning approval to grow the stadium by 10,000 seats. That was already in place. I love the history of the club, but there are things we can do to Villa Park to make it more beautiful.- and I think it is beautiful. I love the stands, although the North Stand is my least favourite.'
'You go to the Holte End and you have a wonderful piece of 19th Century Victoriana. Then you have the façade which we are working on and trying to give a more authentic feel. At the moment we just have a big 'Aston Villa' sign in plastic. Then we'll work around the stadium with big Claret and Blue painted gates. Little things like that. Then, when we get to the North Stand, we may look at something more progressive architecturally - going from the deeply historical to the current.'
Well, there might not be any football at the moment but with comments like that, I can't help but grin. It has only taken the new guys a few short months to realise the ground has history but things like the plastic crappy signs around the place are totally out of place and work needs to be done! Exciting times.
One Randy Lerner, there's only one Randy Lerner. Well, in truth there are two, but the other is a recluse who lives in a hut in the Isle of Wight, so we don't talk about him!
Use your social login to comment on front page articles. Login using you Facebook, Twitter, Google or LinkedIn accounts and have your say!
Your Comments
I like the noises from the new regime on this issue. Making the visit to Villa Park an all round good experience rather than just a decent place to watch a football match (important as that is!). If we could just rename Witton Station to 'Villa Park'....
VillaYamYam
He really does like tradition, I bet he would have liked the old Trinity Stand!
I wish he could find a way to salvage the old Club Crest that adorned the Stand facing the pitch, but I bet it's in some land fill site rotting away!!??
bh83
How about the players giving us some improvements ON Villa Park? Stringing just a couple of wins together would be nice. Even a small amount of success will bring the fans flooding back. My worries are that we are caught in a bad situation this season, in that we are unlikely to even qualify for the Inter Toto. All these plans off the Park are fantastic, but it means that it's even more important that we perform on it. Next season will be more pressurised, with recent takeovers, Blues and the Baggies back in the Premiership.
tarzan
Good lad, If you're an away fan walking up Trinity Road towards the Holte End on a match day, u'd be prowed of the ground ahead... If you are walking from the Witton Lane/North Stand end then you wouldn't!
leelindsay
What still pains me is what the old regime did to the old Trinity Road Stand - basically demolished it and replaced it with what looks like an out of the box, plastic flat pack football stand bought from Ikea (if there are such things!!)! If anything was a wonderful piece of 19th Century Victoriana, it was the old Trinity Road Stand with it's exterior facades (see link in next post below). It looks as if from what Randy says, within time the North Stand will get a make over - wouldn't it be lovely if they gave the "new" North Stand a 19th Century Victoriana feel to it?.... similar to what was done to the Holte. We have a beautiful looking old red brick stadium - and it should remain that way!
bazzah
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.apwj49.dsl.pipex.com/lost/trinity31.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.apwj49.dsl.pipex.com/lost/trinity.htm&h=300&w=560&sz=56&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=BDrtDQGW1eo-SM:&tbnh=71&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtrinity%2Broad%2Bstand%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
bazzah
Without decrying our new owner or the American race, tradition is something they admire about Great Britain and especially England.
Buying a club that was a founder member of the first ever football league will mean more to Randy Lerner than it ever did to previous owners. History and Tradition are two things even Bill Gates cant buy, you cant put a price on it, we know it with our beloved club so steeped in the History of the game, Randy Lerner knows it and I am so glad he cherishes it.
col8
I'm getting fed up with Randy saying all the right things.
Why can't he put his foot in his mouth just once so I can undertake the traditional rant I've been accustomed to!
keithlees1978
When everything Gormless Dug done has been dug up and changed, then we will be able to move upwards. So many things have already been achieved, without shouting about it. Will we ever get used to a dignified proprietor doing the right things quietly.
morky13villa
Randy has thrown down the gauntlet. Lets take up the challenge and start filling Villa Park on a regular basis. We want to move the club and stadium into the 21st century, and while Randy and the board are more than willing and capable of doing their bit, we the supporters have to play our part. I think that I'm right in saying that the grand old stadium is full to only 85% of capacity for most games...not good enough! Until the couch potato follower of the club gets off his/her rear and gets down to B6 on a regular basis to become a supporter, then the stadium will rightly so, remain as is.
glensider
I'm with Bazzah on this. The old stand was a class above. The new Trinity, while being a nice enough stand, just doesn't say 'we're Aston Villa and you as a fan are a part of our proud history' like the old one did. Sorely missed!
Rawlie
glensider: as with every club we have our hard core supporters who attend every game because its our 'religion'. But again, as with every club, we have a huge number of floating fans, those who can't afford to attend every game, or whose circumstances make it impossible for them to do so. Then of course there are those who wont attend until we have a successful team on the pitch. I think Randy fully appreciates this and his underlying message here is we will provide the successful team, fill the ground and then increase its capacity. As with everything the man says it is good, sound, business sense.
jonah
Sounds very positive. Col* you're spot on.
bmb
Have Your Say
Log in...
with your social network OR with your Vital account
Recent Articles
Lichaj Joins Forest (Wednesday June 19 2013)
Vital Villa Interviews 2013 - Thomas Wood (Wednesday June 19 2013)
The Villa Times - 19/06/2013 (Wednesday June 19 2013)
Vital Villa Interviews 2013 - SimonBigRon (Wednesday June 19 2013)
Aston Villa Season 2013/14 Fixtures. OUCH Start! (Wednesday June 19 2013)
Seville Confirm Luna Interest (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Bacuna Speaks Roncrete & Improvements (Tuesday June 18 2013)
The AVFC Summer Transfer Action So Far (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Giant Striker Joins Villa! (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Vital Villa Interviews 2013 - Villa67 (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | The Fear | 426 |
| 2. | Pride of Lions | 404 |
| 3. | ClivetheVillan | 322 |
| 4. | DeanoVilla | 210 |
| 5. | BodyButter | 202 |
| 6. | CDX_EIRE | 169 |
| 7. | mike_field | 168 |
| 8. | Green Tea | 160 |
| 9. | HeathfieldRoad1874 | 155 |
| 10. | Trekker | 153 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 1. Arsenal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
| 2. Aston Villa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
| 3. Cardiff | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
| 4. Chelsea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
| 5. Crystal Palace | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
| 6. Everton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
| 7. Fulham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0 |
Breaking League News
| Pardew - 'I Am Staying!'
» Newcastle : 19/06/2013 19:09:00
|
| If You Pray Hard Enough………..
» Chelsea : 19/06/2013 17:45:00
|
| Carroll on Record Hammers Move
» West Ham : 19/06/2013 17:34:00
|
| Clarke Pleased With Home Start
» WBA : 19/06/2013 17:30:00
|
| 2013-14 Albion Fixtures
» WBA : 19/06/2013 17:25:00
|
| Chelsea Makes Maddox Second Signing!
» Chelsea : 19/06/2013 16:48:00
|
| Bowyer: 'No Contact From Norwich'
» Norwich : 19/06/2013 16:48:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|
1 © - All content copyright Vital Network Ltd, not to be reproduced without explicit permission Copyright Issues
Cookie Policy
At Vital Football, we along with most other modern websites use small files called 'cookies' to create the most secure, effective and functional website possible for our users. Without these files our business model, based on advertising, breaks down and we would be unable to continue to provide the services that you are here to utilise. By continuing to use this website after seeing this message, you consent to our use of cookies on this device unless you have disabled them. For full details please read our Cookie Policy which can be found here. However, if you would like to disable cookies on this device, please view our Cookie Policy which contains an opt-out tool for disabling advertising cookies. Please also visit our information pages on 'How to manage cookies' if you would also like to block all other types of cookies. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies.