Featured image credit: Ian Wilson/CC BY 2.0/Edited for size
Premier League football club Aston Villa has launched a new fan-focused experience for supporters in the former Holte Suite at Villa Park, while it has emerged that plans to create a new multi-purpose commercial destination and events space have reportedly been put on hold to focus on the expansion of the stadium’s North Stand.
The new matchday offering, The Lower Grounds, will be open from three hours before kick-off and up to 90 minutes after the match has finished. Supporters will be able to take advantage of all-you-can-eat street food as well as beers, wines and soft drinks while mingling with former players and watching pre-match build-up on large screens.
The package will include seats in the Trinity Road Stand or the Doug Ellis Upper, as well as a matchday programme. The experience will launch for Villa’s home match against Brighton and Hove Albion on September 30.
Season ticket holders can purchase the package as a ‘bolt-on’, or the offering is available on a match-by-match basis. For the Brighton game, the single-match package will cost £120 (€138/$148), with the season ticket bolt-on priced at £60.
In other news, Building.co.uk has reported that plans to build Villa Live, a new 6,500-square-metre destination that would replace the stadium’s existing shop, building and security lodge, have been halted so the club can focus on expanding the North Stand.
The report claims that the space will now be built inside a refurbished warehouse near the stadium and will be known as ‘The Warehouse’.
Villa unveiled updated plans to redevelop the North Stand back in July, with a series of amendments submitted as part of a revised planning application to Birmingham City Council.
The amendments included minor changes to the North Stand itself, along with new plans for the club’s existing academy building. The redevelopment will increase the capacity of Villa Park to over 50,000.
The first phase of the development, anticipated for completion by 2025, will see approximately 7,400 seats added to the stadium’s current capacity of 42,785.
From 2025 onwards, Villa will identify further refurbishment works and capacity uplifts to Villa Park’s other two stands, while also focusing on how the club can be a “catalyst for regeneration and transformation” in the local community.
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