Villa's plans to expand stadium

Birmingham City Council’s planning committee will convene on August 28, with a view to voting on plans to expand Villa Park.  Planning permission is sought for the extension of the stadium’s North Stand, increasing its size by 5,926 seats to take the ground’s overall capacity to 48,809.

This marks a key date in Aston Villa’s ambition to raise the maximum number of spectators above 50,000 in time for the 2028 European Championship, being co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, in which theirs is set to be one of the nine grounds staging games.

A raised capacity would also assist with Villa’s efforts to grow matchday revenues, helping them comply with profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Presently, a major issue impacting the ability to drive revenues is stadium capacity. West Ham United, for example, boast a ground that holds 20,000 more spectators than Villa Park’s 42,640.

Within draft papers seen by The Athletic are the details of the application. Pertinently, it indicates that the planning application has been recommended for approval by council planners and, therefore, work on extending the North Stand should be authorised.

Technically, the draft documents relating to Villa Park’s expansion could change or be dropped at any stage and will be confirmed shortly. The draft paper, though, has summarised: “The Birmingham Development Plan (BDP) supports the enhancement of the city’s sporting infrastructure and recognises the role of major sporting venues in contributing to Birmingham’s international profile, economy and social wellbeing.”

Villa’s vision has long been to create a 50,000-plus capacity stadium for themselves, increasing the maximum crowd size by 8,000 in time for Euro 2028. To meet that target, it is felt work would have to begin next summer at the latest.

The North Stand, behind one of the goals and opposite the famed Holte End, is integral to the redevelopment — the planning committee will decide whether to sanction plans to house more than 12,000 spectators there. Incremental additions to the three other sides of the ground will lead to the targeted capacity and, longer-term, to a 52,500-seat venue.

The Athletic has seen copies of redevelopment proposals, which show a higher overall structure and seating in the upper tier of the North Stand than currently exists, with a redesigned lower tier also creating additional capacity. The new North Stand will wrap around into the neighbouring main Trinity Stand.

“The current facade (front of the stand) would be retained, reclad and glazed, to modernise the existing structure,” the report says. “The existing roof would be replaced by a new structure that would appear to float above the stand, allowing the light to pass through.”

Building works would result in an extended North Stand “arrival plaza” for visiting teams to enter the stadium, as well as relocating present security operations into the revamped structure.  The club states that Villa Park attracts approximately 1.17million visitors annually, which contributes an estimated £41.1m ($55.3m) in local spending. Moreover, should the building work proceed — which would take around two years to complete — further economic benefits include the creation of 192 full-time jobs.

Villa note the measures required to support the stadium expansion. To help deal with the higher footfall and, consequently, an increased level of matchday traffic within a compact, urban area to the north of Birmingham’s city centre, there are several “soft measures” being considered.

Research indicates that 59 per cent of supporters for 3pm kick-offs arrive by car, 30 per cent on train and three per cent via bus. As a result, improvements are needed in off-site, off-street parking, as well as more effective rail and bus services. Taxi pick-up areas and more coach and bus routes to and from the ground are other examples of soft measures required.

Before the application was submitted, local residents and councillors held two meetings in May to discuss the planning application. Afterwards, a statement from the local “Community Engagement” group came out in support of the proposals.

There is pragmatism from all parties that, while a total and costly rebuild of Witton station is off the table, smaller changes to it would enable Villa Park’s capacity to be increased,