As the close season progresses, supporters grow increasingly impatient. Rumors and links appear and fade. Fees are mentioned, deals seem imminent. And then they don’t happen.
What’s going on? That’s what fans want to know. Even though they know at the same time that things are going on, and that we won’t know until we do know. That is, until something concrete is out. Otherwise, Villa are very tight-lipped in the mold of our Chairman, Randy Lerner.
Of course, Alex McLeish has only had the players back for two days, hardly enough time to evaluate the squad. We do seem to be in for Given, given the persistent rumors, and perhaps Parker and N’Zogbia.
But dear old Dave Whelan has thrown a spanner in that particular works with his £20m valuation.
So come on, Randy!
Aston Villa supporters would very much like to hear from Lerner. They’d like to know what he has in mind. They’d like to know there’s some sort of plan, and that there is some money to spend.
All this quite understandable. Reassurance is always welcome. But statements are only issued as necessary at Villa, like when a deal is done. In the meantime, it’s all guesswork.
We all know that however much we’d like to hear something from Lerner, we probably won’t. And I’m okay with that, because I don’t really know what Lerner is supposed to say. Whether he’s pocketing money, planning to sell, making life hard for McLeish, or getting ready to throw £60m into the ring, it can only all sound the same.
Which means I’m not really looking to hear anything from him. He’ll only be criticized anyway. McLeish will be doing the talking. That’s the way Lerner operates, and we should be getting used to it by now.
That’s great
So, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. There will be deals, or there won’t. There’ll be exciting signings, or there won’t. We’ll draw conclusions from whatever business is done by the start of the season. We’ll start drawing those conclusions beforehand, anyway. It gives us something to do, if nothing else.
There is one thing you can do to help, though, and that’s go out and buy your season ticket, if you can. Times are tough, I know. However, if you’re on the fence and thinking you need to see something before you lay down your hard-earned cash, I’d encourage you to plunk down for the ticket(s) anyway if you can. And then cheer the lads on.
Here’s why
If we want the club to push on and have a better bottom line, a full Villa Park is vital, especially with the FFP rules coming into effect. A full Villa Park means the club can realistically consider expansion, further increasing turnover. Beyond the money, a full Villa Park can be loud and intimidating. It bolsters the players, convinces them they’re playing for a big club where the supporters are behind them. They’ll dig deeper. And other players will see this and hear this.
While tickets may seem rather expensive, in the grand scheme of sports, Aston Villa season tickets represent a great value. For the Denver Broncos, for example, 10 games will cost you anywhere from $420 to $1100. And these aren’t box seats and there’s a waiting list. So, $42 to $110 a game, whatever your age. And this is in a 77,000-seat stadium. Club-level tickets are $1500-$3400. A single-game “party suite” is $8500 for 14 people, including a food and beverage package.
Dispensing with exchange rates, let’s say pounds and dollars have the same relative value in their own markets. At Aston Villa, you could bring a young child for as low as £80 for 19 games, and have yourself the “best” seats for £580. That works out to £4.21 per game up to £30.53. A family under 16 is £1000, £250 per ticket, or £13.16 per game per person.
You can’t touch that in the States. The most expensive season tickets at Villa cost less per game then the cheapest season tickets in Denver. The number of games is different, but you get the idea. Even if there were only half the games, the most expensive regular ticket at Villa would be £61.
Villa’s ticket prices represent a fair value in EPL terms, as well (2010/2011 figures…I know there are changes for this season, but I couldn’t quickly find a handy list all in one place):
Arsenal – £893 – £1,825
Chelsea – £550 – £1,210
Spurs – £650 – £1,175
Newcastle – £330 – £975
Man Utd – £513 – £931
West Ham – £585 – £830
Sunderland – £395 – £845
Liverpool – £680 – £785
Everton – £443 – £631
Wolves – £522 – £630
Stoke City – £399 – £599
Birmingham – £360 – £580
Aston Villa – £350 – £550
Man City – £420 – £515
Blackpool – £382 – £440
Bolton – £369 – £399
Blackburn – £224 – £393
Wigan – £250 – £295
You might feel that you shouldn’t line Lerner’s pockets when you disagree with his decisions. There just might not be the money. These decisions aren’t mine to make or judge. But all things considered, it is good value in terms of the amount of entertainment, especially if we can at least assume that McLeish’s team will be harder to beat. So give it a think. Lerner’s obviously not being terribly greedy when it comes to tickets. If we want to be ambitious, one of the ways fans can lead is by filling the park and giving the club more money—which allows more spending to fuel that ambition. We have to think big to be big.
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