Villa – Higher, Higher, Higher!

Randy Lerner will look at increasing the capacity of Villa Park if his takeover of Aston Villa is completed.

However he also knows that the current seats will have to be filled first – something that shouldn’t take long with Martin O’Neill and some money behind him!

Keith Harris, one of RAL’s advisors said: ‘There’s planning permission to increase Villa Park to 50,000, but last season the club struggled to fill the 42,0000 capacity they already have. It’s a grand stadium but it’s not quite in keeping with some of the other new innovations in football ground design. That’s not to say that it’s not a good stadium in its own right. There’s no point in looking too far forward. Randy doesn’t own it yet but when he does there’ll be some changes to stadium design which will hopefully be fan-supportive and fan-friendly.’

And following wild claims that Randy would look to move Villa Park or even merge with rival teams, Harris says ‘But no, he isn’t going to move the stadium. It’s not an accident that so many FA Cup semi-finals have been played there over the years. That says it all.’

Shareholders will also have been able to see assurances in the offer document that they aren’t looking to move Villa Park, just develop it.