Plans for new Villa Park North stand and 50,000 capacity set to be approved

Plans to rejuvenate a significant area of Villa Park are set to be approved. The major works will involve completely demolishing the North Stand in order to add another 7,400 seats, tipping the total capacity over 50,000.

The Trinity Road Stand will also undergo internal works to revamp the hospitality infrastructure and relocate the players’ tunnel to the corner of the pitch. Once the work is complete, Villa Park will be one of the highest-capacity stadiums in the Premier League and would feature heavily in Euro 2028, should the UK and Ireland’s bid be successful.

Aston Villa has long been planning these works and said the current North Stand is ‘in urgent need of upgrading’. Pending Birmingham City Council’s decision next Thursday (December 22), the club could break ground as early as the spring of 2023.

Key features of the redevelopment:

• Demolition and ‘state of the art’ rebuild of the North Stand including the club shop, academy building, security lodge and fencing on Witton Lane
• Extra seating will take the total capacity of Villa Park to 50,065
• Internal enhancements to the Trinity Road Stand including more food and drink options, hospitality upgrades, and better Wi-Fi
• Over 7,000 square metres of new public space along Witton Lane to improve the fan experience
• Changes to the car park layout with electric charging points installed
• Addition of 190 bicycle parking spots

Villa Park is one of the oldest and most prestigious stadiums in the country and has hosted international matches across three different centuries. The added capacity and improved facilities are hoped to boost the UK and Ireland’s bid to host the European Championships in 2028, with Turkey being the other major competition.

Improvements to Witton Station are also in the pipeline in relation to the Villa Park redevelopment, funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority. Transport chiefs will look at making trains more regular and improving access for passengers.

What has the city council said about the plans?

Local leaders have widely supported the plans. Lord Austin of Dudley, Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood, MP for Walsall North Eddie Hughes, Cllr Waseem Zaffar (Lab, Lozells), and West Midlands Mayor Andy Street have all written to the council in favour of the upgrade.

Andy Street wrote in his letter: “Villa Park is both a regionally and nationally important venue. Ongoing investments in new infrastructure, like Midland Metro and High-Speed Two, will further benefit from additionally created continual improvement of our local rail stations, giving the best ‘end to end’ public transport journeys possible in an integrated manner.

“Please accept this letter as confirmation of my support for this proposal. It is in all our interests to help ensure this exciting transformation happens in ample time for Euro 2028 to be hosted at Villa Park.”

The redevelopment has also gone down well with the fanbase. Online fan website Villa Talk held a survey, with 286 out of 287 responders voting in support of the scheme.

The application is set to be discussed by city chiefs on Thursday, December 22 at 11am. The recommendation from officers is one of approval – the decision will be published shortly after the meeting.