It’s always interesting to see how football clubs reach out and embrace their local community. As more and more mega rich owners run football clubs from the other side of the world, how much of a connection to the local area is really felt? In this article, I look at new Aston Villa owner Tony Xia who is expected to buy a property and spend a great deal of time in Bimingham over the coming few years. He’s already spoken of some ambitious plans to rejuvenate the local area. I look at some opportunities that might tempt him during his tenure at Villa Park.
When Tony Xia spoke about his joy at buying Aston Villa from Randy Lerner, he revealed some very ambitious targets. Returning the club to the Premier League within one season is his immediate goal and only then can plans be put in place for the restoration of Aston Villa as one of the top six clubs in England and to win the European Champions League trophy. Xia wouldn’t be content to rest there either. He wants Villa to become one of the top 3 clubs in world football. Whether you think that is pie in the sky talk or showing the type of ambition that Villa owners have lacked in the past is open for debate, but you can’t reach much higher in terms of targets. Xia also mentioned the possibility of building a football museum and theme park to attract tourists from China and India. Former Chairman Steve Hollis and outgoing owner Randy Lerner both spoke about Xia’s plans to regenerate the club and the local area. It got me thinking about Aston Villa’s role in the local community and what future plans could be put in place.
Only a Birmingham City fan could call Villa Park “A collection of sheds”. It’s certainly never been that. When you look on google maps and check out the street view of English football grounds then there are precious few better sights than Villa Park. There are so many identikit football stadiums that are sadly lacking in history, class character or charm. Many modern stadiums look as though they have just been dumped on an industrial estate without any thought whatsoever for logistics or aesthetics. They lack soul. Villa Park is very different. Everything about Villa Park screams “Class”. It’s a traditional and historical football ground that -even with a few faults (the dated North Stand and the tragic loss of the old Trinity Road Stand) – is one of the very best that English football can offer. Aston Park facing the ground and the old Aston Parish Church, in the shadow of Villa Park add to the history and charm.
But the Aston area of Birmingham is not one of the safer or more desirable parts of the city. The crime rate is higher than the city average and street gangland battles between the Burger Bar Boys and the Johnson Crew still dominate local folklore. There is a high number of social housing (over 14% the Birmingham average) and purpose built blocks of flats (also over 14% the Birmingham average).
The largest ethnic group in Aston are Asian (49.8%) and one of Randy Lerner’s ambitions was to try and reach out to diverse communities in Birmingham and encourage them through the Villa Park turnstiles. But it’s proved to be a very difficult task. Many Asian people have felt reluctant to embrace football because of the high profile troubles of the 1970’s and 1980’s. There is also the uncomfortable truth that many Asian people have felt deeply ostracised by football and the culture that surrounds it. There is also the severe shortage of role models.
My own view is that Villa could – and should – reach out on a regular basis to the local community. Get the kids involved, build up relationships with the schools, find out the issues around the community and what makes people tick, gain trust and win hearts. All of this will take time, effort and determination. But the biggest problem to overcome in my view is sheer economics. If you live in a deprived working class area then how are you going to afford to attend matches at Villa Park? And without attending matches then how do you develop a real love for a club? It’s a vicious circle and doesn’t come with easy solutions. There is also the issue of cultural and sporting identity to assess.
The loss of successful restaurant project VMF was a big blow. It was largely run by young apprentices from under-privileged backgrounds and some of the produce used was grown in allotments run by the club. Project VMF was one of Birmingham’s highest rated restaurant’s on TripAdvisor. The scheme was a five year project that simply ran its course..but there is clearly an “appetite” for a permanent replacement. Not only did Aston Villa change the lives of many young people and offer them a fantastic career opportunity but the local Birmingham community were also enjoying visiting the restaurant to eat excellent local food at a reasonable price.
I am sure that the long relationship between Aston Villa and Acorns Children’s Hospice will continue. Over the years Villa have highlighted the vital role that Acorns plays in providing care and support to local life limited or life threatened babies, children and young people under the age of 18, and their families, across the West Midlands. In a groundbreaking act of philanthropy by Randy Lerner, Villa allowed Acorns pride of place on the Villa jerseys (2008-2010) and in doing so sacrificed a potential £2M commercial sponsorship deal.
Here are some ideas on how Tony Xia could invest and reach out to the local community:
[1] Sport and Leisure Centre/Concert arena
Many of you will remember Aston Villa Leisure Centre (latterly named The Aston Arena). I think it’s a big shame that a 4-6000 capacity venue isn’t in Aston anymore. Artists like Blur, Pulp, The Beautiful South and Paul Weller played here. It looked a little dated near the end and the acoustics were never particularly good but could a new modern mid-sized arena be built? It could transform the area, bring more artists into Birmingham, serve the local community with state of the art fitness and gym equipment and house sporting events such as boxing. Could this become another income source for the club?
[2] Holte Pub
Randy Lerner spent over £4M of his own cash into restoring the Holte Pub back to its Victorian glory in 2007. The development included Victorian tiled flooring, new windows featuring stained glass and leaded lights in keeping with the building’s original feature. But a lack of customers has meant that the pub is mainly open on matchdays. It seems a shame. It’s a beautiful looking building but as many Villa fans have told me, it’s just not that pleasant to visit a pub in this part of the city of an evening during the week..”A bit dodgy of an evening” seems to be a fairly constant remark! It seems wasted in its current state. A members only club? Improving lighting, parking, having theme evenings, reducing costs? I’m sure Tony Xia will want to see more value from the Holte Pub.
[3] New Social Club/Community Space
The Holte pub is your traditional Villa boozer, restaurant VMF your place to eat out – how about a new social club and community hub? A place to get together for Villa forums, quiz nights, meetings, where Villa bloggers, vloggers and supporters groups can meet up and share ideas, charity functions can take place, bands play live..a real hive of Aston Villa activity. I love the idea of fans being able to come together, mingle, share ideas etc. Yearly membership could be offered to help support the venue. The social club could also become an important venue for the local Police to hold meetings, bridge trust within the community and to work with the club to ensure Villa Park and the surrounding areas are as safe as possible for supporters and visitors. It goes back to what I was saying earlier about the club reaching out and fighting out what the big local issues are and trying to offer some support where possible. There’s no reason why a number of night classes can’t be offered at this venue too. We are often called a family and a more active and social family could be achievable.
[4] LBGT Supporters Group
There has been a very pleasing increase in the number of LGBT fan groups around the country in recent years. These have been endorsed and officially supported by the clubs. Groups like Stonewall and footballvhomophobia have been working hard with the FA to try and tackle the huge issue of homophobia within the game. There’s still a very long way to go. Kick It Out and the Football Association both have apps/facilities where homophobic abuse can be reported. Gay Football Supporters Network provides umbrella for nine EPL fan groups – Gay Gooners (Arsenal), Proud Lilywhites (Spurs), Canal Street Blues (Manchester City), Rainbow Toffees (Everton), LFC LGBT (Liverpool), Pride of Irons (West Ham), Proud and Palace (Crystal Palace) – and there are more groups in the Championship and the leagues below. There were talks about an Aston Villa group being set up early last year but nothing seems have happened since.
Some people may shrug and ask “Why do gay people need their own groups?”.
The answer to this is clear. There is still a huge issue with homophobia and football. The problem is significant enough that football fans from the LGBT community feel they need representation and protection. Having the reassurance of ‘safety in numbers’ can encourage more LGBT supporters to attend football matches.
A report was published in 2013 by the Brighton & Hove Albion Supporters’ Club (BHASC) and the Gay Football Supporters’ Network (GFSN) that showed the scale of the problem. The report showed that Brighton fans had been subjected to homophobic abuse by at least 72% of opponents during the season that ranged from mild to severe. You only have to twitter search terms like “Brighton Faggots” to see the disgusting abuse that exists (replace the words ‘Queer’ and ‘Faggot’ with racist terms and you would see that the action taken would be far more severe). Villa have an international fan base and our ex-player Thomas Hitzlsperger came out as gay after he had retired from the game to a – largely – positive response. The club could really lead the way in this area and do a lot more to tackle the issue. I hope they do.
[5] Supporters and Dialogue
Engaging openly and honestly with supporters is crucial. We aren’t “Customers”and want to feel that our voice is being heard. We are the lifeblood and beating heart of the club and will exist long after owners, staff and players have left.
I don’t always think Villa bloggers and groups have been very nice to each other. There is a fairly large diversity of blogs and groups that exist and too much petty bickering at times (especially on Villa social media which can be a very depressing experience). Once breaks are formed, they are rarely repaired. Maybe this was more noticed last season because it was such a milestone in terms of general awfulness on and off the pitch and things just came to a head. But there have been many incidences of Villa fans fighting each other at home and away games.
Let’s hope that with a new era at the club, we can all try and get along a little better. There has been a suggestion that it’s the same old same old when it comes to fan dialogue with the club and I agree with that to an extent. I think the club needs to reach out to a much broader selection of the fan base and not just the same self-appointed spokespeople.
It’s often been said that the club needs supporter representation at board room level. Not all fans agree on all issues of course so it’s difficult to see how this can be implemented to everyone’s satisfaction. But one thing is for sure – the club needs to reach out much more than it has done in recent years – and improve general PR. Dr Tony Xia has already began this process by regular use of his twitter account. The connection between the club and its supporters has returned.
Rome wasn’t built in a day and I am sure Tony Xia and his team will look closely at all areas of the club and the community of Aston and Birmingham. He will know that a great and successful Aston Villa will go hand in hand with investment, wise decision making, elements of extreme kindness, perhaps some philanthropy and with the club and its fan base working in harmony to achieve ever greater success for our beloved club.
Keep The Faith Villa 