'It's vital to preserving the atmosphere of Villa Park'

David Michael, My Old Man Said

It was business as usual as Aston Villa secured their eighth consecutive home league win against an Everton team that Unai Emery would have probably hand-picked, if he could have chosen a team to play to help get his side back on track.

While Villa looked slick on the pitch, off it, Villa supporters witnessed the surreal spectacle of velvet ropes, concierge staff and laminates in the Holte End on the first game back at Villa Park. For some, this ‘Terrace View’ hospitality offering was an unsavoury sight.

In football, it's long been tradition in football that the main "kop" end behind the goal drives the atmosphere and is the stand that guards the working-class soul of the game, as hospitality and upselling gradually infiltrate other areas. The Holte End once stood proudly as Europe's biggest single stand "kop" end and a cornerstone of Villa Park's identity and the club itself.

While the club's commercial team has used Premier League benchmarking to justify back-to-back sizeable ticket price increases, it failed to benchmark this particular initiative. The Kop at Anfield or the Gallowgate End at Newcastle, certainly wouldn't consider offering hospitality. Spurs built a new stadium and purposely avoided hospitality in the South Stand. Meanwhile, even Manchester United have recently admitted to the errors of their way, announcing plans to remove hospitality from the Stretford End.

This isn't a sentimental perspective - it's vital to preserving the atmosphere of Villa Park, which faces greater gentrification when the North Stand - that recently hosted the stadium's cheapest seats - is rebuilt with a focus on various hospitality options.

I'm certain Emery doesn't want to manage in the Premier League in front of an atmosphere resembling a library. He tried it once before, and that didn't go too well for him.