Aston Villa

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

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Aston Villa’s statement announcing that the general admission tickets for the Bayern Munich game had rapidly sold out included a justification of their prices, attributed to the club’s president of business operations, Chris Heck.

It acknowledged the upset felt by supporters, but sought to set out a reasonable case to explain why prices are necessary. Unpalatable though it sounds, the club does have a credible defence, but this policy comes with a long-term cost that is hard to quantify. Goodwill is a feeling - not a number.

Villa did not offer an apology, but diverted the blame: "Achieving our sporting ambitions while complying with financial stability regulations requires difficult decisions."

With Villa’s Champions League adventure now almost at hand, Villa may not have expected to be on the defensive with their public relations, but here we are.

The message is hard to sweeten, so they served it straight. They accuse the financial regulations which – to quote Heck again – "prohibit owners from covering shortfalls to finance this ambition, so we need to generate as much revenue as possible, through sponsorships, merchandise, and ticket sales".

It is a blunt but logical explanation: we have the money to make Villa great, but we are not allowed to spend it, so sorry folks, this round is on you. We do not make the rules.

This is quite hard to argue against, if the alternative is that Villa should simply spend less and by implication lower their ambitions, which nobody really wants.

And, of course, the Bayern game sold out. Unless Villa fall out of the running very quickly, the other group games may well sell out too, such is the obvious pent-up demand to see the club’s return to Europe’s elite level.

The statement noted the "depth of passion" expressed, and the withering commentary offered on this page by David Michael from My Old Man Said will speak for many.

It is not a universal view, though. There is evidence on social media to show that there are also Villa supporters who have no complaints about paying a premium price for a premium product.

So, is this fine? On the club’s terms it probably is for now, but Villa must be careful. Assuming that selling all the tickets means all the buyers are content would be a fallacy, and taking their future goodwill for granted even more so.

Villa are right to say that these decisions are difficult. But, a section of your fanbase finding cause to feel their loyalty is being abused stores up trouble for the future.

Listen to full commentary of Aston Villa v Everton at 17:30 on Saturday on BBC Radio WM

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We asked for your views on Richard Sutherland's BBC Sport 'Fan's Voice' where he said that Aston Villa should move to a new stadium in order to compete at the top level of English and European football.

Here are some of your comments:

Gary: We should never leave Villa Park with all its history and heritage. The only option is to expand Villa Park even if roads have to be diverted etc.

Alan: Villa Park is an iconic British football stadium and plays a fundamental part in the fans love of the club. While Richard puts forward a robust argument for change, the practicalities of a move are not so easy. No doubt Villa need to accommodate more support but a 60,000 capacity at B6 is possible.

Jon: Whilst Villa Park holds so many great memories for me, if the club want to progress then I think like so many other clubs we have to move to a new larger stadium with better transport etc. The game has changed and we cannot be limited by old infrastructure.

Christopher: It's a 'no' from me. If we walk away from Aston, we walk away from our identity. We shouldn't have to do that just to 'keep up'. And any suggestion that having a bigger stadium will bring down prices is for the birds. The more money we make, the more money we spend, not save!

Kim: The history and heritage of Aston, starting by playing in a local park and the successes and memories at Villa Park are too strong to leave behind. I would be gutted if we moved, having been an avid fan since 1969 and my grandad before me.

Matt: The biggest question is, where? I can't see a site big enough being available in the city centre so the next obvious place is by Birmingham airport and the NEC, which already has excellent road, rail and air transport links, with plenty of land around it to develop. However, even if any plans looked good, do we want to lose our inner city heritage and home?

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Since their return to the top flight in 2019, Aston Villa are unbeaten in their 10 league meetings with Everton (W7 D3), keeping seven clean sheets and conceding just three goals in that run.

The Blues have lost four of their past five Premier League games at Villa Park, though they did win three of their previous four visits before that.

In the latest episode of You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker, the Manchester City right-back reflects on his time playing at Aston Villa.

Walker joined on loan from Tottenham during the 2010-11 Premier League season.

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

Richard Sutherland
Fan writer

What do you think of Richard's take on moving on from Villa Park? Tell us here, external

You can hear more from Richard Sutherland at The Villa Park Podcast, external

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Aston Villa's president of business operations, Chris Heck, has defended the pricing for the Champions League, as he revealed general admission tickets for next month's match against Bayern Munich at Villa Park have sold out.

Villa have been criticised after announcing last week that adult tickets for their four home games in the new 36-team league format will be priced at £85, £94 and £97, with season ticket-holders getting discounted rates of £70, £79 and £82 respectively.

"We recognise and understand the depth of passion felt among fans and their recent frustration around ticket pricing," Heck wrote in a statement, external.

"Achieving our sporting ambitions while complying with financial stability regulations requires difficult decisions.

"Financial Fair Play rules prohibit owners from covering shortfalls to finance this ambition, so we need to generate as much revenue as possible through sponsorships, merchandise, and ticket sales to ensure that we can keep the club where it rightfully belongs - competing (and winning) at the top of English and European football.

"Additionally, we want to thank our fans for their patience and for their loyal support while we do our utmost to grow the club as a business, and ensure we are all doing our part to support our players on the pitch both home and away.

"We are committed to ensuring the club’s enduring long-term success both on and off the field."

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Aston Villa remain in contract talks with striker Rory Wilson as they try to keep the Scotland Under-21 international at the club.

The 18-year-old's deal expires at the end of the season and he could leave for just 270,000 euros (£228,000) compensation if he moves to a European club.

Villa have tabled several contract offers of five years and want to get a deal done before January, when Wilson is able to speak to clubs outside of England and could sign a pre-contract agreement.

Several European sides, including Bayer Leverkusen, are believed to be interested in the forward.

Wilson scored 46 goals in 52 games for club and country last season but is yet to make a senior appearance for Villa.

He has scored once and has one assist in three Premier League 2 matches in 2024-25.

Wilson joined Villa from Scottish Premiership giants Rangers in 2022. Training compensation for a category one club is worth 90,000 euros a year, meaning Wilson could leave for less than an initial 300,000 euros to a side on the continent, as part of cross-border transfer rules.

Villa have previously generated good profit from those in the academy and sold Omari Kellyman for £19m to Chelsea this summer, just two years after signing him from Derby for £600,000, while Tim Iroegbunam also left to join Everton for £9m.

Aston Villa turned down 40 offers for forward Jhon Duran during the summer transfer window. (Mirror), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

David Michael
Fan writer

Last season, in his first meeting with supporters, Aston Villa's new Business President, Chris Heck, boasted about his ability to secure major sponsorships. He later emphasised that these deals would be key to keeping ticket prices down, and in some cases, even reducing them.

A former Villa CEO had once told the same supporter group, “Don’t judge me by what I say, but judge me by what I do.” Heck’s approach was certainly more brash, but even if he was playing to the gallery, breaking the Premier League's top-six status quo would require a bullish attitude. Villa’s ambitions were always going to involve cracking a few eggs along the way.

Repeated match ticket price hikes and the rapid increase to 5,000 hospitality class seats were the first of those cracked shells.

When Unai Emery guided Villa into the Champions League, the commercial landscape expanded significantly. The club was set to receive millions more on several fronts, and the potential for lucrative sponsorships grew immensely.

Yet, despite the sales of Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby, the club’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) situation continues to be leveraged like Orwell’s "perpetual war" in 1984—stirring tribal fervour against PSR to justify any and every ticket price hike.

The eye-watering prices for Champions League tickets, however, have crossed a line.

Last season, Newcastle United—a club in a similar situation—charged member fans £60 for Champions League tickets, while season ticket holders paid £55. This season, most Villa members will pay £94 or £97 for a ticket (£79 for equivalent season ticket holders), while Celtic fans can secure a seat for £46 if they buy a four-match bundle. Liverpool fans won’t pay over £61, and Manchester City fans £62.50 for standard seats.

As Aston Villa enjoys its 150th anniversary, with the excitement of Champions League football on the horizon, the club risks souring that celebration by exploiting supporters' wallets and alienating those who can no longer afford to attend. The Villa Park faithful are not a bank and should never be a financial fall-back for the club's commercial shortcomings and hot air.

Find more from David Michael at My Old Man Said, external

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Last week we asked you what nobody is talking about at your club but should be. A number of your replies focused on Villa Park and whether an upgrade or change is needed in order to satisfy demand. Here's what our football reporter Nick Mashiter thinks about the issues you raised...

There is no doubt a Villa Park redevelopment will help Aston Villa move to the next level. The progress of the last two years has put the club on a steep upward trajectory and a revamped stadium would be part of that.

Yet while they have planning permission to redevelop the North Stand, president of business operations Chris Heck put the project on hold at the start of the year.

He was concerned about muting an atmosphere which can give Villa a home edge, given the potential - which was realised - of Champions League football this season.

It would have reduced capacity to 36,000 from the start of this season until 2025-26, which could have handicapped the team going into a historic campaign.

Work on the North Stand would have added less than 8,000 seats, based on a new 50,000 capacity, but with the costs and upheaval it could have been detrimental to Villa's progress this season for a fairly minimal increase.

Transport links, an external factor, also have to be considered given any increase in capacity would put additional strain on a small station at Witton.

The problems which hit Villa's opening home game against Arsenal, as fans struggled to get into the stadium after teething problems with new contactless tickets, are just a small example of what could go wrong as the club upgrades the ground.

Heck called the plans "ambitious and thoughtful" which, oddly enough, is what Aston Villa need to be after the criticism of their Champions League prices and the upset caused by the introduction of the Terrace View in the Holte End last season.

Upgrading the stadium is important for the club to maintain, and improve, its place challenging in the Premier League. Villa have already shown they are willing to tread lightly when it comes to the whole project, even if there have been some missteps along the way.

Slobodan Maricic
BBC Serbia journalist

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For years and years - basically since former Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic retired - Serbia have had problems finding an optimal solution for the right-back position.

At Euro 2024, that part of the pitch was filled by midfielders.

But a couple of months down the line, that issue finally seems to be solved, after Aston Villa's Kosta Nedeljkovic debuted in the Nations League.

The 18-year-old started both games against Spain and Denmark and made a quite good impression.

"Nedeljkovic was playing for the first time and it looked like the kid's been with us for many years," said Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic said after a 0-0 draw with European champions Spain.

"Congratulations to him on the debut. It's an important date for every player."

Only a year ago, Nedeljkovic played for Graficar, Red Star's development team, in the Serbian second tier. His career has skyrocketed.

He became part of the Belgrade first-team squad, played in the Champions League - and earned his transfer to the Premier League. But the international call-up was still missing.

"He was supposed to be with us in Germany, but injuries happened and he lost continuity. At one point, we didn't even know where he was," added Stojkovic.

"Now he rose to the occasion and justified the role of a debutant.

"He fulfilled everything I asked of him - to be good in defence, but also use his pace on the other side of the pitch and send balls into the penalty area."

That is something a proper right-back should do - and Nedeljkovic does seems like one.

The Premier League's summer transfer window saw clubs spend almost £2bn in all.

Data from Footballtransfers.com, external shows the biggest net spend by a club - that’s all the money spent minus all that came in from sales - was Brighton.

The Seagulls had a net spend of £153.5m.

On the flip side, the club who generated the biggest net summer profit on transfers was Manchester City, who made £115.8m, thanks in large part to the sale of Julian Alvarez.

Aston Villa had a net spend of £5.9m.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked you to tell us one thing - good or bad - related to Aston Villa that nobody else is talking about.

Here are some of your replies:

Ian: There has been no chat about expanding Villa Park to the 50,000-plus stadium we so obviously need to cater for the demand. It will also be required when these islands next host the Euros in four years or for a future World Cup. If the club needs additional revenue, that is the obvious place to start rather than hiking Champions League and season ticket prices.

David: "We're going to need a bigger boat." Villa Park is fantastic and full of character, but rival clubs are increasing their capacities to north of 60,000. Villa Park won't stretch that far and we can't afford to lose revenue by closing stands to build. Is it time to be really ambitious?

Sam: I don't think anyone is talking about how bad the deal for selling Douglas Luiz was. We made a bit of money, got two players in exchange, but then they were then sent out on loan! That doesn't help during our very busy schedule of fixtures coming up! In Emery we trust, but I don't think this transfer exchange went our way at all, other than resting our PSR concerns.

Kevin: I don't think we have an adequate replacement for Moussa Diaby yet. Aaron Ramsey and Emi Buendia will need to get back to their best quite soon because, if not, it may be a problem. Overall, top six is achievable.

Keithy: Nobody's talking about Villa as competitors. I think they might be dark horses for the title. They were extremely competitive last season with a very small squad. While the overall strength of the first team is very similar, squad depth is much better and Villa have some very exciting youngsters.

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Uefa has fined Aston Villa €60,000 (£50,000) for late submission of financial information.

The Club Financial Control Body set financial targets for the 2023-24 season and, while Villa met the threshold, they have been sanctioned for failing to deliver their information on time.

Ligue 1 side Marseille have also been fined €20,000 (£17,000) for late paperwork.

Aston Villa have been in the headlines this week after Champions League ticket prices were announced, with fan groups labelling the club "out of touch" for charging up to £97 for the games.

We've also asked you where you think Villa will finish, based on the start to the season and how the transfer window unfolded.

But what's the one thing - good or bad - that nobody else is talking about?

It can be tactics, personnel or something off the field - so tell us over here, external

Image source, PA Media

We asked you for your views on how Aston Villa have started the season - and where you thought they might finish.

In our Wednesday poll, the majority felt Villa were on course for European football once again, but with almost exactly the same proportion predicting top four to those suggesting fifth place.

Here are some of your comments:

Geoff: We have improved on last season, the midfield is more balanced and more of a threat going forward. So, I'm very satisfied with things so far.

Kash: Top four again and reaching the knockout phase of the Champions League is what we're aiming for. We have set the bar high and must continue our progression from last season.

David: We have some good additions to the squad (Amadou Onana, Ian Maatsen) and fringe players are proving their worth when they get on the pitch (Jhon Duran, Aaron Ramsey), Ollie Watkins will come good in a few weeks, and we have Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia coming back soon. It will still be tough, but we're continuing to improve under Unai Emery. We'll make the Champions League knockouts and make the top six in the Premier League.

Damo: Our transfer window was more about juggling finances than anything else, as evidenced by several of our incomings going straight out on loan. Onana and Maatsen will be great signings but ovverall, our squad isn’t much bigger or stronger,. However, people forget that Emery catapulted us to fourth while getting to a European semi-final last year. I think we’ll finish fifth.

Mat: Villa needed to bring in back-up and competition for Watkins. Duran has got Villa out of trouble but he is a change-of-tactics forward and doesn't fit Emery's core style. The additions over January and summer have added depth and, while Douglas Luiz leaving was a shame, I think Villa have depth. However, I do predict Europe will put too much strain on this Villa team.

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"Disappointed" and "livid" were two of the words used by Aston Villa supporters on BBC Radio WM's Football Phone-In on Wednesday to describe their feelings about ticket prices to watch the club's home games in the Champions League this season.

The conversation continued on Thursday's Breakfast programme, with Simon O'Regan of the Holtecast podcast telling presenter Sarah Julian that the prices had left him "really shocked and annoyed" and he described it as "nothing but opportunistic greed from the football club".

He said: "My ticket will cost me £79 as a season ticket holder, and if I didn't have a season ticket and wanted to sit where I currently sit, I'd be looking at £97 or £94 I think it is, which is just disgraceful."

Asked if he would pay that price, he added: "This is the thing - people like me will.

"Where my anger comes from is - I know I'm in a fortunate position that I have a job that allows me the disposable income to spend the money on these tickets.

"But the problem is that there will be loyal supporters - it's not that long ago we were in the Championship losing at home on a Tuesday night to Barnsley - and those fans who were there then, there will be a number of them who, now we're good, are being priced out of the game. They're the people I feel sorry for."

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Aston Villa are being criticised for the pricing of home tickets for their return to the Champions League.

Unai Emery's side will host Bayern Munich, Bologna, Juventus and Celtic at Villa Park in their return to Europe's top club competition for the first time in 41 years.

What has happened?

Villa announced on Wednesday that adult tickets for their four home matches in the new 36-team league format will be priced at £85, £94 and £97.

Season ticket-holders will get discounted rates of £70, £79 and £82 respectively.

What has the response been?

Aston Villa Supporters' Trust (AVST) said it met with the club towards the end of the last season to discuss potential Champions League ticket prices.

AVST said it "made clear pricing should be no higher than that of a Category A game" if Villa qualified, which they did by finishing fourth in the Premier League.

Villa's top Category A ticket price for the 2024-25 Premier League season is £92, while the cheapest in that tier is £55.

The equivalent of that £55 ticket for a Champions League home game at Villa Park for an adult without a season ticket and any concession will be £85 - an increase of 55%.

"For the club to announce Champions League ticket prices well above this season's category A is extremely disappointing," added AVST.

The Football Supporters' Association called Villa's ticket prices "truly eye-watering".

How do the prices compare?

Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City are the other three Premier League sides competing in the Champions League this year.

Liverpool's adult home ticket prices range from £30 to £61, Manchester City's from £37.50 to £62.50 and Arsenal's from £74.30 to £106.80, though the Gunners include Champions League home tickets in their season-ticket price.

Villa's equivalent range is £70 to £97.

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa midfielder Amadou Onana has been nominated for the Premier League player of the month award for September.

The Belgium international midfielder has made a fine start to life at Villa after his summer move from Everton, already equaling his goal tally from the whole of 2023-24 with two in his first three matches.