Naming rights for Holte End up for grabs?

by Jo64 Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:38 pm

If the Daily Mirror is to be believed....sorry but I can't post the link

by **Trotters** Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:44 pm

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/aston-villa-owner-randy-lerner-4761769

Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner set to sell naming rights for Villa Park's Holte End

Dec 06, 2014 22:30 By Neil Moxley

The club have recently appointed a new chief executive who has been told to raise funds by selling the naming rights to each stand

Aston Villa are putting the naming rights for the Holte End up for grabs, Neil Moxley can exclusively reveal in the Sunday People.

The club is undertaking a major new sponsorship drive and one of the most iconic stands in English football could be given a new moniker.

Villa have recently installed a new chief executive, Tom Fox, and are recruiting a commercial director. And part of the brief was to raise funds through selling the naming rights of the stands at Villa Park.

The Holte End, which was once the largest terrace in English football holding 22,500 fans, would be the obvious starting point as it remains the favoured stand for the club’s hardcore support.

Owner Randy Lerner has a background in American sport where such deals are commonplace – although the Birmingham club has always maintained that the stadium itself will not undergo a name change.

Dave Woodhall, head toss-pot of the Horns and Vuvuzelas website and better fan than any of you said: “Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

“It wouldn’t bother me if we saw a new £20million striker banging in a goal at the LG Arena End, for example" he said, winking at the LG rep and pointing at their new 60 inch LED model.

“However, there is a section of our supporters who would be against it. But I'll have my band of sycophantic douchebags bully them into silence or threaten them physically" he possibly said.

by Villa_Dan Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:50 pm

Read the same article. I don't like it. Maybe I'm just being stuck in my ways but the Holte end has history and you don't see the Kop being renamed wit Liverfool's new expansion...

by Dave Hall Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:57 pm

The Holte held 30000, not 22500, and I was in there with 62500 in the ground.

by **Trotters** Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:58 pm

The insinuation that it'd pay for a new £20m striker is fantastically mental. That'd put the naming rights of Villa Park up there with what a Man City and Man Utd's grounds were valued at prior to Citeh doing the dodgy Etihad deal.

by Dave Hall Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:00 am

Lerner can fuck off. He is a twat who never shows his face. What happened to the knob head General? Another arsehole.

by Dave Hall Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:02 am

Fucking hell! I just saw Woodhall's name in that article. He never goes into a game but just poaches info off people. What a twat!

by **Trotters** Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:03 am

KnowFuckAll.

by **Trotters** Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:06 am

"Neil Moxley can exclusively reveal...."

Fox has leaked this to gauge the opinion of fans.

by Dave Hall Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:07 am

Edited.

by **Trotters** Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:08 am

The list is long but let's keep it on subject.

by Dave Hall Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:12 am

Trotters wrote:The list is long but let's keep it on subject.

Agreed. We mustn't slag the H&V mods and stooges in this thread. That can be done elsewhere. It is only a minority of them that are obnoxious anyway. Holte End must never be renamed the Woodhall End.

by KMitch Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:53 am

It will always be the Holte End to who it matters, i.e. us the fans, and if it can generate some money for better players, I'm all for it.

by EbeneezerGoode Sun Dec 07, 2014 1:16 am

Trotters wrote:“Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

“It wouldn’t bother me if we saw a new £20million striker banging in a goal at the LG Arena End, for example"

Is that bloke for real? Someone needs to explain to him that it won't work like that in the real world. There is no way that we would receive that much for renaming one stand, especially when that one stand is a name as long standing and well known as our famous Holte End. Where's the gain for a company in having their name on a stand when fans and probably even commentators and pundits will call it by its old name. I also sincerely doubt a blue chip firm like LG would do this deal. It would be an Asian betting firm noone has ever heard of behind it and we'd probably get far less for it than we get for, say, our shirt sponsorship. That is if a deal is done, Newcastle struggled to do a deal to rename St James Park.

I just hope that Tom Fox has a more realistic idea of how this would work than that Dave Woodhead chap.

by EbeneezerGoode Sun Dec 07, 2014 1:30 am

Any chance of a poll?

by **Trotters** Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:15 am

Poll is up.

by **Trotters** Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:35 am

To do this sort of thing in a way that benefits both parties, it needs to be a real balls-an'-all, wholistic approach. That is, something like Emirates or Etihad who have similarly named grounds over the world and back it up with other advertising that's driving a business that has the backing of a nation who are willing to spend stupid money to attract tourists, business, etc. Someone who will put enough money to change how we play football and have a positive effect on our history.

The Bovril Stand at Villa Park just isn't going to work for the sponsor and the fans would hate it.

Likewise, what would someone like LG get out of it? The way we play football, a big sign over a half-empty Holte that hasn't seen a goal in months saying "Life's Good" is going to backfire on the sponsor spectacularly. And, whilst a big company, they're not going to spend like an airline or someone like Red Bull. As such, the couple of million they put in will see the agent's of Vlaar and Delph racing to see who can get into Fox's office first to get the lion's share of it.

I think either Moxley is full of shit and has heard that Fox is interviewing for Commercial Directors (we know that much is true) but has added 2 and 2 and gotten 37 or the club is putting feelers out to gauge fans' reaction. Fox has been quoted before saying this sort of thing doesn't work on an old, established stadium so why the shift in mindset?

A big airline? That'd work.
A well-known IT brand? Yep.
A massive beverage company? Yep.

Anything else is really cringeworthy and the sponsor's name will be gone at the end of the contract anyway.

Villa need to start thing about the next big revenue earner, not something that has been done by everyone else already. Get ahead of the curve and really do something to make a difference to the club.

by DaveAV1 Sun Dec 07, 2014 7:27 am

Sot on Trotters. Besides there are 3 other stands that could be renamed without upsetting the fan base and have a better chance of the name being accepted and therefore used.
It's typical crap, groping for a story journalism, which contains lots of, could, might and maybe. As you say, hopefully Fox has got a less obvious and more innovative plan than the blindingly and half baked obvious.

by DaveAV1 Sun Dec 07, 2014 7:31 am

Training grounds feature in the press much more than they ever used to. Especially at the sharp end of transfer windows. I don't think renaming BMH would be a terrible plan to get some, though probably not a massive amount, of extra revenue. Especially as BMH is now such a great facility. The club can easily use the place more proactively in regard to media opportunities.

by Withes Sweatbands Sun Dec 07, 2014 8:02 am

Can't believe people are against this. We all come on here moaning about how far behind other sides we are and if this is true we are actually trying to do something about it. The holte will always be the holte to those that matter the fans. The only people who will call it the Cadbury holte end or the jaguar Land Rover stand are the press and sponsors If it means decent money coming in I'm all for it .... Credit to Tom fox if true and a no brainer too ..... In my opinion

by gdav Sun Dec 07, 2014 10:07 am

I can't see the point how often are the names of stands mentioned in the in press or on tv?? Not half as much as the ground or training ground as previously said.
We'd get fuck all revenue from renaming the stands anyway, would t be worth the fuss it would cause.
Trying to find a decent shirt sponsor would be a better place to start.

by The Utterer Sun Dec 07, 2014 10:56 am

So long as the club actually include the fans in their thinking

I.E NOT HAVING A SPONSORS NAME THAT CAUSES LOTS OF FANS, ESPECIALLY THE IMPRESSIONABLE YOUNGER VARIETY, TO HAVE TO SUFFER RIDICULE WHEN DISPLAYING IT.

My kid got teased that much about the new sponsors name on the kit that he refuses to wear it and wears one of my old ones instead!.. What a waste of £40+ that was!

So message to Tom Fox.. If this has to be done, which apparently it does to raise funds as our owner is not exactly forthcoming with a modern day upper half Premier League funding plan, please at least prevent the clueless numpties from renaming the Holte end the "Mary Berry" stand or "Nevascore .poo.uk" or something similar. Naming rights for Holte End up for grabs? 1715320296

Naming rights for Holte End up for grabs? 1715320296

by FoxyAV Sun Dec 07, 2014 12:42 pm

Will anyone here ever call it anything other than the Holte?

by River Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:04 pm

I'd have no problem with the renaming of the Doug Ellis, Trinity and North Stands. Stadium name should always be Villa Park, Holte End should always be the Holte End.

But the club does need to get smarter in terms of its commercial appeal and getting income. Sponsorship is a far better option than selling Benteke for example.

Ideal situation - Lerner sells to someone who knows how to accomplish this without selling the soul of the club and fans.

by villabromsgrove Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:20 pm

I think Tom Fox is brighter than this. Why sell The Holte End naming rights for a pittance, when he can sell the whole stadium naming rights for a much larger sum.

Selling individual stand naming rights is small time even with an historic stand like The Holte.

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