Dan Plumley: Aston Villa value will increase with Villa Park expansion
We’re delighted to welcome football finance expert Dr Daniel Plumley as our exclusive columnist, each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Aston Villa
Dan Plumley has insisted that expanding Villa Park will only increase the valuation of Aston Villa with the economic returns increasing in turn.
It comes after Forbes included the Villans in their 20 most valuable football clubs list, valuing them at $750million, roughly translating to just over £647million.
The Finance Expert admitted that the value of the real estate is not included in that list, so expanding that as well as staying in the Premier League will see that valuation figure increase even further.
“Absolutely,” he exclusively told Villa News.
“Even that Forbes valuation is not too far away, but when you look at the stadium, what Forbes do is include the economics of the stadium but not the value of the real estate itself.
“If Villa expand the stadium, then that value will be higher in the future because the economic return is far greater. Certainly for Villa, in that model and valuation, you would expect the value will increase with stadium expansion, but also if they stay in the Premier League.”
Aston Villa have released CGI images of their proposed plans for the expansion already, with the club confirming that they would be submitted at the end of August.
Villa Park would be increased to over 50,000 capacity, creating a “world-class” venue to allow the club to challenge at the very top it was shared.
Christian Purslow confirmed a hugely positive response to plans from the local community, so hopefully that is shared and the redevelopment can get started – let’s raise that value.
In other Aston Villa news, Paul Merson says the club have cup finals to come with Gerrard under pressure