Aston Villa to take Villa Park fan action vs Chelsea amid latest concerns
Aston Villa will be trialling a singing section against Chelsea in a bid to improve Villa Park’s atmosphere.
The Athletic’s Aston Villa writer Jacob Tanswell has shared that 50 seats in the lower North Stand will be the area to trial the section against Chelsea on 4 March.
With Unai Emery‘s side sitting third in the Premier League table, you would be forgiven for expecting Villa Park to be a cauldron of noise at the moment.
It used to be that way, but for many Villa Park regulars, that’s just no longer the case this season, and now Villa chiefs appear to be actively searching for ways to change that.
Villa Park’s North Stand is sensible target for atmosphere boost
On its day, there aren’t many better-sounding stadiums than Villa Park anywhere in English football.
As such, it’s no wonder that there’s been such an emphasis on improving the current atmosphere in Villa’s iconic ground, as it really can be a weapon for them.
The North Stand is a pragmatic choice by Villa chiefs to search for an improvement to the noise levels, as it’s situated right next to the away section.
Sometimes, a noisy travelling support can really force home supporters to match their noise, and a bouncing North Stand opposite an always atmospheric Holte End would be hugely intimidating.
The North Stand is also going to be undergoing significant redevelopment over the next few years to increase its capacity to over 12,000.
So, planting atmosphere seeds in there early could see noise levels blossom in there once that redevelopment is done, giving birth to a real wall of noise behind that goal.
Villa’s North Stand hospitality move helped cause atmosphere issue
However, Aston Villa did make a decision back in the summer of 2024 in the North Stand that certainly didn’t help it generate a better atmosphere: hospitality.
As detailed via BirminghamLive at the time, Villa announced a new general admission plus season ticket within the original Villa Park prison cells, which included seats in the lower block of the North Stand.
Naturally, this moved fans out of their seats and made way for fans in hospitality, which isn’t exactly going to help when it comes to trying to generate an atmosphere in there.
So, whilst that decision may have helped bring in some extra revenue, it now looks a fairly silly one considering the current atmosphere problem and the apparent investment into fixing it in that stand.
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