Aston Villa stadium plans 'incredible' says club operations director Ian Dimmock
Aston Villa operations director Ian Dimmock has hailed the future plans for Villa Park as 'incredible'.
The club has previously signalled its intentions to increase the ground's capacity to 60,000, should they secure promotion back to the top flight in the future.
Discussions with Birmingham City Council have already taken place and though Villa bosses have stressed the project remains at a very early stage, there is a recognition the ground must eventually be expanded if owner Tony Xia’s long-term goal of making the club one of the European elite is to be achieved.
The last major development at Villa Park was the building of the new Trinity Road Stand in 2000, which brought the ground's capacity up to 42,785.
Dimmock has offered his thoughts on the plans for the ground, as well as highlighting the importance that a new pitch is installed this summer.
“When I saw the plans for the first time, I was genuinely speechless. I thought ‘wow, this is absolutely incredible’." Dimmock said, via the Aston Villa website.
"That showed to me the level of commitment our chairman has for Aston Villa.
“It will be awesome. Villa Park, as a modern venue, would be a shining light in terms of stadia within the UK.”
But whilst plans for expansion at B6 lie in the realms of potential promotion, changes to the playing surface are set to get underway in the summer, regardless of Villa's league status.
Signed off by Villa's bosses over the week, a new pitch will be introduced to the stadium, along with necessary changes to the drainage system, which was installed 50 years ago.
The Villa Park pitch has previously won awards for its quality, although the turf has seen noticeable deterioration this season thanks in part to the weather and also the increased number of fixtures being played over the course of a Championship season compared to that in the Premier League.
"Not only will we be getting a state of the art desso pitch, we are also putting in a new irrigation system." he said.
"That means we can get more water on the pitch when we need to.
“The final league position determines whether we have a 10 week build time or a 15 week build time.
“Is it vital we do it? Absolutely. It’s 12 years old and past the end of its 10-year natural life cycle. To maintain it to a high standard is what everyone wants and it’s becoming increasingly difficult with the current pitch.
“I think this was the only option. The grounds team do an incredible job. To get that pitch to what it looks like on match-day from what it’s left like after a match-day is unbelievable."
