By Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has admitted the club’s North Stand rebuild is a genuine handicap — but insists his players must be better regardless, as Villa remain winless at home this season.
Villa Park’s North Stand under construction (Credits: BBC Sport)
The North Stand at Villa Park currently stands as a shell, closed for building work as the club pushes its capacity beyond 50,000. The rebuild is scheduled for completion next year and is central to Villa’s plan to close the financial gap in the Premier League — but the short-term cost is around 7,000 missing supporters every home game, and the atmosphere has noticeably changed.
Emery: No Excuses, Only Improvement
Speaking after Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with Brentford, Emery was candid about the situation without hiding behind it. “Our handicap is less supporters for the situation, but the club decided it. It is something to improve us for the future,” the Spaniard said.
“We must try to be together and without 7,000 supporters we must push everyone. We must play better football, compete better, be more focused. Those are more important than the stand. We are realistic with how we are working, improving. The things are not good enough yet — a lot of conversations with the team, meetings, video, practising and each match trying to show and improve.”
Emery’s side have taken just one point from their home games so far, with champions Arsenal and Nottingham Forest both leaving Villa Park with three points and Brentford snatching a draw. Only one clean sheet all season tells its own story about a defence that has become increasingly fallible at home.
Cash Backs His Manager’s Honesty
Defender Matty Cash echoed his manager’s refusal to make excuses while admitting the ground feels different. “Over the last few years our home form has been amazing, especially in Europe. We need to get back to that,” Cash said.
“I don’t want to sound like I am making excuses, because obviously we have to deal with the circumstances and it is really good to make the stand bigger and the stadium bigger, but it is obviously different. I am not going to sit here and lie and say it isn’t but you have to deal with the circumstances. You can’t make excuses. You have to play what is in front of you. When it is done it will be amazing but yeah, at the moment it is a bit different.”
Fenerbahçe Test Looms in Europe
There is little time to dwell on the domestic struggles. Fenerbahçe visit on Wednesday as Champions League football returns to Villa Park, bringing with them Marcos Asensio — the man who scored eight goals for Villa during a successful loan spell from Paris St-Germain in 2025.
The Turkish side arrive in frightening form, netting 11 goals in their last two games including an 8-0 demolition of Eyupspor. That is an ominous prospect for a Villa defence searching for solidity.
The one comfort is Villa’s European home record under Emery: just one defeat at Villa Park in continental competition, against Olympiacos in the 2024 Europa Conference League semi-final — a campaign that ended with Villa lifting the Europa League in May. Rebuilding that fortress feeling, stand or no stand, starts on Wednesday night.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
