Back in Your Inbox – Aston Villa, Uncensored

AVWTF14

Greetings,

I hope you’re good.

It’s been a while since WTF dropped into your inbox. But with everything going on behind the scenes at the club – and around it – it’s time to start pulling back the curtain again.

I’ve not been idle. Behind the scenes, I’ve been deep in the club’s recent ticket price consultations and co-chairing the Villa Fan Advisory Board (FAB) and trying to get it functioning in a way that’s constructive, not performative. That’s taken time, effort (including building a website for it), and more patience and hours than you'd expect.

To the extent, it was hard to justify the hours and days volunteered to the FAB, as it was impacting on my own life and the time I had for My Old Man Said.

I decided at the start of the year to step away from the FAB, after the ticketing consultation was completed. I’ll write more about that decision in the coming weeks.

So astonvilla.wtf is back.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be digging into some stories and truths to keep you better informed - there’s plenty of Villa misinformation out there to clear up and the record needs setting straight on a few things too. Of course, we’ll also have a few laughs along the way.

Coming Soon in Your Inbox:

The Ticket Price Story
What really happened in the club’s pricing discussions. Did supporters get a say, or just a PSR pitch? And what did we try to change?

The Badge Saga
Did the club break FA and Premier League rules? I’ll cover FA and Premier League posturing, rushed processes, and why this wasn’t just a design issue. If someone can come in from overseas, change a club’s heritage asset on a whim, and leave within two years, doesn’t that suggest there’s something fundamentally wrong with the FA and Premier League rules in the first place?

The Real FAB Story
What exactly is the Fan Advisory Board? What it was meant to be, and can it be more than a Premier League box-ticketing exercise?

Chris Heck: Hero or Headache?
Now the ex-president of business has crossed back over the pond, having met him several times and upon hearing plenty of other’s first-hand accounts - I’ll look at whether he was the self-proclaimed success he thinks he was, or whether he was the a**hole others make him out to be?

For my thoughts on what’s been happening on the pitch and the team in general, you can catch up on the latest My Old Man Said podcast episode.

If you're still here after over six months of silence – thank you. I’ll keep these emails tight, honest, and worth your time.

First proper post lands later this week.

UTV.

David

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(Unfortunately, the pictured Unai Emery, Funko Pop 2025/26 edition, doesn’t actually exist!)