If these issues are addressed, then I believe that it is certain that Villa will be able to play in front of 40,000 fans every single home game, boosting the team's performance on the field, and its financial position off the field. This presents Premiership clubs with unique opportunities. However, Aston Villa always appears to miss this particular boat. Some years ago the club had a core of Irish players in the team, and this meant that Villa enjoyed huge popularity there. Villa have failed to build on this in the way that Manchester United and Liverpool have.
Villa currently have two enormously marketable players on their books.
The Turkish International Alpay Ozalan is a hero in his homeland and the club could take this opportunity to arrange a tour there, make links with the local community and establish Villa as the number one Premiership club in that country, with the resulting boost to merchandising sales. The other player is Colombian striker Juan Pablo Angel. Angel is a folk hero in Colombia and Argentina, and his signing for Villa has attracted massive public interest in the club from that continent. Once again, Villa should act immediately and get a team over there on tour, and fully exploit this opportunity. Such tours would form a much more positive and meaningful pre-season than competing in the Intertoto Cup.