@griffonline@AdamWellerComms McDonald's do use real photos because a previous employer of mine helped them. They turned a room into a makeshift kitchen and studio, then cooked and shot all of the new menu items there. The same company also designs all of the screens and artwork shown in McDonald's branches.
@AVFCchats Get the kit now, then buy it again when the sponsor is announced. And this season when we win the Champions League it'll go down in history and you'll have the sponsor free one to put in a frame 😊 #joking#sortofnotjoking
So I went through the Villa (#avfc) end of year report and, here's my take on it.
Record revenue of £378.1m — that's a 37% rise, up over £100m from last year.
Highest turnover the club's ever seen, driven hard by the UCL run to the quarter finals plus commercial income exploding 69%> to £70m. Sponsorship alone up 31% to £28.6m. The commercial machine under Heck is chugging along as he intended. Especially from a £89.5m loss the year before, they've swung to a £17m profit after tax.
The owners pumped £69.3m into capex — stadium hospitality upgrades, new retail spots, fan experience tweaks, Bodymoor Heath improvements, and getting The Warehouse over the line.
North Stand redevelopment prep is now underway. Which can only be referred to as a smart money play going into infrastructure.
They've done the internal restructuring play (women's team and Warehouse rights shifted within the NSWE group) — same loophole others have used because the Premier League left the door wide open after Chelsea and City. Like I said earlier "There should be no complaints here; if you want to compete, you use what's available until they close it." PSR-wise, this profit gives real breathing room in the rolling three-year calc. Previous years had heavy losses, but this £17m black number changes the picture. Villa stay fully compliant with the EPL rules. That means no more panic-selling your best players every summer just to balance the books.
What this means for Villa's transfer spending next season? This creates proper legroom. You're talking potential net spend in the £30-80m+ range (before any sales *agreed or obligated* and exact rolling figures), assuming commercial keeps growing. Europa League means some UEFA income drop-off, but the commercial base is now more permanent and the stadium upgrades will keep feeding revenue. Less reliance on one big European run.
NSWE have stuck to the plan: sustainable growth, invest in squad and the club itself, avoid the reckless overspend that kills clubs. They've already sunk hundreds of millions in — this shows the strategy is working.
Bottom line: These are strong accounts. Villa have turned a corner financially. Record top line, first profit in ages, heavy but targeted investment in the future, and actual PSR flexibility heading into the next windows. No more "we must flog Watkins or Rogers" nonsense every close season. The club is in a far healthier spot than 12-18 months ago.
@conradtondryk69@techtoby__ I've lived in Birmingham all of my life, and yes it's shit. But I picked something up off eBay in Bristol a few months back and it was the shittest, dirtiest, graffiti covered hellhole I've ever been to in the UK. Beautiful old houses absolutely trashed with tagging. Awful place.
What do a Porsche Cayenne, a Bentley Flying Spur, and a Jaguar XFR have in common?
Scammers have tried to steal them from their sellers recently by faking the symptoms of engine failure, then offering to buy them for a scrap-value price.
What's scary is how convincing and compelling the scammers are. I really know my cars and engineering, and it took me a minute to regain my certainty after the "symptoms" appeared. The story is the same with the others I've spoken to. Knowledge of engines isn't 100% effective against this due to psychology.
Read all about it in this blog piece I've written, and take the poll to help us understand how prevalent this has become.
The scammers need to be stopped. Please share the blog and short poll to get as much publicity as possible so we can try to (1) make sellers aware, and (2) encourage the police to take it more seriously!
https://t.co/Qng41JivEC
@tom550993@LUDENClassics@alfattitude@AutoInfatuation @1Percenterer @candvbmw@SportsandGT
I hit 142mph in my 2012 VW Phaeton 3.0 V6 TDI, and it started to feel a bit light and fluttery so I backed off. The car definitely had more in it, but I didn't 🤣
#Phaeton#VWPhaeton
@Dpn76@BrentfordFC Agree it's still not 100% conclusive, for 100% you'd need absolute perpendicularity against the pitch. But at the time I wasn't sure and now I'm convinced. Still annoyed VAR went so far back and I dunno how they could guarantee it went out, but for me, it's onto the next game now
@oufti_isa@grok@nexta_tv It's beautiful in Dinant. We stayed there last year, at the Maison Leffe on the hill. A lovely little town with nice places to eat and drink 👍🏼
This clip is the gift that keeps on giving. Anyone who knows football knows Morgan Rogers is a world class talent. @leonsfdo@DV1874 and the rest of the team knew exactly what they were doing when they signed him. What a baller!!! 🥶🥶🥶
#avfc#morganrogers#astonvilla#AVLMUN
“Middlesbrough have had Villa’s pants down” 👀
“Excellent bit of business on their behalf” 🤑
Middlesbrough have sold Morgan Rogers to Villa for an initial fee of £8 million!
@RyanDilks1 says he has no idea why they’ve paid that much👇
🔗 https://t.co/3vX06CBCHW
#Boro#AVFC
A Brummie's advice to anyone encountering a hostile vehicle. Get the oil changed and give it a wash, simple! It might stop being hostile then. But if that doesn't work, trade it in for a car that is less hostile. These pesky hostile vehicles are everywhere these days!! 💩💩💩💩💩
Big changes for Birmingham city centre! 🚧
We’ve installed hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) bollards and upgraded CCTV at strategic locations to keep everyone safe in the city centre.
These measures stop hostile vehicles from entering pedestrian areas, so you can enjoy the famous Frankfurt Christmas Market with confidence.
Hear from Councillor Jamie Tennant and Iain Moran from Crowd Guard about how we’re making Birmingham safer.
#BirminghamSafe #CitySafety #FrankfurtMarket #SafeBirmingham”