Villa Park will probably get a name change and yes, it’s because of FFP

It has seemingly been on the cards for a while, but it looks like the day where Villa Park is no longer the ‘official’ name of Villa Park is nearing.

The Birmingham Mail has revealed that commericial opportunities at the club are always being considered - and this does include the naming rights to Villa Park - Aston Villa’s home stadium.

Of course, if this where to happen - for the first time in history - it would likely take place to ensure Aston Villa’s cash is ‘clean’ in light of financial fair play. After three summers of heavy spending, the club does need to assess its revenue streams - despite the fact that they have a number of wealthy owners. The club cannot simply pump cash into itself to clear the FFP balance sheet.

Surely enough, Aston Villa will have to find ways of creating sources of income that don’t involve holding fire-sales of playing staff. Renaming Villa Park to honour a commercial partner is one of these ways,

It was just a few weeks ago that the English Football League’s financial fair play regulations where dismissed by a large swelling of Aston Villa fans as a paper tiger - largely because of the comments made by Villa’s CEO - Christian Purslow.

Purslow helped construct the regulations at the EFL and FA - but that doesn’t necessarily amount to much. On one hand it could mean that Purslow can navigate the rocky monetary waters like Sir Francis Drake, cruising an Armada through the eye of a needle. On the other, it could simply mean that Purslow sat in a lot of meetings and said ‘yes’ a lot, which doesn’t amount to an understanding. Who knows? Who actually knows? There have been rumours of Villa’s CEO knowing a few loopholes in the EFL FFP structure, but how could it be that 71 football clubs have overlooked something that the 72nd will be using to ‘beat’ EFL? It just doesn’t make any sense and is surely emotional conjecture.

That isn’t to say that the club are in the hands of incompetency - not at all. Purslow seems nothing but competent right now. It’s just to say that we barely know anything other than what can be assumed - and a whole lot can be assumed.

That, readers, is why you’ll see a whole bunch of arguments about Brexit financial fair play. Even the smartest and most Excel-ready amongst us can only make estimates, which can be easily dismissed by anyone blindly quoting a phrase they once heard in a five minute ‘best-of Christopher Hitchens’ video. Swinging from one binary extremity to the next, like angry Brummie Tarzans, we’ll latch onto any point that accepts our current FFP ideology. One minute it is BS, the next it is the rapture. All we can honestly say for certain is that yes, FFP is a worry and Aston Villa must obey the rules and no, it probably won’t be the end of Villa.

But it might be the end of ‘Villa Park’ as we know it. All hail the ‘Doritos Bowl’.