Aston Villa receive sponsorship on Bodymoor Heath Training Ground

Aston Villa Football Club have received sponsorship on the club’s Bodymoor Heath Training Ground with immediate effect. The sponsor? Well, it’s the club’s principal holding group.

On Wednesday afternoon, Aston Villa formally announced the club’s training facility would be adding a commercial partner. This is an unprecedented move for the club, whose Bodymoor Heath training ground has gone sponsor-less for almost 50 years. The newly-named facilities? The Recon Training Complex.

The full press release can be found here:

"As well as serving as a base for the first team, The Recon Training Complex is also used by the club’s academy and ladies team. Aston Villa has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Recon Group since Dr Tony Xia purchased the club in 2016, with the company’s logo appearing on the back of the first team’s shirts. Dr Xia, the Aston Villa Chairman, said: “The naming of Bodymoor Heath, and the extensive package of marketing rights, provides Recon and our group businesses with a unique communication platform to showcase our services and products. “We’re very proud to make this announcement and look forward to developing the technological showcase of our offering.” Keith Wyness, the Aston Villa CEO, said: “This partnership will guarantee that the club continues to develop best in class training facilities. Investment in our training ground is vital to optimising performance on the pitch and we are glad to be working with a long-term partner to create advantage at Aston Villa Football Club. “The training ground is also one of our key revenue generators as we send coaches overseas to spread the Villa techniques and philosophy forming a key pillar of our international plans.”"

The grounds underwent necessary, modernized renovations back in 2007/2008, the beginning years of Randy Lerner’s reign.

Villa Verdict:

We are seeing a bit of quid pro quo action here, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. For one, commercial sponsorship of the club’s facilities acts as another revenue stream in Financial Fair Play accounting. It is not to be mistaken as a magic pill; the deal does not erase the club’s financial troubles. But what it does do, however, is allow Dr. Tony Xia to pump additional investment into Aston Villa via his corporation vs. his actual personal wealth.

It is tidier, increases brand exposure, and allows his team to potentially introduce cutting-edge training technology in the realm of sports medicine. What exactly the ultimate plans are remain to be seen, but nonetheless seem intriguing.

Next: Aston Villa And Under Armour Part Ways

Moreover, with Aston Villa terminating their partnership with Under Armour, it would not be shocking to see RECON Sport Limited as the club’s kit and technical sponsor as well. Why stop at just the training ground?

One headache Xia will have to deal with in the near future: HS2 railway construction.