Right, this isn't confirmed yet, but clearly somebody at the club is talking to our very own international man of mystery, Bill Howell, because he has exclusive news again. This time, there is no big name sponsor for next season.

The other day he told us all of the big ticket price hike for next season and before the new shirt image was published by the club, Bill Howell published it on the net a few hours before.

Now, I've got no problem with someone at the club giving Bill Howell news before it gets announced elsewhere, good for him in fact, but it does stink of double standards and there is only one man small enough at Aston Villa to have double standards.

But that is another issue. The issue at hand today is the shirt sponsor for next season. Bill confirmed in December that it wasn't Sony and he's telling us all now that it "will not be the big blue chip company that everyone was expecting."

Bill Howell: IMOM

So, who can it be? Well, he wrote on his blog that "It may not be the huge deal- in terms of pound notes- that all wanted but sometimes from small things big trees grow. And this could be huge- both for Villa and for the game."

That post has since vanished from his blog but some of the fine folks over at H&V are suggesting it could be the club charity, Acorns Children's Hospice.

They've picked it up from the part where he writes "from small things big trees grow".

Anyway, I for one think it would be a very nice idea all round and if a percentage of the money generated from shirt sales went to Acorns it would be even better.

I'd also be quite happy to buy and wear the shirt with the Acorns logo on, despite my desire each season to be able to buy the shirt without the sponsor plastered all over it, but I'm getting older and mellowing out a bit now.

Comments (37)

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alextaylor24 said:

we're not barcelona though! or even deserving of trying to be similar to them (being unique). if the money is coming in from elsewhere, fine, but if its just a gesture, whats the point. he's already given 5 million to the national portrait gallery. we're a football club/business, not a charity! i'm saying this in response to if its true, not you damian in case you think that

March 17, 2008

PaulE said:

I'd actually prefer Acorns to any big-money sponsor. I hope this turns out to be true.

March 17, 2008

Damian said:

i think its a great idea .. and if it happens it only means a deal couldn't be struck elsewhere along the lines of what randy lerner wants .. why tie ourselves in to something for 2 years or longer when we can do this, get european football next season (maybe even this year) and then get a proper sponsor next time out .. its good PR, which seems to be the mantra

March 17, 2008 | url

theprimeminister said:

Great idea and I'd be well behind it, but I do think alot has been read into the "big things grow" comment.

March 17, 2008

Damian said:

it is a great idea .. and while bill howell does read forums and football sites for his 'exclusive news' he also does have someone at villa telling him stuff but in his blog he mentioned fitzy going to man city, the day after we did and he also mentioned the bosingwa story on icbirmingham, again the day after we did .. but he cant be that stupid to know that from small things big trees grow wasn't going to get picked up by someone as acorns could he???

March 18, 2008 | url

vogra said:

RANT COMING UP.. MON has absolutley destroyed this end of season and the back end of last season for us... It's just startin too affect us now, sorry, my opinion..1) Didn't sign a right back (June 2007)..2)..signed Zat Knight as our main cover as a Centre Back..(ohhh come on he couldn't get into the Fulham defence, 3)Wouldn't shell out the money for Defoe,wages 70,000 for a 20 goal a season striker... 4) Signed Reo Joker 5)Missed out on Diarra from Pompey who's been brilliant, , have you seen this this guy the last 4-5games..bruv, this guy run's NRC over the pitch,6) Thinks Carson's worth 10Mill..oh come on,The Croatia game killed him, sad as it is it's true, that game destroyed him and we're taking the sh*t for it..7) Thinks Marlon Harewood can cover our strikers ,7) doesn't even plays him as First 11 when this guy's on fire, MON thinks he can get away when thinkin our subs Bench against Pompey is to turn the game, 1)TAYLOR)2)SLIFOU,3)HAREWOOD,4)OSBOURNE,and,do you know what what?...couldn't even tell you, was it Gardner....MON either show your ambition, and i'm talkin 5-6 quality players or go and manage Bolton or Wigan if you think you can bring back the Izzett and Lennon years.......and by the way before you rip the p**s i'm a Villa Season Home ticker and maybe 10 game a season Away fan

March 18, 2008

Villa_Rules said:

A new sponsor would be nice as im not to keen on 32red for some reason it just dont like right to me. As for this billy howell boy he needs to get a grip im suprised he hasnt tried saying ronaldinhio is on his way to villa Breaking news... Bill Howell sacked for talking bubbles now that would be a good story

March 18, 2008

Arrlui said:

You're just an arse, Vogra...

March 18, 2008

villIain said:

vogra dont forget how far we've come mate. I'm feelin despair also mate, but at least its because we're strugglin to get into Europe and not facing a relegation battle (like 2 years ago). Every class manager makes mistakes: Veron, Shevchenko, Reyes. The only way is up for us!

March 18, 2008

paul mcdonald said:

You all know Vogra talks the truth

March 18, 2008

GBPIMPIN said:

I can understand where vogra is coming from to be fair but its also very negative on MON who has done a fantastic job so far, i think that using acorns as our sponser is not only unique but very tasteful and will look pretty kool as well!

March 18, 2008

vogra said:

Arrlui go F**k yourself, if you can't say more than your "an arse" F**king do one you prick

March 18, 2008

IanB said:

Damien - I'm not saying a word...

March 18, 2008

Dizzy Mugs said:

Sounds like a nice idea. Of course, more money would be useful, but it'd be a great starting point for some more charities to work with football clubs.

March 18, 2008

EddyG87 said:

Guys give the name calling a rest, we're not in the playground. Love the idea for Acorns as the sponsor, if it's for a good cause then I'm backing it 100%. Who cares if we have Sony on the shirt? Are we really going to play better football as a result? It's just more advertising for the company really. at least this way we're advertising something that needs to be known about.

March 18, 2008

tonebone said:

vogra speaks complete sense we all need to accept it!! MON is a great manager thats why he has got these players to 7th in the league, but buying the sort of players he buys thats the best we can hope for. Look at his buys they are hardly the quality players that he says he wants to take us to the next level. But he says he only waits for players of the right quality. are the following the right quality???? Harewood Maloney Reo Joker Salifo Routledge Knight Carson Petrov Our squad is so small that is pretty much half of it - what a load of dross!!! its a good thing he is a great man manager cause thats all we have!!

March 18, 2008

andikan said:

I cant believe Mart has done this to us. we were in a position to push on and challnege for europe. any other manager would take advanatage of this and realise we had to small a squad to cope with the run in!! what do we doo - sell cahill and moore and bring in Routledge. Nothing more needs to be said - we dont deserve european football with transfer activity as bad as that

March 18, 2008

Tonebone said:

GREAT NEWS!!! Craig gardner appears to be winning his battle to be fit for the weekend. Well he had to didnt he so we could put a defense out. I am really ecstatic we now have 3 fit defenders for the weekend and probably a half fit midfielder/make shift right back. Its been the same story all season, if someone gets injured we have to get them back playing by the next weekend as we haev no options!!! what defender are we going to have on te bench or are we not??

March 18, 2008

andikan said:

is Carson really going to keep his place for the sunderland game!! this is ridiculous. He is useles and surely MON has decided not to waste his money on him!! drop him and give Taylor 8 games to show he is good enough for next season. he certainly cant do any worse than carson!

March 18, 2008

georgester1993 said:

i wouldnt mind having a charity as the logo on the shirt. i dont paricularly mind havin sony on it either. only if it doesnt take up half the shirt like 32red.com did... make it look nice at least... its part of the club image you know...

March 18, 2008 | url

german_villan said:

Tonebone, we dont have a real defence on the pitch. Gardener is mid-fielder! I also agree with Andikan. How bad does Carson have to get before Taylor gets a chance? If Harewood, Davies, Harewood, Routledge etc had/have to work so hard to get in the starting eleven, what an earth is Carson doing in it? Who cares how much his load cost, let him sit on the bench or play for the reserves until he has earnt his place in the team! As regards the transfer market, MON has tried to bring in some big players like Defoe, but if they dont want to come, what can you do? Now that we are finally up the table, maybe and looking like qualifying for Europe either this year or next, maybe it will be easier to attract bigger players in the summer break.

March 18, 2008

alextaylor24 said:

bloody hell. why do so many fickle fans turn on the messiah. look where we were 2 years ago or even the last 10 years and see if you can tell me that we were better at any time during that. we have a good youth squad and a team based on that with many solid players. at the end of the day, petrov was meant to be our lampard but didnt work out, routledge is a no risk deal, reo-coker has been a great buy, maloney, a snip at a million, carson was great at charlton and we havent bought him yet. harewood and knight suit the level we are playing. give the guy time. every team who has spent money this season is doing worse than us. pompey have only just overtaken us with signifcant money spent and we will finish higher anyway. those who turn on mon after our second defeat of 2008, need a clip round the ears. you are the same fans who support villa after we beat sunderland and get a brilliant draw at man united (hopefully!) if we finish 6th which we will, we will be able to bring in the players for a push on for a champions league place and in the intertoto/uefa. oh yeh none of this petulant name-calling. leave that immaturity for the play-ground kids.

March 18, 2008

Oscars Arse said:

Were any of you guys around when we dropped into the old third division??? I can tell you that in footballing terms WAS despair. I'm not too happy with the lack of transfer activity in January and don't feel too positive about the rest of the season for the simple reason most of the teams we have to play are going to scrap for their survival and I gotta ask are some of our players up for that?

March 18, 2008

Evoflash said:

It'll be the London Portrait gallery.

March 18, 2008

Damian said:

actually .. it's called the national portrait gallery - it just happens to be in london

March 18, 2008 | url

nan was a fan said:

Be gone to the Ghetto.

March 18, 2008

SuperSeanUK said:

alextaylor24 - well said mate, couldn't agree more with the one exception of Zat Knight, who I don't think suits the level we're playing at. Apart from that, spot on I like the idea of Acorns being on our shirt and would have no problem whatsoever if that is the reason for ticket prices going up next season to cover the revenue lost from sponsors. It's a good cause.

March 18, 2008

Zidave said:

I think this is a great idea and it gives us a really nice image. Also, what are the chances of us getting the acorn box car for our logo? That would be awesome haha.

March 18, 2008

andy5759 said:

To the guys debating MoN, transfer activity/inactivity: join the forum and have your say there. Most of what you've said is in the forum - you'll find allies, and debate too. A charity logo on our shirts, what a great idea. Shows that football has a social conscience, I don't like the idea of hiking gate prices to compensate though.

March 18, 2008

monsoon said:

Acorns along the lines of Barca noew thats what I call progress with cool social values - kkep em comin Villa and you will be far more than a football club you will get global respect!!

March 18, 2008

theprimeminister said:

All this talk of Defoe being a 20 goal a season striker is rubbish he's scored .... 00-01 Bournemouth 18 Goals 00-01 West Ham Utd 0 Goals 01-02 West Ham Utd 10 Goals 02-03 West Ham Utd 8 Goals 03-04 West Ham Utd 11 Goals 03-04 Tottenham 7 Goals 04-05 Tottenham 13 Goals 05-06 Tottenham 9 Goals 06-07 Tottenham 10 Goals 07-08 Tottenham 8 Goals 07-08 Portsmouth 6 Goals

March 19, 2008

somersetvilla said:

well said vogra......100% with you on that one...were looking like missing out on europe now,,which means another summer with rubbish signings..sorry but we just aint gonna have a carrot to dangle again,so the likes of beattie may be what well get,thats if wigan or similar dont out bid us..on how far weve come on,weve stood still,if we dont finish in the top 5,then we may as well be 16th etc..at the moment top 8 looks possible,we should beat sunderland but well get nowt at man utd..could have been so so much better,but alas thats all down to MON he just didnt see it...never mind we can all dream on again in the summer...in my book weve achieved nothing so far under mon,and we wont if he continues the way hes going,,unless of course hes changed the five year plan to a fifteen year one without telling us...yes its been a very good season but it could have been so much better,,even randy has told him to get his ass into gear when it comes to transfers...and yes if defoe was asking 70grand per week,and hed scored that many for us,,you could say that was very very cheap if hed got us into europe,,shame that one,and how many has gabby scored in the last six games,bet you defoe scores more for pompey,than gabby scores all season for us..and that will be why we dont get into europe,,,gabby may well be a better player all round,but defoe knows were the goal his.. heres hoping im wrong and we win at man utd,,everton,,west ham and stuff the blues at home,and gabby gets 3 this weekend...sorry i dropped of to sleep then.....good luck to the kids tonite...that lot may well be the mainstay of our next venture into europe...

March 19, 2008

pedropete said:

I hope that this right cos I mentioned it to my missus, she then had a few too many drinks with some friends after work the other night and ended up betting £100 on the office villa "know all" that this was gonna happen and that she had inside information. I ain't gonna tell her anything else again. She also has the audacity to raise an eyebrow when I put £20 on the weekly james blunt and says Im wasting my money.

March 21, 2008

pedropete said:

I hope that this is right because I mentioned it to my missus and after a few too many drinks after work the other night she went and bet £100 on the office villa "know all", I aint gonna tell anything else in future. She also has the audacity to raise an eyebrow when put £20 on the weekly james blunt and say's im wasting my money.

March 21, 2008

Danboi said:

Just had a business breakfast and met a consultant from ACORNS. he confirmed that Aston villa aren't giving sponsorship money to them. We are just giving them advertising space on our shirts free of charge!! This is from the horses mouth and therefore FACT!!! We will have acorns on all our shirts gauranteed!!! Not sure if I am happy about this!! Looks a bit NAFF!!

April 16, 2008

LoveDon said:

I went for a business breakfast today and met a chap that works for Acorn, apprently Acorn will be on the front of teh shirt for this season. Acorn doesnt have to pay for this, its just free exposure to highlight the charity .

April 16, 2008

JonnyPub said:

Great news about Acorn. Id be right behind that. Couple of questions for anyone that I cant seem to find the answers to. 1) Is it true the new flag for the Holte End will not be ready until the wigan game? Was really hopin to have it for the blues. 2) Does anyone one know rough season ticket prices for next season (upper holte)? Thanks to anyone that can answer. Up the Villa

April 16, 2008

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