Premier League football club Aston Villa has announced that Villa Park (pictured) is now fully NFC ticketing enabled for fans to enter the 42,785-capacity stadium.
The club has rolled out NFC technology across the stadium, starting with the North Stand and Trinity Road Stand, then moving on to the Doug Ellis Stand and Holte End for match tickets, progressing to season ticket-holders in 2023-24 on an optional basis.
Aston Villa hopes that a push towards a contactless stadium will increase the speed of entry for fans, be more environmentally friendly and help to reduce ticket touting.
Villa’s Premier League fixture against Leicester City on February 4 will be the first league match in which fans will be able to enter Villa Park using the new set-up.
Supporters that do not have a season card will receive e-tickets when they make a purchase. Fans will then be able to gain entry to Villa Park by using the e-ticket as a PDF displayed on a mobile device, a print-out or as an e-ticket in your Apple or Google Wallet.
The club has also said that tickets for away fixtures are set to become digital. Initially, NFC enabled delivery will be available for the game against Manchester City on February 12. Specific blocks of seats will have tickets fulfilled via NFC as opposed to paper tickets.
The trial will then be repeated against Everton, which also announced at the end of last year that it was testing digital away tickets, on February 25.