Aston Villa's new owners have drawn up exciting plans to radically transform the North Stand at Villa Park.

They want to create 'a second Holte End' in a bid to make the stadium a Premiership fortress and to entice supporters. Chairman Randy Lerner and his team plan to put on offer the cheapest season tickets in the Premiership.

Villa hope fans will commit to sit behind the goal in seats which are normally the preserve of supporters from visiting teams.

Those choosing to take a pew in the lower tier of the North Stand for the forthcoming season can expect to pay only £200 for an adult season ticket and a cut-price £50 for children.

The new price structure, which applies only to the lower tier in that stand, will mean that an adult fan will pay an average of only £10.20 per match to watch Villa do battle in the Barclays Premiership from August.

Existing season-ticket holders wanting to switch to save money and take advantage of the new 3,000-capacity area have only days in which to take up the option, before the tickets go on sale on June 18.

A club source said the lower-priced tickets were being offered to reflect the fact that the stand is one of those which needs some improvements in terms of seating, legroom and catering facilities.

The idea to have Villa fans behind both goals, to create a cacophony of sound and lift the players whichever way they are playing, was mooted two seasons ago.

It is understood that Villa manager Martin O'Neill has personally said he would like to see both ends behind the goals full of partisan fans.

The club is also eager to recapture the incredible spirit and atmosphere of the last home match of the season against Sheffield United, when the 1982 European Cup anniversary celebrations were held on the pitch. The fervour clearly rubbed off on the present squad, helping them to a 3-0 victory.

Villa have allowed home fans to sit behind both goals for particular matches in the past, including opening the stand up for a Premier-ship match with Fulham in 2005.

The game was considered perfect for the trial because, traditionally, the Cottagers bring a small contingent of visiting fans to the fixture.

In future, visiting supporters will be accommodated in the corner of the two tiers in the Doug Ellis Stand on Witton Lane, after police and stewards confirmed they were happy with segregation measures.

A new entrance will be constructed to divert home fans into the new lower tier of the North Stand while visiting supporters will in future use an existing entrance to the Doug Ellis Stand in Witton Lane.

The move was last night welcomed by Villa supporters, who said the new season-ticket prices were "exceptional value" and said they were fully in favour of the idea.

Neil Heitzman, spokesman for Aston Villa Supporters' Trust, said: "To pay £200 to watch Premier League football from a seat in front of the goalmouth represents absolutely fantastic value - they must easily be the best-value seats in the league.

"The facilities in the North Stand may not be that great and you may get rained on but, for £200, who is complaining? Besides, the facilities are no worse than fans have endured at grounds up and down the country for the past 15 or 20 years."

Heitzman said he felt Villa were following the example set by other clubs, including Manchester United and Newcastle United, who place visiting fans as far away from the action as possible in order to give their own supporters a better voice.

He added: "Traditionally, the visiting fans were seated in the North Stand because the facilities there were not considered to be up to the standard of the other stands and therefore not good enough for Aston Villa's own supporters.

"But I am sure the Americans have plans in place to smarten up the North Stand in the future. I can't praise this idea enough. There are clubs in League Two with season tickets more expensive than those about to be released. It is fantastic."

News of the plans comes as chief executive Richard FitzGerald announced there was still much work to be done off the pitch at Villa.

He said the club was planning major changes to help it compete with the Premiership big guns, both on and off the field.

Just this week, the club announced it is to replace the jaded advertising hoardings around the ground with new LED displays of the type seen at Stamford Bridge and the Ermirates Stadium.

Villa director General Charles C Krulak told The Post last night that the plans to move away fans were still being finalised. He said: "I am not sure if the scheme has been finalised but it has long been a vision of Martin O'Neill and Randy Lerner to have our fans behind the goal at the North Stand.

"In every match, 50 per cent of our game is played at that end and we want our own fans behind us. In order to do that we have to move the away supporters but, once that has been done, we can make those seats available at a real bargain price for Villa fans."

A Villa fan choosing to sit in the lower tier of the North Stand next season could pay £28 less than for a seat at Tamworth FC.

Fans buying season tickets for the Main Stand at The Lamb before July 1 will pay £228 to watch football in Blue Square Conference North next season, rising to £240 for tickets bought after July 1.