Villa Park - Aston Villa
Sunday, October 2nd 2005
Vs Middlesbrough, Premier League, 2pm
By Martin Hart

After the previous day's game at Reading, I was really excited to be
visiting another new ground -the other one in Birmingham, Villa Park.
My journey north started at 10:30am. I duly arrived into Birmingham New Street around 11.30, then Witton station around mid-day, after which I took the short walk to the Cap 'n' Gown pub on Witton Road. The best way to get to the pub is to follow the crowd towards the ground, you can't miss the pub over on the right hand side. The pub was closed when I arrived, but luckily I only had to wait about 5 minutes for it to open, and having paid my £1 entry fee. I was inside the pub, which I must say is quite nice - it also had a big screen showing the Man City v Everton game, which had kicked off at 11.15.

I left the pub around 12.45 (after 2 rather quick pints) and headed towards the ground, which I had first saw from 16,000 feet the previous day as I descended towards Birmingham International Airport. I couldn't help but notice how impressive the ground was, even from such a height, then here I was the next day standing right outside the ground itself - and what a stadium it is!

I walked around the outside perimeter of the ground, in the process locating the area where I would enter the ground, even then there was something inside me which told me I was in for an adventure once I was on the other side of the turnstile. Having finished my "self-tour" of the four sides of Villa Park, I headed inside the ground. My ticket was for the Trinity Road Upper (the very top level), but nowhere did it say I had 9 flights of stairs to climb to get to the concourse !! It was even harder after the game, because you exit the stand at a lower level than you go in, you actually have to descend 12 flights of stairs. Difficult - you bet !

Mind you, once I had reached the top, the effort to get there was well worth it, as I got my first proper look inside the stadium, and wow is it big! Doug Ellis has created one of the best stadiums in the Premiership in Villa Park - each individual stand is integrated extremely well with its
neighbour, and even a small visiting support (as Boro did have) can make a fair bit of noise from their end.

The game was a highly entertaining affair, which in the end finished 3-2 to the visitors Middlesbrough. For me it meant that my "unbeaten" record, which had lasted 7 games and nearly a year was gone, but overall I had a very enjoyable day out at Villa Park. Incidentally, the goalscorers were Yakubu (2) and Villa old-boy, George Boateng and for the home side - Luke Moore (with a stunning curling goal) and a later than late Steven Davis goal when the game was well and truly over as a contest. The scoring went 1-0 Boro, 1-1, then 2-1 and 3-1 Boro before the late goal made it 3-2 - with literally the last kick of the game.

 

The atmosphere at Villa Park, I must admit was actually quite disappointing. Whether this was because the corners are largely open or the fact that Villa have made their worst ever start to a Premiership season (which meant that the total crowd was only 29,000) I don't know, but I wouldn't like to take a guess. The stewarding was again fairly relaxed, and the food although not brilliant, was acceptable - if even a bit on the pricy side. The selection on offer is also quite reasonable. The toilets are ok, and there are Ladbrokes outlets on the concourse for anyone who fancies a flutter and also TV's to keep you up to date with all the latest scores.

Getting away from the ground is easy... until you reach Witton station, where the queue for the Birmingham side was actually right down the ramp and on to the street, but it did move fairly quickly and virtually everyone got on the first train which came. A good piece of advice for fans is, despite the queues, if you do take the train get a return to Witton station, as this is much nearer the ground itself. Also, some trains after games don't stop at Aston Station which is normally the next stop (the one I was on didn't anyway) meaning a quicker return to the city centre.

Overall, I had a thoroughly enjoyable day out at Aston Villa. Despite my fear of heights, I had a great view of the game from "up in the lights". The set-up around Villa is very professional, and whether it's as a neutral or visiting supporter, I can definitely see myself going back to Villa Park in the future (sorry Duncan!!)

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