Internet Football Ground Guide - Away Days, Villa Park, Aston Villa

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be)

This was to be my first England game, and against exciting opposition in Holland (or so we thought). I in particular was looking forward to visiting Villa Park after seeing it on the telly numerous occasions. Also my Brother is a commentator for a BBC Radio Sheffield and assured me Villa Park would not disappoint.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking.

4 of us caught the train from Sheffield myself and a fellow blade, and a pair of Wednesday fans - which was an experience in itself! Birmingham is perhaps not the most attractive city when arriving on a train but we were pleasantly surprised by the area around New Street Station. There was a plexiglass tourist info booth near the station where we were given directions to the correct bus stop. The ground is about 5 mins on the bus.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

This was an England game so we were all home fans really! We didn't see many Dutch fans so I cant say too much on the subject. No pub we were all students and pretty skint - especially Neil, but somethings never change!

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground.

The exterior I found a little disappointing to be honest it was just, well bland really. And not brilliantly lit up for a night game. However upon entering the Trinity Stand and climbing the mountain of stairs to the top we walked out of the gangway onto to the top tier. The ground was absolutely spectacular and it seemed simply huge. The whole of the ground was a sparkling clean modern affair but without being at all dull. It has so far been the most impressive league ground I have been too (but I'd only ever seen championship football until now).

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc..

The game was absolutely poor, a sheer waste of Ł42.50 plus travel costs really. It has been voted in top ten worst England games in memory. No wonder! Holland's squad was utterly depleted and Sven was in 'experimental' mode and we know what that usually meant. A 0-0 draw and the highlight was Holland hitting the post with a great 20 yard diagonal drive beyond Robinson. Back to the ground, clean modern toilets a plenty nice big concourses plenty of food available and a short wait time, although my pasty was as bland as dry bread but I don't expect a lot form football food really.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game.

We were going to try and use Witton station for the short trip to New Street and grab a lift from their however leaving the ground was a farce. If we had joined the queue for the station we'd still be there! We met our lift near the ground and the traffic was immense. I don't know how the Villa fans cope - it was atrocious!

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out.

A great ground , probably has a great atmosphere at a Villa game but it didn't at the England friendly. Be prepared for heavy traffic but in all in all you may only find a small handful of better grounds in the UK.