1) Why you were looking forward to going to the ground?

Although I have visited Villa Park numerous times I particularly like the West Midlands “derby” matches. Most Albion supporters would class Villa as our second major local rivalry, after Wolverhampton Wanderers, but with only three miles separating The Hawthorns and Villa Park the rivalry is very intense.       

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

We travelled to Villa Park from our home town of Kidderminster, arriving in Birmingham at Snow Hill Station and taking the 10 minute walk to Birmingham New Street to catch another local service to Aston. Thanks to the West Midlands Police the game was scheduled to kick off at midday on Sunday but trains were running to Aston quite regularly and following the 8 minute train journey we alighted at Aston and made our way to the stadium which is about a 10 minute walk. One interesting moment was when members of the congregation of a local church en-route to the stadium were stopping supporters to offer them cakes and small wooden crosses, I did advise one of the ladies handing out these messages of goodwill that as an Albion supporter it was probably only divine intervention that was likely to get us out of our current precarious league position. While I could explain the route it’s probably easier to suggest just following the crowds. While we used Aston station I would recommend away supporters use Witton station if possible as this is ideal for the away supporters entrance being only a couple of minutes walk from the this railway station. Trains to Witton are slightly less frequent than Aston and are on the Walsall line.        

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

Before the game we had a walk round the ground and met up with a number of Albion fans at the rear of the North Stand, with it being a midday kick off we presumed the local pubs would not be open. Previously when we played at Villa Park in a cup match in the late 1990’s we had a drink in a pub close to Witton station called the Cap and Gown. The pub had two main rooms, one for home fans and one for away fans. In my numerous visits to Villa Park I’ve never noticed any real hostility from Villa supporters and like most grounds these days if you are sensible you’re fine wearing club colours, as with all of the West Midlands clubs I would recommend caution in trying to get access to the local pubs while wearing your team colours.     

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

Villa Park is one of England’s bigger grounds, four very large stands and the Holte End is impressive as you approach it, the Doug Ellis stand and North Stands are less impressive and while the relatively new Trinity Road stand is huge it lacks the original charm of the previous stand with it’s world famous façade. While obviously not a Villa fan I find it incredible that the club sanctioned the decision to demolish the rear section of the old Trinity Road stand which was one of Birmingham’s most distinctive buildings.

The away sections at Villa consist of the low level seating at the front of the North Stand behind the goal and a section of the lower tier of the Doug Ellis stand on the side of the pitch. The facilities in the Doug Ellis stand seating are good as is the view of the pitch and legroom. I have not been so impressed with the seating in the lower tier of the North stand, there are only about 12 rows of seating, the terracing is shallow and if you are given the allocation of the lower tier of the Doug Ellis stand and the North Stand seating I would strongly recommend trying to obtain a ticket here rather than behind the goal.    

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

The game itself was very scrappy with both clubs, but Albion is particular, desperate for the points. Albion created more chances and were the better team but as always constantly failed to convert our numerous opportunities to score. The final few minutes were played out in a hailstorm and while Albion supporters would normally be satisfied with a point at Villa Park it does seem a very long time since we actually won at Villa Park, I think most of us would consider this to be 2 points lost rather than 1 point gained.    

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

There were no problems getting away from the ground, I’d got a lift home from this game and the car was parked on a school car park near Aston station. Obviously you have the usual delays with post match traffic but the traffic flow seemed a lot easier than you’d expect with over 30,000 supporters in attendance.

7) Summary of overall thoughts of the day out?

Personally the local West Midlands games are the highlight of my season, Blues, Villa, Albion and Wolves have very strong passionate support and with none of the  local clubs making any major impact in the Premiership and Championship local rivalries do take on an enhanced meaning. I just hope I will be visiting Villa Park next season to support the Albion, at the time of writing that appears to be unlikely – bring on the Wolves!