Aston Villa 3-0 Rotherham United
Villa Park
28/08/13
Att: 22,447
With Aldershot no longer being in the Football League I'd all but forgotten about the League Cup, something I'm not too proud of given our relatively good record in the competition in the past couple of years, not least the fourth round game against Manchester United. Because of this I'd not really consider the groundhopping potential that it provides, so when I received a text from Phil about the games that appealed to him I snapped at the opportunity to once again visit Villa Park. It isn't a new ground for us, well it was for Matthew, but it is one that my recollection of visiting is very vague. The last time we came for a match was a 0-0 draw between England and the Dutch.
The journey up to Birmingham couldn't have gone much smoother, I slept the whole way! Parking was easy, as with the last visit, we pulled up on Victoria Road at a social club that goes by the name of Ruskin Hall. For £5 it is dead handy, being back on the Aston Expressway almost as soon as getting in the car. It's also just a small walk from Villa Park, which is awfully impressive as you turn the corner to be greeted by the lions and club name. After mooching in the, frankly awful, club shop (I should add that this is one of the few English clubs Phil has a massive soft spot for), we made our way for the cliché shot of the Holte End facade and made our way to our seats.
There is no denying the character and history of Villa Park, it's history and developments are so extensive that I can't be bothered to list them out, instead you can read them here. In it's current form VP is a ground that still retains quite a lot of character. The best part of the ground, in my opinion, is the aforementioned facade of the Holte End. This was built in 1994 with a similar brickwork style to Leitch's original Trinity Road Stand, a wonderful feature, although it doesn't live up to the predecessor it mimics. The Holte end used to be a large terrace, but now is a covered two tiered structure. To the right of this is the Doug Ellis stand, another two tiered stand that stretches the length of the pitch. This has no real redeeming features, although at one end is the usual away end. The opposite end, the North stand, is the oldest and quite frankly worst in the ground. Built in 1977, it initially had a terrace in the lower section, although this was removed post-hillsborough. It looks somewhat disjointed with the two rows of executive boxes. This leaves the most controversial stand, in our eyes, in the Trinity Road Stand. Built in the year 2000, this triple tiered structure replaced the wonderful structure, of which info can be found here. The current build is triple-tiered and despite the roof being more or less level with the rest of the ground, it appears much bigger. Oddly, the tunnel is perched towards one corner.
The game, despite what Rotherham fans will claim, was really never in any doubt. Villa cruised to their victory with three well worked goals, most notably the third scored by Delph. Also contrary to claims the ground was like a library 95% of the times, even the away end. Still we couldn't grumble as Villa Park is one of those grounds that you can't really hate, unless a Blue, and one we are always happy to visit.
The journey up to Birmingham couldn't have gone much smoother, I slept the whole way! Parking was easy, as with the last visit, we pulled up on Victoria Road at a social club that goes by the name of Ruskin Hall. For £5 it is dead handy, being back on the Aston Expressway almost as soon as getting in the car. It's also just a small walk from Villa Park, which is awfully impressive as you turn the corner to be greeted by the lions and club name. After mooching in the, frankly awful, club shop (I should add that this is one of the few English clubs Phil has a massive soft spot for), we made our way for the cliché shot of the Holte End facade and made our way to our seats.
There is no denying the character and history of Villa Park, it's history and developments are so extensive that I can't be bothered to list them out, instead you can read them here. In it's current form VP is a ground that still retains quite a lot of character. The best part of the ground, in my opinion, is the aforementioned facade of the Holte End. This was built in 1994 with a similar brickwork style to Leitch's original Trinity Road Stand, a wonderful feature, although it doesn't live up to the predecessor it mimics. The Holte end used to be a large terrace, but now is a covered two tiered structure. To the right of this is the Doug Ellis stand, another two tiered stand that stretches the length of the pitch. This has no real redeeming features, although at one end is the usual away end. The opposite end, the North stand, is the oldest and quite frankly worst in the ground. Built in 1977, it initially had a terrace in the lower section, although this was removed post-hillsborough. It looks somewhat disjointed with the two rows of executive boxes. This leaves the most controversial stand, in our eyes, in the Trinity Road Stand. Built in the year 2000, this triple tiered structure replaced the wonderful structure, of which info can be found here. The current build is triple-tiered and despite the roof being more or less level with the rest of the ground, it appears much bigger. Oddly, the tunnel is perched towards one corner.
The game, despite what Rotherham fans will claim, was really never in any doubt. Villa cruised to their victory with three well worked goals, most notably the third scored by Delph. Also contrary to claims the ground was like a library 95% of the times, even the away end. Still we couldn't grumble as Villa Park is one of those grounds that you can't really hate, unless a Blue, and one we are always happy to visit.