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Villa Park history

oldbrit said:
As a Villa fan from the 1950s, It was pretty rough those days
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I went to my first Villa match in the 1950s and stood at the front of the Holte End. From that time until I went for the last time in the 1990s the only "rough" time I experienced was when Rangers played us in a friendly. We didn't stay for the rest of the match. I only experienced friendliness, camaraderie and wonderful humour.
 
A little adjustment to the thread title: I’ve added ‘history’ to the title so that new posts focus on the Park over time. Also the thread is being moved to the Birmingham Sports History section. Thanks all. Viv.
 
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oldbrit said:
As a Villa fan from the 1950s, It was pretty rough those days
Click to expand...
Especially if you were a young lad stood right down the front. I will say no more than that, not great memories, even when they won. Best moment was if the football special was one of the remaining 1930s AEC buses to take you home.
Bob
 
Villa Park will have been the home of Aston Villa for 125 years this weekend. It has been a ground that Villa fans have over all those years, left in both sadness and in joy (dependent on Villa's results) since it staged it's first home game on 17th April 1897 against Blackburn (a 3-0 win during our League & FA Cup double winning season).

The record attendance at Villa Park is 77.558 on 2nd March 1946 for an FA Cup 6th Round tie against Derby. Villa Park has staged more FA Cup semi-finals (55) than any other football stadium, has hosted 11 full England internationals and is the only ground that England have played at in three different centuries. It hosted 3 World Cup group games in 1966, the 2nd leg of the first League Cup Final in 1961 and the 2nd leg of the European Cup Semi Final in 1982 (we won them both!).

Great players such as Best, Charlton, Moore, Matthews, Finney, Edwards, Beckenbauer, Platini, Pele, Cruyff, Billy Walker, Pongo Waring, Eric Houghton, Peter McParland, Paul McGrath and Brian Little have graced the Villa Park turf over the years. Here are a few photographs, that show how the ground has changed over the years:

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Drove past Villa Park last night and stopped to get a few photos in the gloom of the North Stand development from Witton Lane:-
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It was only when I looked closely that I noticed a wall of the original 1960's Witton Lane (now the Doug Ellis) stand emerging - this stand was extended by adding a second tier on, so most of the original stand must be buried somewhere within it I guess?
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If you look closely you see the rake of the seats on the original wall, and the newer bricks where it was extended upwards:-
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GOOD LUCK TONIGHT LADS!!!!!! UTV!!!!
 
Same view in 1993 when the extension was being built - the original wall above would be buried behind all the cladding, somewhere behind the "R Block" lettering (thanks to my friend Derek Smith for the photos):-
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