Aston Villa

Aston Villa v Reading
Sky Bet Championship
Villa Park
Saturday 25th August 2018
3pm

Journey Time to the ground: 3 hours.  My sister picked us up just after 11:15am and we met my Dad from work before driving up to Villa Park.  We had a quick stop at Warwick services on the way and parked up in Howarth Way just after 2:15pm.  From here it was a 10 minute walk to the ground and we had a burger from one of the many vans before heading inside. 

Ticket Price: £25

Programme Price: £3

I've lost count of the number of times I've been to Villa Park.  When I was younger my Dad and I used to travel up for games almost once a month, but as I got older and decided to only support Reading this was my first visit for at least six or seven years.  As my Dad had got us the tickets we were sat in the upper tier of the North Stand behind one of the goals.  The North Stand is a two-tiered all-seater stand.  We were sat quite centrally towards the back of the stand.  The view from here was very good although the leg room was a little tight. 

To the left of the North Stand is the Doug Ellis Stand.  This is also a two-tiered all-seater stand which houses the away fans in the blocks closest to the North Stand.  Opposite the North Stand is the Holte End, another two-tiered all-seater stand where the majority of Villa's vociferous support tends to congregate.  To the right of the North Stand is the Trinity Road Stand which is the main stand at Villa Park.  This is a three-tiered all-seater stand which houses the dug-outs at it's front.

Aston Villa were the more dominant side in the first-half and came closest to breaking the deadlock when James Chester's header rattled the crossbar before Alan Hutton blazed the follow-up over the bar.

Villa broke the deadlock six minutes into the second-half when Ahmed Elmohamady headed home from Anwar El Ghazi's floated left-wing cross.  Reading missed a golden chance to equalise with eight minutes remaining when Sam Baldock's close range effort from Josh Sims' right-wing cross was somehow tipped onto the bar by Orjan Nyland, who reacted quickly to block Yakou Meite's follow-up effort for a corner.  It looked like Reading were heading for another defeat until the 90th minute when Sims was brought down in the box by Chester.  Up stepped Baldock who fired his penalty straight down the middle to rescue a point for the Royals.

Attendance: 33,405 with 703 Reading fans.

Atmosphere:  The atmosphere at Villa Park is generally very good and today was no exception.  The Villa fans really get behind their team although it was difficult to hear the away fans as the Villa fans make so much noise.

Journey Time home: 2 hours 15 minutes.  We got some food from a kebab shop before leaving just after 5:30pm and arrived home at around 7:45pm

 

I enjoyed my trip to Villa Park as it was nice to see us finally pick up a point!  I might be slightly biased as I have visited Villa Park so many times in the past and have even played on the pitch once before, but I think that Villa Park is one of the best grounds in the country.  It is a good size, still highly traditional and the atmosphere is normally very good as Villa are such a well supported team.

Sunderland

Sunderland v Reading
Sky Bet Championship
Stadium of Light
Saturday 2nd December 2017
3pm

Journey Time to the ground: 6 hours 15 minutes.  We left the house at 6am and drove up to South Shields where we were staying with friends for the weekend.  We stopped at the services for half an hour to get some breakfast and arrived in South Shields at 11:30am.  Our Sunderland supporting friend helps to organise a mini-coach that runs from the New Crown Hotel pub in South Shields to the Stadium of Light, so headed to the pub for a few drinks before being picked up at 2pm.  The journey along the coast took 45 minutes and we were dropped off about a five minute walk from the ground. 

Ticket Price: £25

Programme Price: £3

This was my second visit to the Stadium of Light.  We had tickets in The Carling Stand upper tier, the away end, which has been moved since my last visit ten years ago.  After climbing the eight flights of stairs up to the away end, we met up with some friends and decided to head to the back of the stand where we stood for most of the game, although the stand was all-seated.  The view from away end was good, as was the leg room between rows although it did feel like the away fans are a long way from the home fans in the rest of the ground.  The lower tier of the Carling Stand is also all-seater but for home fans.

To the left of the Carling Stand is the East Stand, a single-tiered all-seated stand.  Opposite the Carling Stand is the South Stand which is also a single-tiered all-seated stand.  To the right of the Carling Stand is the West Stand.  This is a two-tiered all-seated stand and is the main stand at the Stadium of Light housing the team dug-outs at it's front. 

The first-half was uneventful until the final minute of stoppage time when Callum McManaman was shown a second yellow for deliberately handling the ball into the net and Sunderland were forced to play the second 45 minutes with ten men.

Reading broke the deadlock eight minutes after half-time when Dave Edwards poked in Sone Aluko's low right-wing cross.  The lead was doubled in the 68th minute when Mo Barrow volleyed in at the far-post from Liam Kelly's right-wing cross.  Barrow made the game safe three minutes later, side-footing in from Yann Kermorgant's hooked cross.  Sunderland did grab a consolation goal with 14 minutes remaining, former Reading loanee Lewis Grabban powering a spot-kick past Vito Mannone after Joel Asoro had been tripped in the box by Leandro Bacuna.

Attendance: 27,386 with 568 Reading fans.

Atmosphere:  The atmosphere in the away end wasn't bad with fans enjoying one of the most comfortable away wins in a long time.  However the long suffering Sunderland fans were pretty quiet for most of the game, apart from booing.

Journey Time home: 30 minutes. The mini-coach picked us up where we had been dropped off at 5pm and we headed back to the pub for a couple of drinks, before getting a lift back to our friend's house.

 

I enjoyed my trip to Sunderland.  It was nice to see friends and spend a weekend away by the sea and finally watch a fairly comfortable Reading win!  I did feel sorry for both the Sunderland players and fans, the team are clearly devoid of confidence and their magnificent fan-base deserves to be watching a well-performing top-flight team.