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.