Information AboutVilla Park |
Villa Park is a Football Stadium in the district of Aston , in Birmingham , England . It has been the home of Aston Villa Football Club since 1897. It is a UEFA 4-star Rated Stadium and it has hosted 16 England internationals at senior level. The first international was in 1899 with the most recent being in 2005 . In all it has hosted 16 international matches and it was the first English ground to stage international football in three different centuries. 1 Villa previously played at Aston Park (1874–1876) and Perry Barr (1876–1897). Villa Park is the most used stadium in FA Cup semi-final history, having hosted 55 semi-finals. The stadium is currently comprised of 4 separate stands; Holte End, Trinity Road Stand, North Stand and the Doug Ellis Stand. The Club have planning permission to extend the North Stand. This will involve the 'filling in' of the corners to either side of the North Stand. If and when completed, the capacity of Villa Park will be increased from 42,573 to approximately 51,000. HISTORY Built at the cost of GB£ 16,400 Villa Park opened in 1897, the year Aston Villa won the League and FA Cup ' Double '. It was officially called the Aston Lower Grounds and it was situated in the former grounds of a Jacobean stately home, Aston Hall . The site had been used in the past as a Victorian Amusement Park , and also as a Fishpond and Kitchen Garden belonging to Sir Thomas Holte , the owner of Aston Hall. This is where the name of the famous stand, the Holte End, came from. The pitch was initially surrounded by a 24 foot wide concrete Cycle track and a cinder running track. When first built the stadium could house 70,000 spectators. Ambitious Villa director, Frederick Rinder had plans drawn up to take the capacity of Villa Park up to 120,000 in 1911, but the First World War put an end to the redevelopment. The running track was removed in 1922 when work started on the Trinity Road Stand and the ground was squared off. When it was completed in 1924, The Trinity Road Stand was considered the grandest in the land, complete with stained glass windows, Italian mosaics and sweeping staircase, it was considered architect Archie Leitch's masterpiece. Club folklore has it that the sight of the Trinity Road frontage (“the St Pancras of football”, as a '' Sunday Times '' reporter called it in 1960), was enough to persuade a player to sign for the club. Floodlights were first used at the ground in November 1958, the Holte End was not covered until 1962, and the old rounded roof of the Witton Lane Stand was not replaced until 1964. Villa Park was chosen by FIFA to host three matches for the 1966 World Cup . As a condition of which the Witton Lane Stand became all-seater, the players tunnel had to be covered by a cage and the pitch had to be widened by three yards. Work began on the new North Stand with its distinctive 'AV' seating plan and executive boxes in February 1977. Its design and facilities were impressive for the time, but cost of completion caused a scandal. It was discovered that over £700,000 of the work was unaccounted for. As a result Villa were burdened with debt, which meant transfer money was restricted despite being League and European Champions at the time. Chairman Doug Ellis caused a furore amongst the fans in the mid-1990s when he renamed the 'Witton Lane Stand' the 'Doug Ellis Stand'. There is a popular movement at the present petitioning new chairman, Randy Lerner , for the name to be changed back or for someone felt to be a more deserving servant of the club to be honoured in this way. As a matter of principle, many fans continue to call it the Witton Lane Stand. Around the same time Villa Park was made an all-seater stadium in response to the requirements of the Taylor Report . The Holte End terracing was the last stand to be converted in 1994. The old Trinity Road Stand was demolished in 2001 and replaced by a larger modern stand which took Villa's capacity from 39,399 to its present size of 42,573. It was officially opened in November 2001 by HRH The Prince Of Wales (with noted Villa fan and son Prince William Of Wales ), just as the old stand had been by his grandfather George VI , 77 years earlier. STANDS Villa Park comprises 42,573 seats split between four stands. These four stands are the Holte End to the South, the Trinity Road stand to the West, the Doug Ellis Stand opposite the Trinity Road Stand, and the North Stand behind the northern goal. Holte End The Holte End is one of the largest behind-the-goal stands in Europe. Before seating was installed in the 1994/95 season, it was vast terracing in which fans would surge forward on mass when the Villa attacked, today it holds 13,500 supporters. It is traditionally where Villa's most vocal and passionate supporters gather, including the Aston Villa hooligan firms: Villa Hardcore and Villa youth amongst others,2 and an intimidating atmosphere can be generated for opposing players and supporters. If the Villa captain wins the pre-game coin toss he will usually select to attack this end in the second half. A chorus of boos can usually be heard if the away captain wins the toss and elects to defend the Holte in the first half. |
Image:Villa Park (Holte End Higher)jpgA View From The Higher Tier Of The Holt End, During A Game With
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| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/The_Hawthorns" class="copylinks">The Hawthorns Aston Villa's former CEO , Bruce Langham , stated that Centro were amenable to the idea but that it would have to be done at the expense of the club As of 13th July, 2007, no action has been taken7 |
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