Written by : @CraigPodevin

After the international break we head to Aston Villa who have had a rather poor start to the season, despite playing well and picking up three points against Everton. For us, Haller seems to be the striker we’ve been longing for since Dean Ashton and we dominated Norwich last time out. 

General information:

Stadium: Villa Park

Capacity: 42, 785

Address: Trinity Road, Birmingham, B6 6HE

Away seating: About 2,972

Villa Park has been Aston Villa’s home ground since 1897, only 2 years after we were formed as Thames Ironworks! Each stand has it’s own design, with the most famous, the Holte End, is a two tiered stand housing 13,500 Villa fans. The club currently has planning permission to increase the capacity to 50,000 by filling in one of the corners.

Travel:

Train

From Birmingham New Street you are able to get the train to either Aston or Witton stations. Witton is closest to the away turnstiles. Turn left out of the station and keep walking down until you get to a roundabout, go left and the entrance to the away end is on the right as you walk down the road.

Car

Leave the M6 at Junction 6 and follow the signs towards Birmingham (NE). At the roundabout, turn right and Villa Park is well signposted from this point. You can see Villa Park from the motorway.

Parking

As with most Premier League grounds, there is a parking scheme around the ground. Street parking is available near Aston train station, or free parking is available about 30 minutes’ walk away at the Star City leisure centre (signposted from the M6 slip road).

Food and drink:

Inside the ground you are able to purchase pukka pies (chicken Balti, steak, chicken and mushroom, cheese and onion) for £3.60, sausage rolls for £3, cheeseburgers for £4.20, hot dogs for £4 and chips for £2.80. There are TV screens showing games between the two sides. They also serve alcohol in the lower tier of the away section, Carlsberg is £3.80, Somersby cider is £3.70 for a 500ml bottle, Green King IPA is £4 per bottle. Sometimes the club decides not to serve alcohol for high profile game, which is a possibility as it’s a Monday evening game.

The main away pub is the Witton Arms on Witton Lane (near the roundabout if walking from Witton railway station previously mentioned). It homes both home and away fans, however they are separated into different parts of the pub. There is an entry fee of £2 per person.

There is also another pub which is 15 minutes’ walk from the ground called the Yew Tree, however it doesn’t serve real ale.

Bartons Arms is a grade 2 listed building and is rated as one of the best pubs in Birmingham, also featuring on the CAMRA good beer guide. Thai food is also on offer in that pub.