Away Support

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

For big away followings, 1971/2 at Notts. C. There were 34,000 in Meadow Lane. It was mostly Villa on 3 sides of the ground. The traffic jams started at Tamworth.
In the 3rd division we nearly always had massive away followings, ones that particularly come to mind were at Bristol Rovers, Wrexham, Swansea, Chesterfield.

i was at Mansfield, another big one

I seem to remember massive followings at Bradford, Oldham and Rotherham, where we basically took over the towns!!!
The old tribal instinct kicked in big time!

[Steve R]

After hearing great reports about our away support last night and then seeing this.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20700529
Can't believe only 1 fan turned up, those Italians are real lightweights.

i wondered when and where did Villa take the least amount of fans to an away game?
I always think we have great away support, possibly to do with being less than 4 hours from any ground.

I'll start the bidding with the 250 we took to Bury the week before the 1971 League Cup Final but my memory will need jogging as I am sure that I have been in some where we have only taken about 50 but can't remember when, European matches excluded of course. There were 60 on The Special to Bristol one night.

There were about 40 on the special train to Barnsley for the midweek league match in our second season in Div 3.

Something to do with smashing the place up the previous year.

The police rounded us up at the station - 'we' were mostly car coated 30 - 40 yr olds - and some officer gave a fair bit of  chapter and verse about what would happen if there were any trouble to a very bemused and outnumbered audience.

[dave shelley]

I'll start the bidding with the 250 we took to Bury the week before the 1971 League Cup Final.

I was one of the 250 Dave, and we feckin lost!

[Pat McMahon]

Ayresome Park in the seventies, barely 100 for one game and not much more for another. I was living in Newcastle in the eighties and was forever being mocked for the size of our away following for a couple of matches at St James Park.

Chris, I have posted this before but I remember we put the final nail in Newcastle's coffin in Division 1 in a midweek game around 1978.

We beat them 2-0 and there were literally a handful of Geordies there who had travelled down in a transit van. The Mail had a story the next day that the Newcastle players were touched by their loyalty and had a whip round to pay their petrol money. Fast forward four years and they were getting gates of 83,000 with Keegan.

Also, I don't think I ever saw a MIddlesbrough fan at Villa Park until 1981. Literally not one ( that I can remember anyway)

I recall we played one of the Bristol clubs (I think City) in the 80's at a caged Villa Park and a load of knuckledraggers, whose game had been called off, turned up with the Bristol fans in one small pen in the Lower North Stand. After about 30 minutes the knuckledraggers left, leaving what could only have been a handfull of Bristol fans.

Rudy, I was at that one v Bristol City. It was a rescheduled game as we had both been knocked out of the cup and I remember being confused by the blue clad fans in the away end. As you say, they had gone before half time.

[villajk]

I am going to check this out, but we must surely be in the top five when it comes to away followings. We take loads everywhere we go.
9,000 AWAY at Chelski in the cup when we got beat 4-0 must be some sort of record for a midweek game, and we took their pubs, drank all their beer and their wanky headhunters were nowhere in site. Villa on the march is something to behold. UTV.

The club put on free coaches and, if I remember correctly, tickets to the  game were only £10 each.  That obviously helped boost our support.

[Chris Harte]

I am going to check this out, but we must surely be in the top five when it comes to away followings. We take loads everywhere we go.
9,000 AWAY at Chelski in the cup when we got beat 4-0 must be some sort of record for a midweek game, and we took their pubs, drank all their beer and their wanky headhunters were nowhere in site. Villa on the march is something to behold. UTV.

The club put on free coaches and, if I remember correctly, tickets to the  game were only £10 each.  That obviously helped boost our support.

£20 a ticket, and I think we took 6000.

[villajk]

Right.  Thanks, Chris.

On a slight tangent, and I've posted this before, we went on the train.  The train back from Euston was a dry train with quite a few police on board.  I think us three were the only football supporters on there.  For obvious reasons. 

[Dave Clark Five]

I remember about 10 of us being at Ron Saunders' first match at Osnabruck.
Probably a few more dotted around. The Newcastle game where there were no away tickets was low as were the Luton and Liverpool games with the same performance.

[Dave Clark Five]

I'll start the bidding with the 250 we took to Bury the week before the 1971 League Cup Final.

I was one of the 250 Dave, and we feckin lost!

Also got chased round the ground by chain-wielding Man City fans.

[andrew08]

I think as a group we're a boozy bunch at away games. When all the circumstances come together like they did Tuesday, ie you had to take at least half a day off so most got to Norwich early, we had a good allocation of tickets, it was bloody cold and a big game in a lean patch then the support gets a little, ahem, boisterous.

I heard recently that The Met view as early arrivals who like a drink but don't cause too much trouble.  I quite like that !

[adrenachrome]

26th March 83.

Very few Villa fans.

Gary Shaw got crocked.

[Rioch is King]

Upton park 1977 2-2 draw. Stood with 2 mates in the away end and were the only Villa there as far as we could see... and we were looking, desperately, but trying hard to look casual. Bloody terrifying experience. There was a huge, monster of a bloke covered in scars wearing a claret and blue scarf who occasionally roared ''come on Villa'' then burst out laughing as the loitering West Ham thugs in the away end looked his way - but we weren't sure he was really Villa... might have been a trap.

[The Laughing Policeman]

Millwall on a Tuesday night in April 1974. Three coaches, so about 120 of us. We won 3-1. And our coach got well and truly bricked about a mile from the ground.,

I was there for a 3-1 win midweek, Little 2 & Leonard. Thought it was April 1st 1975 though. Very few Villa there.

You're right it was '75, me and my mate got taken under the wing of a couple of Spurs fans who'd come to watch us play as it was obvious by then that we'd be playing them next season. At the end of the game they told us to walk between them and escorted us safely back to our coach.

[SX150]

Millwall on a Tuesday night in April 1974. Three coaches, so about 120 of us. We won 3-1. And our coach got well and truly bricked about a mile from the ground.,

I was there for a 3-1 win midweek, Little 2 & Leonard. Thought it was April 1st 1975 though. Very few Villa there.

You're right it was '75, me and my mate got taken under the wing of a couple of Spurs fans who'd come to watch us play as it was obvious by then that we'd be playing them next season. At the end of the game they told us to walk between them and escorted us safely back to our coach.

Header from Leonard and one of Little's goals was beating Bryan King to a long ball and chipping him. We were on the side with the Millwall fans, age 13 at the time. We got alot of verbal but nothing physical. I was too young to know any better just following my uncle.

[freethinker]

I thought I was the only Villa supporter at a pre-season friendly against Benfica in 2000. I later heard there were a few others who had been moved to the Press Box.

As sub Ian Taylor was warming up during the second half I gave him a shout from amongst the thousands of Benfica fans that surrounded me. The look and smile on his face when he saw me in there was priceless.

I was at that game with a mate and we didn't get moved to the press box.