My first 2 games in the Holte standing are the Man Utd 3-0 boxing day game I was like 12 or 13 and went from middle stand to front and back many times with the waves of fully grown men surging forward all game, looking back im amazed i didnt get injured lolAnd in pouring rain beating Port Vale 6-0 in the cup, and im sure all the goals were at the other end.
Brilliant photos. H&V put out a Holtes last stand edition which I still have. On Saturday I shall return to Villa Park for the first time since 1993 and it will be the first time I have had a seat at Villa Park.
Nice photos, thanks for sharing!Looks like you were standing close to where I was that day although I can't see me or my Dad in any of the photos.I also still have my copy of H&V The Holte's Last Stand, an absolute classic.When the game had finished and a lot of people had invaded the pitch I found myself standing next to someone in my year at school.I didn't even know he was a Villa fan but we became friends and started going to away games together.Happy daze!
My last Holte End stand was 1967 against Hull. 2-0 up (Greenhalgh if I remember OK) and we lost 2-3 with a pathetic display from midfielders Park and Parker. From then on, for luck, I went Witton End/Lane or Trinity. Took a few years, but the move paid off. Honest.
Couldn’t find the older threads that have surely existed, so I thought I’d share a couple of photos from the last day of the Holte End terracing. Villa vs Liverpool 7th May 1994.I didn’t have a season ticket that year, so I had to buy one on spec from a bloke up by Aston Station. I am convinced to this day that it was Nigel Kennedy in disguise (big sunglasses, fake moustache, hoodie).Sad day was brightened up by Dave Chance, or was it Dave Ismay, (one of the Daves anyway) singing YNWA to a chorus of boos from the home fans. Came back from 0-1 down at half time to win with two Dwight Yorke goals in the second half in front of the Holte End.Kids today think we made up the tales of beer crates, or were they milk crates (one of the crates anyway).Smoke bomb or hotdog steam?When the Evening Mail was a real newspaperThe other old lady we lost a few years laterMy piece of heaven, behind the “V” floodlight Left Side
Talking of We Wish You a Merry Christmas, does anyone want to hear - yet again - the story of Doug and the cassette recorder?