Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Larry Duff on January 16, 2012, 07:53:05 PM
-
I am a season ticket holder. Because of work commitments I can't make away games on a saturday but I go to watch all the home reserve games and all the home academy games. I also go to academy and reserve away games when I can (I intended to be at Birmingham on saturday morning to watch the kids)
The club have made it increasingly difficult for us to follow the reserves and the academy in recent seasons. They change kick off times, venues and even the day of the match without a thought for us fans. Many times last season I arrived at Bodymore for an 11.00 O'clock start to find that kick off was at 12 O'clock so had to wait around in the freezing conditions for the match to start.
On saturday I got there late, thought there was no game on so went home again. Then I found out that we did play but not on the normal pitch.
I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to find out where the reserve game against Wolves was taking place. Obviously nothing on our website so checked Wolves and the Hinckley site to no avail.
This morning I found out we were playing at Hinckley but when I got there tonight surprise surprise the fuckin game is off.
I have been toying with not having a season ticket next year but this has absolutely made up my mind.,
Bunch of tossers.
-
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2578760,00.html
That was posted on the website @ about 5.00pm
-
That news was on twitter and facebook earlier on, supposedly taken off the OS. Not thats going to make you feel any better about the wasted journey.
-
Does an acquaintance of yours have a knack for calling your mobile at really inappropriate moments? Like when you're driving along a mountain road, or skiiing near a cliff edge?
-
It's on tomorrow at BMH if that helps in any way, mate?
-
I don't know when the game was called off. I was hoping it was being played at Villa Park but there was no information on the weekend when I wasn't at work and could spend time finding out. I checked at 8 O'Clock this morning and again at 12 O'Clock when I found out it was at Hinckley. I left work at 5 O'Clock to go to the game.
If this was a one off I wouldn't be quite so annoyed but there has been lots of times over the last couple of seasons. Last season I turned up at Wasthills for the 11 O'Clock kick off against Blues to find that they had played the game at bodymore on the friday lunchtime.
We are not all on twitter and the club should let us know what is happening.
I feel another wasted journey coming up on saturday morning.
-
I have to go to the eye hospital tomorrow and I am not supposed to drive because they are putting some dye into my eyes apparently.
Would have been an ideal day to watch the first team play.
-
I have to go to the eye hospital tomorrow and I am not supposed to drive because they are putting some dye into my eyes apparently.
Would have been an ideal day to watch the first team play.
Can you get some of that dye for me?
-
The day the club loses fans like Larry is a sad and worrying one.
-
The least you should expect from the club is to inform the supporters of the details of the fixtures the club are involved in at all levels, together with any late changes. The obvious place would be the official club website so that all fans know where to go for information. It's not difficult if you care enough about the fans.
-
I know a few people who go to all these games. They are just as important as league games when you look at the way the club is going. I wasn't going but would have at least expected warning that there was to be a pitch inspection. Its not as if the pitch was under a foot of snow! If I had fallen for this , I would have been severely pissed off. Maybe some people were 'in the know' and got to find out but, if we must play home games remotely like this, the club should have had the courtesy to say something. It is a bloody disgrace.
-
Does an acquaintance of yours have a knack for calling your mobile at really inappropriate moments? Like when you're driving along a mountain road, or skiiing near a cliff edge?
Haha that's brilliant!
Seriously though I suppose the club never expect anyone to really turn up so don't bother updating...obviously there's a the die hards like Larry who do like to watch the academy games so you would expect a regular update on the O/S the day before the game is to be played or in the Mail.
-
Yes. In all seriousness, surely Pravda should be current and up to date with details like this? Very poor indeed.
-
We are not all on twitter and the club should let us know what is happening.
Get hip with the kids daddio.
I'm guessing here but maybe we were relying on Hinckleys groundstaff to let us know the condition of the pitch and they are only part time, hence the late notification? Dunno, its probably safest to blame Mcleish.
-
We are not all on twitter and the club should let us know what is happening.
Get hip with the kids daddio.
I'm guessing here but maybe we were relying on Hinckleys groundstaff to let us know the condition of the pitch and they are only part time, hence the late notification? Dunno, its probably safest to blame Mcleish.
I blame MON
-
We are not all on twitter and the club should let us know what is happening.
Get hip with the kids daddio.
I'm guessing here but maybe we were relying on Hinckleys groundstaff to let us know the condition of the pitch and they are only part time, hence the late notification? Dunno, its probably safest to blame Mcleish.
I blame MON
Now you're talking!
-
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2578760,00.html
That was posted on the website @ about 5.00pm
Which is probably as soon as the game was called off.
-
Yes. In all seriousness, surely Pravda should be current and up to date with details like this? Very poor indeed.
The reserve and youth sections of the website have always been pretty poorly done and not particularly up to date.
-
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2578760,00.html
That was posted on the website @ about 5.00pm
Which is probably as soon as the game was called off.
Still no consideration for the travelling supporter, even any dingles that might have been going. Then again....
-
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2578760,00.html
That was posted on the website @ about 5.00pm
Which is probably as soon as the game was called off.
Still no consideration for the travelling supporter, even any dingles that might have been going. Then again....
Im gonna tell the general...................oh well maybe not
-
Larry is a top man. Hope you keep going mate, and POST MORE OFTEN.
-
Larry you have a right to be treated better UTV mate
-
That's very poor but doesn't surprise me, there's a dreadful lack of communication regarding many club fixtures. I went to VP for the Liverpool game and the entire first team failed to turn up.
-
Hey Larry ,i know how you feel mate.Before i came to work over here i used to enjoy the reserve games and youth games and quite often used to find them more entertaining than the first team games.Then someone decided first of all to play some of them 40 miles away at Hinckley,great if your working all day and got no chance of making a 7o clock kick off. Then last season they came up with the great idea of playing at BMH at 1pm on a weekday.Truth is the club are not bothered about the fans who would like to watch theses games.
-
That's very poor but doesn't surprise me, there's a dreadful lack of communication regarding many club fixtures. I went to VP for the Liverpool game and the entire first team failed to turn up.
Clappy thing.
-
Keep the faith Larry th club need people like you more than they know.
Don't worry about that orange stuff in your eyes. It's the pupil dilator stuff you should not drive with and if they put that in you will need a guide dog to find the exit. With the orange when you drive red is the top light, orange is the middle one and green is the bottom one and Villa are the ones playing in grey and yellow.
-
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2578760,00.html
That was posted on the website @ about 5.00pm
Which is probably as soon as the game was called off.
It was on the sports news within Adrian Goldbergs show on WM that the game had been called off and the new time was also announced. This was before 2pm.
-
We shouldn't even play reserve games in a backwater like Hinckley, its ridiculous. I know its only a 40-minute drive as I work there, but its not the easiest place to get to and the games are constantly being called off at little notice.
-
I live near Hinckley and my garden was frozen all day, you cannot blame the club for the weather. you cannot expect to risk players on 1000s a week getting injured on a frozen pitch. And as for the day time kick offs that was something to do with the FA as I recall.
-
I don't think anyone said they expected them to play on a frozen pitch. Everyone has said the same - fans should be kept up to date. It isn't hard to post updates on the official website. Someone has stated it was cancelled by 2pm, yet the club didn't post anything til 5, when people have already set off.
-
I don't think anyone said they expected them to play on a frozen pitch. Everyone has said the same - fans should be kept up to date. It isn't hard to post updates on the official website. Someone has stated it was cancelled by 2pm, yet the club didn't post anything til 5, when people have already set off.
For Hinckley? It's hardly an expedition. The club may well have posted it before 5 - that was the time someone on here noticed it. There's a time for justified complaints and a time to moan for the sake of it (not getting at Larry there), and this is definitely the latter.
-
It was below freezing all day, being played on a non-league ground, games are being called off all over the place at the moment, you have the internet, did you not think a phone call to Hinckley or Villa may have been wise before setting off?
Just a thought like.
-
Just out of interest mr woodhall,what do you class as a expedition ? A 70 to 80 odd mile round trip sounds a bit of a expedition for a reserve match to me
-
Just out of interest mr woodhall,what do you class as a expedition ? A 70 to 80 odd mile round trip sounds a bit of a expedition for a reserve match to me
It's a fair journey granted, but 5pm seems perfectly adequate notice. As Coops said, given the conditions a phone call would be sensible.
-
Going slightly away from the main point but surely there are better options than Hinckley available to us.
-
Well the reserves have just won 7-1 3 for Weimann 2 for Bannon 1 for Fonz and 1 for Gary G
-
How about the Lamb? theres nothing wrong with Hinckleys ground though.
-
Going slightly away from the main point but surely there are better options than Hinckley available to us.
We've debated this before, and the problem is the state of pitches midwinter. I'm happy to watch Stour tonight but I wouldn't want to risk someone like Gary Gardner or Andreas Weimann there.
-
Just a thought,how about playing reserve games at Villa Park?
-
The club needs all the Larry Duff's it can get, I'm sorry if you do decide not to renew.
For all the comments about communication difficulties in this case, it doesn't seem to be a rare event. Accurate information for junior games can be hard to get hold of at times.
I seem to get a lot of e-mails telling me about exciting opportunities to hire corporate suites or shake hercules' paw. Would a subscribed-to e-mail or sms service be beyond the tweeters on high?
-
How about the Lamb? theres nothing wrong with Hinckleys ground though.
Same problem as Hinckley, big frozen patch on the bit of the ground that never gets sunlight because of the stand, frozen ruts that Bannan could disappear into. It would make so much more sense just to play them at Villa Park in the bleak midwinter and then farm the games out to non-league grounds at the start and end of the season.
-
How about Sutton Towns all weather pitch ?
Can hold a couple of thousand, nice little stand if you want to park your backside, plenty of Villa fans on the doorstep, and a nice warm inside bar.
-
How about Sutton Towns all weather pitch ?
Can hold a couple of thousand, nice little stand if you want to park your backside, plenty of Villa fans on the doorstep, and a nice warm inside bar.
Handy for a pint at The Station before and after...yep, I like this idea.
-
How about Sutton Towns all weather pitch ?
Can hold a couple of thousand, nice little stand if you want to park your backside, plenty of Villa fans on the doorstep, and a nice warm inside bar.
Handy for a pint at The Station before and after...yep, I like this idea.
The Station, The Gate, The Duke,Game (with half time pint), The Duke, The Gate, The Station.
-
How about Sutton Towns all weather pitch ?
Can hold a couple of thousand, nice little stand if you want to park your backside, plenty of Villa fans on the doorstep, and a nice warm inside bar.
Handy for a pint at The Station before and after...yep, I like this idea.
The Station, The Gate, The Duke,Game (with half time pint), The Duke, The Gate, The Station.
the stuke, the stake, the dation, the dukation, the... the other one
-
What are the typical gates for the reserves? Maybe beyond our spending now but would it take much too much to build a small stand at Bodymoor?
-
What are the typical gates for the reserves? Maybe beyond our spending now but would it take much too much to build a small stand at Bodymoor?
Yes but then you would need to sell tickets, get stewards, toilets, car parking for the fans as its in the middle of nowhere, etc
-
There's a portaloo by the security office. What more do you want?
-
There's a portaloo by the security office. What more do you want?
Loads of hedges as well..............
-
What are the typical gates for the reserves? Maybe beyond our spending now but would it take much too much to build a small stand at Bodymoor?
Yes but then you would need to sell tickets, get stewards, toilets, car parking for the fans as its in the middle of nowhere, etc
Just like Hinkley. ;-)
-
What are the typical gates for the reserves? Maybe beyond our spending now but would it take much too much to build a small stand at Bodymoor?
Yes but then you would need to sell tickets, get stewards, toilets, car parking for the fans as its in the middle of nowhere, etc
And planning permission for it all.
-
What's the pitch like at Castle Vale stadium? That would be ideal in terms of location.
-
What's the pitch like at Castle Vale stadium? That would be ideal in terms of location.
I think too many clubs play there already.
-
What's the pitch like at Castle Vale stadium? That would be ideal in terms of location.
I remember watching Villa play a friendly there about 12 years ago. It got called off the first time because of a waterlogged pitch and when it was on again the only regular first teamer to play was Alan Thompson. I think it was that match that finally showed to me he wasn't good enough as he was totally out shined by every other player on the pitch.
-
What's the pitch like at Castle Vale stadium? That would be ideal in terms of location.
Fucking awful when I went earlier this season, and it was only September, Christ knows what it's like now.
-
What's the pitch like at Castle Vale stadium? That would be ideal in terms of location.
Fucking awful when I went earlier this season, and it was only September, Christ knows what it's like now.
Council owned the pitch has always been shit.
-
I don't suppose Larry feels any happier knowing that we beat Wolves 7-1 tonight. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound..
-
Where do sutton utd play? Coles lane?
-
Where do sutton utd play? Coles lane?
Yes.
-
Great win for the reserves over the Dingles,shame few if any of our fans were able to see it.
-
Where do sutton utd play? Coles lane?
Yes.
It is Sutton Town, not Sutton United. Actually to give them their full title it is Sutton Coldfield Town.
Sutton United are the club based down in Surrey. I would say Man Utd reserves playing games there is a better option than us.
-
There is a Sutton United who play in the Birmingham AFA, their ground is behind St Chads church not far from Good Hope Hospital, yes I've ticked it.