May 14th 2000 against Man Utd was the last home game played in front of the old Trinity Road stand, that's fifteen years since the old Trinity Road stand was knocked down and the new one was built. It has bedded down at Villa and the recent works with the new signs and the Macgregor stature have made the stand better, but it still lacks the character of the old stand
Yes the new stand has better facilities, more corporate rooms and greater leg room, but I think Villa Park has lost a bit of character since 2000. I think a few questions need to be asked. Firstly, how was the old stand not listed? Similar stands at Rangers, Fulham and even Arsenal who have moved, were not allowed to knock their old stands at Highbury, due to their listed status.
Secondly, why did Doug obviously go out of his way to create a red brick frontage of the Holte, when it was rebuilt, only not to bother replicating a similar style when the Trinity was demolished? I remember at the time there was talk of simply replacing the roof, but that was quickly changed to a total demolition job.
Thirdly, even if they had to do a new stand could they not have had a replica gable? Other clubs such a Sheffield Wednesday and Notts County have done this.
Finally, was there ever a planned redevelopment of Villa Park post Taylor report? I mean yes we have got a good stadium, and yes Doug did some good work, but the stands don’t all add up. I mean the Doug Ellis/aka Witton could perhaps been linked up with the Holte better as some seats in the lower Holte have restricted views. Also when they redid the stand why did they not have a corner stand up with the North Stand and just left the old Trinity, as I would guess the capacity would be about the same as it is now anyway.
I don’t know what Randy really wants regarding stadium development, but if he ever wants to re do the North Stand I hope it is planned well and adds to the character at Villa Park.
