Witton Lane or Doug Ellis?

[PeterWithesShin]

The Frederick Rinder Stand has a nice ring to it.

[cdward]

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/10/04/ex-aston-villa-chairman-doug-ellis-unveils-5-million-revamped-sports-centre-at-aston-university-97319-29533444/

The ego strikes again. The  Doug Ellis Woodcock Sports Centre.
 This charlatan Villa fan really winds me up.  I don't mind him giving his money for good causes, but why he needs to feed his ego constantly is beyond belief.   

[dave.woodhall]

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/10/04/ex-aston-villa-chairman-doug-ellis-unveils-5-million-revamped-sports-centre-at-aston-university-97319-29533444/

The ego strikes again. The  Doug Ellis Woodcock Sports Centre.
 This charlatan Villa fan really winds me up.  I don't mind him giving his money for good causes, but why he needs to feed his ego constantly is beyond belief.   

You just said it - ego. Deep down Doug is a very unhappy, lonely man.

[cdward]

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/10/04/ex-aston-villa-chairman-doug-ellis-unveils-5-million-revamped-sports-centre-at-aston-university-97319-29533444/

The ego strikes again. The  Doug Ellis Woodcock Sports Centre.
 This charlatan Villa fan really winds me up.  I don't mind him giving his money for good causes, but why he needs to feed his ego constantly is beyond belief.   

You just said it - ego. Deep down Doug is a very unhappy, lonely man.

I never thought of it like that, i feel better about him now, it must be because he knows he is not a real Villa fan, and we are.

[Irish villain]

Witton Lane

I challenged Doug on it at one of the AGM's when the Trinity was being redone.

I asked what it was to be called and would the board be giving Doug another 'surprise!' and call the Trinity Road Stand the Doug Ellis West

Thankfully he didn't run with that!

[KevinGage]

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/10/04/ex-aston-villa-chairman-doug-ellis-unveils-5-million-revamped-sports-centre-at-aston-university-97319-29533444/

The ego strikes again. The  Doug Ellis Woodcock Sports Centre.
 This charlatan Villa fan really winds me up.  I don't mind him giving his money for good causes, but why he needs to feed his ego constantly is beyond belief.   

You just said it - ego. Deep down Doug is a very unhappy, lonely man.

I never thought of it like that, i feel better about him now, it must be because he knows he is not a real Villa fan, and we are.

He might be a different type of Villa fan to you and I- might love the club for different reasons (primarily for the life style it has given him, the chance to call people like Cruyff, Beckenbauer and co 'friends,'  serial name dropper that he is).

But he's still a Villa fan all the same. He doesn't need to come to the games after he sold up- if he was really am Everton, Tranmere, B-lose or Wolves fan, he could spend his free time there.

[dave.woodhall]

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/10/04/ex-aston-villa-chairman-doug-ellis-unveils-5-million-revamped-sports-centre-at-aston-university-97319-29533444/

The ego strikes again. The  Doug Ellis Woodcock Sports Centre.
 This charlatan Villa fan really winds me up.  I don't mind him giving his money for good causes, but why he needs to feed his ego constantly is beyond belief.   

You just said it - ego. Deep down Doug is a very unhappy, lonely man.

I never thought of it like that, i feel better about him now, it must be because he knows he is not a real Villa fan, and we are.

It's nothing to do with Villa. I have a theory - for all he's done in his life, Doug has got so close to where he wants to be that he can almost touch it, but he never got there. To you and I it's so far away it's not worth thinking about, but Doug nearly made it and that's what hurts the most. He was wealthy but never fuck-you rich until 2006. He was well-known in his own field, but never famous. The A-list names he drops would never boast of knowing him. He was involved in events but never dictated them. And most of all, the League Cup isn't the European Cup no matter how hard he pretends it was all down to him. The loneliest place in the world is on the edge of a conversation. 

[LeeB]

It won't be renamed until they rebuild it. Far too much of a personal insult otherwise.

Maybe that's the answer then, because it was piss-poorly built in the first place.

Who was it who built it again?

[cdward]

The big difference between me being a Villa fan and Doug being a Villa fan, is that no one has ever had reason to doubt my support and loyalty towards Aston Villa, and I have never been involved with other football clubs. I also do not feel the need to keep telling everyone how much of a fan i am, and I don't need to go to every game to prove myself.
Sorry Doug you will never be Mr Aston Villa. He reminds me of Al Fayed trying too hard to be British.

[kipeye]

Beautiful summary Dave. The song 'Can't buy me love' springs to mind.

[Clampy]

I'm surprised people are still hostile towards Doug, he was'nt the best chairman a manager could ever want, but he was'nt the devil's work either.

[curiousorange]

I wrote a scene in a book that's set during the derby of 2010 (the one where Milner scored the penalty) and as the characters leave for the car, my narrator says the following: "We sliced our way through the punters heading towards Aston station, under the overhanging shadow of the Witton Lane Stand (never, ever the Doug Ellis)..." and that's how my view will remain until the day I die.

[Dave Clark Five]

We should rename the Lower Trinity as the Trinity Road Enclosure and have transfer turnstiles whereby people can pay to change ends if they wish to.   

[Villa-Villan]

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2011/10/04/ex-aston-villa-chairman-doug-ellis-unveils-5-million-revamped-sports-centre-at-aston-university-97319-29533444/

The ego strikes again. The  Doug Ellis Woodcock Sports Centre.
 This charlatan Villa fan really winds me up.  I don't mind him giving his money for good causes, but why he needs to feed his ego constantly is beyond belief.   

You just said it - ego. Deep down Doug is a very unhappy, lonely man.

I never thought of it like that, i feel better about him now, it must be because he knows he is not a real Villa fan, and we are.

It's nothing to do with Villa. I have a theory - for all he's done in his life, Doug has got so close to where he wants to be that he can almost touch it, but he never got there. To you and I it's so far away it's not worth thinking about, but Doug nearly made it and that's what hurts the most. He was wealthy but never fuck-you rich until 2006. He was well-known in his own field, but never famous. The A-list names he drops would never boast of knowing him. He was involved in events but never dictated them. And most of all, the League Cup isn't the European Cup no matter how hard he pretends it was all down to him. The loneliest place in the world is on the edge of a conversation.
[/quote


Perfect summing up of the man and one I hope he never reads as it will hurt that vast ego within.

I voted Witton Lane because that's what I grew up with and that's what it is. I just look beyond any signs with his name on. 

[Irish villain]

It won't be renamed until they rebuild it. Far too much of a personal insult otherwise.

Maybe that's the answer then, because it was piss-poorly built in the first place.

Who was it who built it again?

Is it that badly built? What's the problems with it I've been in it a few times and thought it was pretty decent. Not as good as the Holte End or the Trinity but a decent stand all the same? I also happen to think it looks nice and achieves a lot given the restrictions caused by proximity to Witton Lane.