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Author Topic: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended  (Read 13952 times)

Online dave shelley

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #15 on: November 30, 2011, 09:26:58 AM »
Northampton in the sixties, old first division.  I seem to recall a picture in the Argus of the Witton End and you could count the people.  It pissed rain as I recall and Northampton, who rose from the fourth division to the first and back to the fourth in consecutive seasons beat us oone nil! I think it may have been their first away win of that season.  We were truly dire around those times.

Offline Damo70

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #16 on: November 30, 2011, 01:15:05 PM »
I was at that Southampton game waiting for it to get a bit more crowded at the last minute. I think I went to all the Simod games too, I definately remember games against Bradford, Blues, Forest and Boro. Do friendlies count? I seem to remember going to a game against the Australian national team on a Sunday in the mid eighties and I'm pretty sure I didn't have to queue to get in!

Online Rico

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #17 on: November 30, 2011, 03:13:03 PM »
I still used to turn up half an hour early!

Online Chico Hamilton III

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #18 on: November 30, 2011, 03:24:52 PM »
I went to the Southampton game.

This game is turning into our Sex Pistols at the 100 Club moment - if everyone who said they were there were actually there, there'd have been a full house....

Funny, at the time, I considered any crowd over about 22,000 to be decent. Looking back they were truly dark days in our history


Offline Archbishop Herbert Cockthrottle

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #19 on: November 30, 2011, 03:32:52 PM »
I was in the Holte for the Simod (or whatever it was called) game against Forest. If I remember, it was two days before Christmas and I was exceedingly drunk. Huge conga going on and general pissed up misbehaviour. Marvellous. One of my favourite games down Villa Park, if only I could remember it.

I was also at the Southampton game; I think by the end of this thread the attendance will have doubled.

Offline andyaston

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #20 on: November 30, 2011, 03:57:38 PM »
I went to the Southampton game.

This game is turning into our Sex Pistols at the 100 Club moment - if everyone who said they were there were actually there, there'd have been a full house....

Funny, at the time, I considered any crowd over about 22,000 to be decent. Looking back they were truly dark days in our history


Yea, I remember in the 88/89 season, first one back in the top flight we played Spurs at home and beat them 2-1, they had Waddle, Gazza etc palying for them. We got a crowd of 26,000 odd and I read the Sports Argus in which the match report they said there was a bumper crowd for the game but, they were right at the time. Anything over 25,000 was a good crowd.

Offline adrenachrome

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #21 on: November 30, 2011, 05:43:20 PM »
Take your pick from pretty much any game in the mid to late 60's.

Wander in through the Holte end turnstiles at five minutes to three, take a minute or so to choose which crush barrier you prefer to lean on, light a fag and away you go.

I do remember a game against Blackpool, when they had a young unknown lad in the side called Alan Ball. It was a very windy day and it started to pour with rain. The entire "crowd" on the Holte retreated out of the rain to the very back of the terrace and everyone was accommodated on about the top half dozen steps.

Exciting times.

Yeah, I can remember some gates c 12,000 when we we are our way from Div 2 to Div 3.

Online Chris Harte

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #22 on: December 01, 2011, 07:34:01 AM »
Went to the Exeter (7,000 odd) game and 8,456 against Southampton in 85/86, where we regualarly got somewhere between 10 - 12,000 crowds all season.  Oddly for our relegation season the following year, our attendances were a bit better.
Same here. Didn't all those missing hundreds miss a goalfeast versus Exeter, eh?

As for the Southampton game, all I really remember about it is being about as cold as I've even been at a game in my life, Gary Shaw missing late on at the Holte and the game being a general 0-0 bore.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2011, 07:37:16 AM by Chris Harte »

Offline The Laughing Policeman

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #23 on: December 01, 2011, 08:16:08 AM »
Take your pick from pretty much any game in the mid to late 60's.

Wander in through the Holte end turnstiles at five minutes to three, take a minute or so to choose which crush barrier you prefer to lean on, light a fag and away you go.

I do remember a game against Blackpool, when they had a young unknown lad in the side called Alan Ball. It was a very windy day and it started to pour with rain. The entire "crowd" on the Holte retreated out of the rain to the very back of the terrace and everyone was accommodated on about the top half dozen steps.

Exciting times.
This.
And THAT Rangers "friendly". It also looks like I'm the only Villa fan that didn't go to the Southampton game. :)
« Last Edit: December 01, 2011, 08:18:43 AM by The Laughing Policeman »

Offline Pat McMahon

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #24 on: December 01, 2011, 10:17:51 AM »
Take your pick from pretty much any game in the mid to late 60's.

Wander in through the Holte end turnstiles at five minutes to three, take a minute or so to choose which crush barrier you prefer to lean on, light a fag and away you go.

I do remember a game against Blackpool, when they had a young unknown lad in the side called Alan Ball. It was a very windy day and it started to pour with rain. The entire "crowd" on the Holte retreated out of the rain to the very back of the terrace and everyone was accommodated on about the top half dozen steps.

Exciting times.
This.
And THAT Rangers "friendly". It also looks like I'm the only Villa fan that didn't go to the Southampton game. :)

If it makes you feel better LP, I am fickle too as I wasn't at the infamous Southampton game. I moved to London in the summer of 1985  that year and only made one midweek game all season, that being the LC semi v Oxford. The train network being what it was, I had to leave 15-20 mins before full time to get to New St for the last train to London. Life was hard in them days of old....

Offline Bernie

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #25 on: December 02, 2011, 10:45:46 AM »
I vaguely remember a testimonial for Charlie Aitken that had a scandalously low 5 or 6k in attendance. I think it was the night before a Cup Final in the mid 70's. Does that ring a bell with anyone?

Offline TonyD

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #26 on: December 02, 2011, 04:20:09 PM »
I was at the Southampton game.   It was bizarre.  Must have been only 3k in the Holte you could have had your own game of footy. 

Offline Charlie8182

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #27 on: December 05, 2011, 06:41:48 PM »
What I remember about the Southampton game is that it didnt seem to me to be much different to many of the other crowds we had that season, after all we only got 10,000 against Arsenal the following month.  Only when it was announced was it shocking.  I also remember Dave Ismay being on the pitch before the game telling the Holte to get behind the team and getting plenty of abuse back.

Interestingly, Spurs only got 9,000 at home against Blues before the end of that season, although Villa did seem to suffer more than most in the post-Heysel season.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2011, 06:43:41 PM by Charlie8182 »

Offline UsualSuspect

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #28 on: December 06, 2011, 02:11:18 PM »
I remember a game against Watford which finished 1-1, probably April 1985 and i think the crowd was just over 10,000

I remember playing Liverpool on a Friday night in I think in 1984, it was cold and dark and we got to the Holte about 645 for a 730 kick off and they hadn't opened the turnstiles.

I think we had 20k there in the end and MOTD had put a cameraman on a plank of wood and two milk crates at the back of the Holte which some people tried to pull over at the end. We lost 3-1 and Rush scored a hatrick

Offline LeeB

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Re: Lowest crowd at a Villa Park game attended
« Reply #29 on: December 06, 2011, 09:49:25 PM »
I remember Watford at home the year we went down, about 12k on a cold Wednesday night. Think there were about 11k at the league cup game against Boro the next season as well.

 


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