Would it be more fun if we went down?

[croatian]

More fun?

It'd be like the club saying "We've been sticking pins in your eyes for the past few years, now we're gonna stick them in your bollox instead".

Going to VP is a hard habit to break. It took the combined efforts of turner, mcbungle and lipgloss to cure me of that addiction. It made perfect sense to play another 18 holes on a Saturday rather than rush to VP.

Not going to VP is also a hard habit to break. It'll take something special to get me to invest my hard earned and time in the stinking corpse that AVFC has become.

And it certainly won't be second tier football.

I may be miles out here, but if I hadn't done something I used to enjoy for twenty odd years, I don't think I'd have the slightest interest in going online to talk about it.


The passage of time doesn't stop me caring about the Villa, or even becoming angry about the slow, painful and embarrassing decline of a once great club.
I'm not on my own in this, where are all the other youngsters, like me, that were in that huge crowd against Bournemouth all those years ago? Why aren't the Villa attracting 54,000 these days? (Yes I know VP'S capacity has decreased).

The answers are self evident.

[PeterWithesShin]

It was 48K. Our average this season is higher than it was then.

[DeKuip]

Away games would be terrible too. The away support in the championship is rubbish; the clubs in there average around 1100. We would be the only club to take a big away following everywhere we went. By the same token, all the locals would turn out for a curious stare at the floundering whale of a club, drowning in the shallows. It would be like a trip to the New Den every other week and I have no desire to be locked in more often than not.

spot on

 A mate of mine who is a Fulham season ticket holder reckons that Leeds brought more this season (5k) than most premier league clubs did in the last couple of season before Fulham were relegated. I think it was midweek too. He also reckons they have one of the largest away followings in the country partly because they get larger allocations at many grounds than the standard 2000 or so in the premier league.

Leeds have also taken 6,500 to MK Dons, 4,000 to Reading & Huddersfield and 4,500 to Bolton this season yet their away support is down on previous seasons in that they're no longer selling out away games - so there is the capacity for bigger away followings in the Championship. And they haven't been to Hillsborough or Burnley yet either.

It will be a massive blow to the club as a business if we go down, but from a supporters point of view it's really just visiting different places to come back miserable from - as my Leeds supporting best mate always says.

[PeterWithesShin]

Not up to date as they seem a bit slow updating info, but gives an idea of away support so far this season down there.

[Percy McCarthy]

Fuck all this doom and gloom - if it happens we'll just have to get on with it.

[old man villa fan]

Fuck all this doom and gloom - if it happens we'll just have to get on with it.

Absolutely right. As soon as it happens (if it does at all), start planning to get back up.

[WarszaVillan]

If I were still living in England and could go regularly I wouldn't mind so much. I'd still be able to go to the match, have a pint, etc. It would be cheaper, we'd probably win more and the matches would regularly be on a Saturday afternoon. However, the thought of having to squint at an internet stream watching Championship football does not fill me with much joy. I never understand those that get righteous about going to games, you don't know how easy you have it

[London Villan]

Great stats table. Is there one like that for the premier league?

[Duncan Shaw]

Everyone keeps saying it will be cheaper - I certainly can't see us dropping our prices significantly, but yes hopefull away games would be.

[AVH87]

Looking at that table, Blues tactic is clearly to take big followings to a couple of grounds, to bump their average up as more often than not they take around 800.

[Lastfootstamper]

Everyone keeps saying it will be cheaper - I certainly can't see us dropping our prices significantly, but yes hopefull away games would be.

It'll work out cheaper per game on a season ticket based on 4 more games. Is there still a VillaValue match category? Wouldn't most games fall into that, under the current normal definition of such? As for category A games, I'd expect every possible length to be taken to turn games into "derbies". As for aways, won't we find ourselves in the manure-et-al situation whereby wherever we go we'll be a top-dollar game? I reckon that over the course of a season, one'll fork out not much less than now.

[Holte L2]

The idea of Friday night games. games in midweek on a more regular basis and just the fact that we'd been relegated is enough for me. No, it would be horrible.

Our Friday night game against Man Utd in August was wonderful. 

[Rioch is King]

A lot of my favorite VP memories are from times when we were in the old 2nd Division. With Ron Saunders then Graham Taylor. I know things are different now, very, but I don't remember anyone then going on about how terrible it all felt that weren't in Div 1 and that it was miserable being out of the top flight. We were fighting to go up,  it was exciting… and it was Villa park and we were the Villa. We ARE the Villa and everyone else can just get in the fucking sea.

[Ads]

I don't think I've ever known traffic as bad for that Man United game.

[Dr Butler]

A lot of my favorite VP memories are from times when we were in the old 2nd Division. With Ron Saunders then Graham Taylor. I know things are different now, very, but I don't remember anyone then going on about how terrible it all felt that weren't in Div 1 and that it was miserable being out of the top flight. We were fighting to go up,  it was exciting… and it was Villa park and we were the Villa. We ARE the Villa and everyone else can just get in the fucking sea.

Ha ha...Amen to that  brother Rioch is King


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