Aston Villa Book of the 70s

[robbo1874]

Brilliant photos PWS. My first trips to Villa Park were in the Trinity and for a long time it was a unique stand that was a colossal source of pride. To me Villa park has never been the same since 2000 when it was demolished.

of course it was possible. Any engineer will tell you that pretty much anything is possible if you throw enough money at it. Obviously Doug either didn't have the money or didn't want to throw the money at it. I still can't believe the Council allowed it to be pulled down. I know it wasn't listed, but even so,  you'd think someone there would have said 'hang on a minute Doug, do you really need to do this? ' it probably boiled down to cost in all likelihood. These things usually do

Question for anyone who knows: was it possible to redevelop the stand in the same way Rangers redeveloped their main stand? They added a tier and a new roof and managed to keep the brick facade.

[robbo1874]

The poles would have gone if they had put on a cantilever roof like at rangers (or the new trinity). An extra tier with new steel work would have been able to support the existing facade.

My guess is the shape of the site and associated constraints made it prohibitively expensive compared to the additional capacity it would provide.

I'm just gutted Doug did what he did before he did before he sold up, as it's a fair bet that Randy would've gone down the heritage protection route.

[Villafirst]

Is the book launch still on at Villa Park on the 5th November - I understand some of the 1975 League Cup winning players will be there?

[West Derby Villan]

I got a response today,
"We are delighted to announce the timings of the Big Aston Villa Book of the Seventies launch event, and the names of the players who will be attending.

They will include: Jim Cumbes, Charlie Aitken, Chris Nicholl, Frank Carrodus, Brian Little, Leighton Phillips and Sammy Morgan... plus other Seventies players to be confirmed... we also hope to have a League Cup loaned to us for the afternoon!"

[Ger Regan]

The poles would have gone if they had put on a cantilever roof like at rangers (or the new trinity). An extra tier with new steel work would have been able to support the existing facade.

My guess is the shape of the site and associated constraints made it prohibitively expensive compared to the additional capacity it would provide.

I'm just gutted Doug did what he did before he did before he sold up, as it's a fair bet that Randy would've gone down the heritage protection route.

It was rebuilt around 5 years before he sold up, wasn't it? As for the cost, considering the mess we were in by the time randy left, i'm not sure I would have trusted him to with a highly complex building restoration project of that scale

[Villafirst]

I got a response today,
"We are delighted to announce the timings of the Big Aston Villa Book of the Seventies launch event, and the names of the players who will be attending.

They will include: Jim Cumbes, Charlie Aitken, Chris Nicholl, Frank Carrodus, Brian Little, Leighton Phillips and Sammy Morgan... plus other Seventies players to be confirmed... we also hope to have a League Cup loaned to us for the afternoon!"

Good news - is this on the 5th November? If so, I presume in the morning as we play Blackburn in the afternoon?

[dave.woodhall]

The poles would have gone if they had put on a cantilever roof like at rangers (or the new trinity). An extra tier with new steel work would have been able to support the existing facade.

My guess is the shape of the site and associated constraints made it prohibitively expensive compared to the additional capacity it would provide.

I'm just gutted Doug did what he did before he did before he sold up, as it's a fair bet that Randy would've gone down the heritage protection route.

It was rebuilt around 5 years before he sold up, wasn't it? As for the cost, considering the mess we were in by the time randy left, i'm not sure I would have trusted him to with a highly complex building restoration project of that scale

Built in 2000, six years before Randy arrived. I've no doubt that had that particular new regime been overseeing the project, particularly in the early days when Steve Stride was still around, it would have been done properly.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

They will include: Jim Cumbes, Charlie Aitken, Chris Nicholl, Frank Carrodus, Brian Little, Leighton Phillips and Sammy Morgan... plus other Seventies players to be confirmed... we also hope to have a League Cup loaned to us for the afternoon!"

An afternoon ? Back then we used to regularly keep it for a year !

[KevinGage]

The poles would have gone if they had put on a cantilever roof like at rangers (or the new trinity). An extra tier with new steel work would have been able to support the existing facade.

My guess is the shape of the site and associated constraints made it prohibitively expensive compared to the additional capacity it would provide.

I'm just gutted Doug did what he did before he did before he sold up, as it's a fair bet that Randy would've gone down the heritage protection route.

It was rebuilt around 5 years before he sold up, wasn't it? As for the cost, considering the mess we were in by the time randy left, i'm not sure I would have trusted him to with a highly complex building restoration project of that scale

Built in 2000, six years before Randy arrived. I've no doubt that had that particular new regime been overseeing the project, particularly in the early days when Steve Stride was still around, it would have been done properly.

Aye.  For all his faults, heritage is a passion of RL's.

[ChicagoLion]

Of all the things Ellis did, that act of vandalism is the one i will never forgive him for.

[saunders_heroes]

The poles would have gone if they had put on a cantilever roof like at rangers (or the new trinity). An extra tier with new steel work would have been able to support the existing facade.

My guess is the shape of the site and associated constraints made it prohibitively expensive compared to the additional capacity it would provide.

I'm just gutted Doug did what he did before he did before he sold up, as it's a fair bet that Randy would've gone down the heritage protection route.

It was rebuilt around 5 years before he sold up, wasn't it? As for the cost, considering the mess we were in by the time randy left, i'm not sure I would have trusted him to with a highly complex building restoration project of that scale

Built in 2000, six years before Randy arrived. I've no doubt that had that particular new regime been overseeing the project, particularly in the early days when Steve Stride was still around, it would have been done properly.

Aye.  For all his faults, heritage is a passion of RL's.

Pity he couldn't do anything with the North Stand.

[Villafirst]

Does anyone know what time the launch starts on 5th November?

[UK Redsox]

I've no problem with knocking the old stand down. It wasn't big enough and the poles got in the way from many of the seats.

It should've been done in a far more imaginative and classy way though, keeping the lion badge and not just making it look like any old generic big stand in the country.

If there'd been more space, maybe something like this could have been done ?

[Holte L2]

Does anyone know what time the launch starts on 5th November?

It starts at 12pm in the Holte Suite. 

I pre-ordered the book on Sunday.

coincidentally I've just purchased Children of the Revolution from Oxfam online for £20.00!! I've been looking for a copy for years.

[cdbearsfan]

I've no problem with knocking the old stand down. It wasn't big enough and the poles got in the way from many of the seats.

It should've been done in a far more imaginative and classy way though, keeping the lion badge and not just making it look like any old generic big stand in the country.

If there'd been more space, maybe something like this could have been done ?

I do like the Soldier Field Spaceship, but I'm not sure I could justify flooding Aston just to give us a nice water feature.