doug ellis/witton lane stand

[georgevilla]

i read on here that the doug ellis wasn’t a rebuild but just an expansion of the old witton lane stand that was there before. can anyone confirm this? if so does that mean it shares the same concourses and lower tier?

[Ads]

The lower tier is the old stand and the upper was squashed into the space allowed. By all accounts the upper tier is dire and one of the poorest away ends going.

[London Villan]

It started off as the old stand - with exits and entrances in place from what was probably the 1897 original stand but the season after the new stand opened the lower tier was re-built with the layout we have today.

The links below show the stand under construction with the new seats bolted onto the original profile.

https://www.google.com/search?q=witton+lane+stand+1994&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB829GB829&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjy08yRsZHhAhVlo3EKHWQXBEAQ_AUIDigB&biw=1536&bih=722#imgrc=BfKPrvhQE1ZgWM:

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB829GB829&biw=1536&bih=722&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=Z4ySXIqJF4y0UvLFm7AM&q=witton+lane+stnad+1945&oq=witton+lane+stnad+1945&gs_l=img.3...2198.2737..3209...0.0..0.60.330.6......1....1..gws-wiz-img.D_Hv6daCLwk#imgrc=-Zixh5lZ7zY_cM:


https://pixels.com/featured/aston-villa-villa-park-witton-lane-stand-1-april-1993-legendary-football-grounds.html

That make sense?

[Risso]

Sat in the Upper once.  The amount of leg room was dire.

[London Villan]

The club wanted a few extra feet of land to give the upper tier more space, but the council turned them down, due to the houses in its shadow.

[nuninho]

Wow.  Amazing what 25 years does to the memory.  I forgot how small it was!

[Pete3206]

Witton Upper is fine.The view is great, but the concourse is tight and the food/drink thingys are not very good.

[London Villan]

Here's another one stadium geeks...

https://pixels.com/featured/aston-villa-villa-park-bw-1960s-legendary-football-grounds.html

[georgevilla]

It started off as the old stand - with exits and entrances in place from what was probably the 1897 original stand but the season after the new stand opened the lower tier was re-built with the layout we have today.

The links below show the stand under construction with the new seats bolted onto the original profile.

https://www.google.com/search?q=witton+lane+stand+1994&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB829GB829&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjy08yRsZHhAhVlo3EKHWQXBEAQ_AUIDigB&biw=1536&bih=722#imgrc=BfKPrvhQE1ZgWM:

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB829GB829&biw=1536&bih=722&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=Z4ySXIqJF4y0UvLFm7AM&q=witton+lane+stnad+1945&oq=witton+lane+stnad+1945&gs_l=img.3...2198.2737..3209...0.0..0.60.330.6......1....1..gws-wiz-img.D_Hv6daCLwk#imgrc=-Zixh5lZ7zY_cM:


https://pixels.com/featured/aston-villa-villa-park-witton-lane-stand-1-april-1993-legendary-football-grounds.html

That make sense?

right so when it was built they just built behind the stand that was there? so expanded the lower and added the upper and then the season after once it was built added a new concourse and exits etc? or a complete rebuild?

[London Villan]

Complete rebuild of the lower teir if i remember correctly.

[pauliewalnuts]

Sat in the Upper once.  The amount of leg room was dire.

The concourses are dangerously cramped upstairs.

[andyh]

Witton Upper is fine.The view is great, but the concourse is tight and the food/drink thingys are not very good.

This.
The view from the upper is great but the concourse is horrible.
I have only ever sati in the north stand once, for the Dynamo Kiev home leg. I seem to remember the concourse was pretty narrow up there as well.

[villa `cross the mersey]

Wasn't the lower tier originally  the stand built for the 1966 World Cup?
Have had season tickets for both upper and lower North Stand
The leg room is poor in both tiers and the concourses aren't very roomy either

[dave.woodhall]

Form memory, Witton Lane was diverted a bit to make more space but we couldn't get all the land we needed due to the ancient lights regulations. The whole thing was built around the existing tier of the old stand, thereby fitting in with the club ethos of the time, namely "How much for cash?" A year or so later it was found to everyone's amazement that new seats on old terrace ruined the sightlines, so the bottom tier had to be relaid, at which point asbestos was found, causing a delay and reducing capacity at the start of 1995-96. Doug being penny wise, pound foolish. Who'da thought it? 

[LeeB]

In many ways the name of that particular stand is very appropriate.