Aston Villa vs West Ham Pre-Match Thread

[Risso]

Come on Rory, they're the West Brom of London. I generally like their fans as they go back beyond the PL but now they all sound like Spurs fans. Plus their ground is shite.

Sad thing is they know it.

Somebody's going to have a sore head this morning I reckon!

[LeeB]

Come on Rory, they're the West Brom of London. I generally like their fans as they go back beyond the PL but now they all sound like Spurs fans. Plus their ground is shite.

Sad thing is they know it.

That's harsh. On the Baggies.

They're the Birmingham City of London, no trophies, wanker fans, dodgy owners and a shithole stadium.

[Bobby Boy]

This Villa-West Ham pre-match thread has gone a bit dark hasn't it.

Better to let it out I suppose. Cathartic, like.

[JD]

Come on Rory, they're the West Brom of London. I generally like their fans as they go back beyond the PL but now they all sound like Spurs fans. Plus their ground is shite.

Sad thing is they know it.

That's harsh. On the Baggies.

They're the Birmingham City of London, no trophies, wanker fans, dodgy owners and a shithole stadium.

Agree with RCF. Millwall are the Birmingham City of London. I don't have any issues with their fans (they got me out of a beating when I was 14 from Arsenal fans). Most WHU fans I know are ok.

[Ads]

No real issue with West Ham. Decent club, made remarkable only by having the worst excuse for a football stadium I've ever been to, in 30 years. I don't feel like I've ever been to a place, anywhere, where it felt like my soul was being corroded as that ground.

There's some proper shit grounds out there; Man City is a bland corporate vision of what grey men in suits think "footie" looks like. But it's not bad, it just reflects the club its appended to. Barrow was a real non-league lump of concrete to stand on with a shed at the back, but it was brilliant and my favourite away day of last year. Ninian Park had a mens room that was an actual empty room with a gulley that ran around 3 quarters of it and that was it. Loftus Road is a cramped shit hole. Selhurst Park might as we be nestled in the Himalayas for the ease it is to get to. Terrible sight lines, like Goodison. The Smethwick End is woeful to get into, those Stripey twats couldn't organise a crowd to save their lives. The Molineux away end is really poor for atmosphere, I actually wish the deluded fools would redevelop their hovel as they claim they are going to, as we'd get a better end. Springfield Park was a muddy bank, fortunately not for us. Burnden Park had a Supermarket. St James Park in Exeter was open ended tiny rubbish and was only trumped for worse weather when we drew 2-2 at Fratton Park before it had a roof. Still wet now. Roker Park was the coldest place on Earth. The Mannor Ground was a mesh of 8 or 9 different stands. The new ground is so minimalist, they stopped three quarters of the way through. The New Den is an annoying day of waiting around. Filbert Street was a really pokey hive of Villa hating fools. The old Railway End, before they knocked it down and built the Agbonlahor End, literally flooded torrents of piss. Shite hole.

But I'd buy tickets for absolutely every single one of them if it were possible and look forward to going to each game. I'll go to West Ham away this season, as is my solemn duty. But they stand unique in my footballing history as the only ground I really, really don't want to go to, as it is awful beyond compare.

[LeeB]

Burden Park stands out as the worst toilet at any ground, bar possibly the old Wembley, I've been to.

It was more like a piss lido.

[N'ZMAV]

the old Wembley was a dump. I think my trainers from 1996 are still full of piss.

[Clampy]

the old Wembley was a dump. I think my trainers from 1996 are still full of piss.

Pissing in your trainers wasn't a good idea.

[N'ZMAV]

the old Wembley was a dump. I think my trainers from 1996 are still full of piss.

Pissing in your trainers wasn't a good idea.

[TonyD]

What is so bad about their stadium to get such universal disapproval?

[olaftab]

Come on Rory, they're the West Brom of London. I generally like their fans as they go back beyond the PL but now they all sound like Spurs fans. Plus their ground is shite.

Sad thing is they know it.

But...but don't you know don't you flipping know they won the world cup?

[Beard82]

What is so bad about their stadium to get such universal disapproval?

It’s not a football stadium basically

[eamonn]

Ads, you're youngish, how do you remember Exeter, Oxford etc.?

[Risso]

What is so bad about their stadium to get such universal disapproval?

Where do you start?

It's not designed for football, at all. You're miles from the pitch, and the away fans are sat where the stage goes for music concerts. One half of the fans in the lower bit, then the stage, then the other half are further up.

The atmosphere is shit.

Getting there is OK, as it's a ten minute walk from Stratford station, but afterwards they block off the path around the stadium. The home fans have to put up with a stop/go system, and the away fans are treated to a 40 minute march back to the station around the ring road.

[TonyD]

What is so bad about their stadium to get such universal disapproval?

Where do you start?

It's not designed for football, at all. You're miles from the pitch, and the away fans are sat where the stage goes for music concerts. One half of the fans in the lower bit, then the stage, then the other half are further up.

The atmosphere is shit.

Getting there is OK, as it's a ten minute walk from Stratford station, but afterwards they block off the path around the stadium. The home fans have to put up with a stop/go system, and the away fans are treated to a 40 minute march back to the station around the ring road.

I know it’s the Olympic Games stadium but it looks decent enough for fans from seeing in on the TV.