supertom46

With a reference with at least 3 away games on it you might have a chance. Your local Lions Club is normally a shout but I'm not sure there are Lions Club tickets available for Cup Games.

Bolton good game to go to - Villa normally on fine form up there.

The Wetherspoons in Wigan is decent enough, full of some dodgy characters at that time though!! 08:57 Birmingham to Manchester for us. Couple of drinks in Manchester, few in Bolton. Maybe Stockport/Macclesfield on the way back.

What a great weekend Locals were unbelievable friendly - those of us that went out said it was almost like you were in the Ecstacy scene of 90s etc. Everyone was THAT nice. Had a real good laugh with some Swansea fans, so much so, it took us 2-3 hours to get from Oceana to our hotel.

Advice I've been given is that people should stick to a proper looking pub i.e Yates', Wetherspoons etc. I think we're just gonna see what the feeling is and maybe go out properly but we'll have to see.

Swansea 2-0 nailed on

Trying out my best Welsh accent by the sounds of things! Apparently Wind Street is the place to hit. Certainly sounds like it eh :shock: One of the lads I'm going with, his old man is Welsh, and told us to go to Cardiff (?!) to avoid trouble!! Not paying that Taxi Fare, just hope everything goes alright!

What are people that are staying doing on the Saturday Night??

Sorry, only just spotted this! Basically if you were to buy your train tickets as follows...... Solihull (Example - Any station outside of Birmingham will work the same) to Stafford Day Return Stafford to Stoke On Trent Day Return Stoke On Trent to Manchester Day Return Manchester to Horwich Parkway Day Return You will save money. Split ticketing works for any games except London games. It takes about an extra 3 or 4 minutes to order them all at your starting station, but can save you a lot. The only restriction you have is that the trains you are on have to stop at each station you have a ticket for. Therefore, your train from Birmingham to Manchester must stop at Stafford & Stoke, which most if not all do, just check before your board. A lot cheaper than buying say Solihull to Horwich Parkway - check yourself on National Rail if you like. Saved £22 on way up to Sunderland.

Those who don't want to be restricted to a certain train can split their tickets at Stafford, Stoke and Manchester to save about £11. To save £12 you can split at Stafford, Stoke & Stockport.

Hi All, Just thought I'd post a way you can get your train travel cheaper to get to Sunderland, if you're heading from Birmingham and surrounding areas. Instead of buying Starting Station to Sunderland, buy these tickets. Can buy all of them at first station or at New Street... Starting Station - Derby Derby - Sheffield Sheffield - York York - Sunderland Saves about £15 I believe. More with a railcard. Just make sure the trains you're on stop at Derby, Sheffield & York, whilst you don't have to get off, the train has to stop to make the ticket valid!!!

People should probably start paying more attention to him when he plays. Last night, his runs were extremely clever, and his passing at times was exceptional to play people through. He made a lot more effort than he did all of last season. He is due a start and a goal I feel. I Look forward to seeing 'Ireland 7' emblazoned across the back of shirts around Villa Park in the coming months!! Give the lad a chance.

To the Cuellar Tune... They told us they were staying up, they lied, they lied. They told us they were staying up, they lied, they lied. They told us they were staying up, They won the cup and f*cked it up, Birmingham City, The Laughing Stock of Brum!! They told us we were going down, they lied, they lied. They told us we were going down, they lied, they lied. They told us we were going down, In Birmingham we wear the crown, Aston Villa, Midlands Number One!!

You'll be pretty lonely in the Eight Bells at half 9! It'll start to fill up about 12 I'd have thought..?

Right then... For those who want a little flexibility so want to avoid Advance tickets.... Birmingham to Stafford Return - £9.10 Stafford to Crewe Return - £10.20 Crewe to Liverpool Return - £9.40 That's £28.70... Saves £3.30 on your standard return. Train must stop at both Stafford and Crewe, you don't need to change. To save more money, if you're travelling in a group (3 or more?) there is a Groupsave ticket from Crewe to Liverpool. That is going by last years game anyway.. Another even cheaper option is taking a long route.. Birmingham to Chester (Via Shrewsbury, Not Crewe) - £17.20 Chester to Liverpool (Via Hooton, Not Crewe) - £6.45 Total of £23.65. If anyone needs any help, just PM me times, starting station and how many of you and I'll try and find you the cheapest possible!

If there's 4 of you going you can get an off peak groupsave 4 ticket for £77. This includes unlimited tube and bus passes to use when in London. With a £1 booking fee on thetrainline.com it works out at £19.50 each. Fantastic! My ticket is around that anyway with Railcard plus my Oyster Card is all paid for. But I am going with 4 lads who didn't like the prospect of £30 with the Travelcard! Thanks for your help b76!

Just so everyone is aware... If you're planning on going on the Chiltern Line, trains will be running to London PADDINGTON, not London MARYLEBONE. This is £25 return and takes about 2 and a half hours from town. The last direct train back is at 2006. After this, there is a 2036 to Banbury, then a bus onwards to Leamington/Warwick Parkway where there is a connection getting you to town for 0001. Then there is a 2206 (Latest train back on the night I believe), which takes you to Banbury for a Direct Bus onwards. This will get you into town for 0150. Having looked at all of the sites, this is the cheapest way to get to London for the day.

3 of us going on train, think we'll be leaving town just after 5 as we get into Derby at around 6ish. Will be on the 2210 train back, expect that will be pretty rammed with Villa.

Crown and Cushion, Florence Nightingale and Navigation are the away pubs.

Ireland will perform given the right management. Really confused how people can't see that the most strength in depth we have is in the middle.. Petrov, Makoun, Delph, Bannan and Ireland, plus Hogg and Herd who have done themselves no harm in the first team. Added to that is Gary Gardner who will get better and better... That's 28 Central Midfield pairings. If all of these players were to get a fair chance then I see it as 21 of these pairings are perfectly competent. The 7 you wouldn't play together being Bannan/Ireland, Bannan/Herd, Bannan/Gardner, Ireland/Herd, Ireland/Gardner, Hogg/Herd and Herd/Gardner. In fact, if the players are 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice etc as above, I believe our '20th choice' pairing of Bannan and Hogg are perfectly competent as they proved last season. Why are we all such Doom and Gloom merchants!?

Assuming we sell it quickly anyway. Hope we do, last year was a much better craic with the Upper Tier as well.

Got 4 tickets for my mates in P4, Row WW, seats 80, 86,87 and 88. Will join them over there I think, will basically be an away section at the back.

I believe we have taken full 2,900. Only saying that because I've seen someone say it, and on the Fulham site, there are 3/4 blocks set aside for away fans.

Thanks for the info John, I have 3 Non ST Holders who wanted a ticket for this, looks like the Neutral end for them. Great news that we've sold out nearly though, expect the Neutral to be full of Villa. But be careful - having checked on the Fulham site, it is starting to fill up a little. Worth signing up to the site - you can pick and choose your seats which is what I'll be doing tomorrow.

In previous seasons you have been able to pay on the gate. However, when I bought my tickets on Saturday, I'm located halfway down the stand on the side, which is the extra allocation. If you are intending to pay on the gate, I'd call Villa first to check, and if they say you can, get there pretty early, otherwise you'll end up with the Home fans.