OutByEaster? Posted May 2, 2020 Moderator Share Posted May 2, 2020 Pongo is in his late 60's there and still looks like he could bustle through a goalkeeper. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post S-Platt Posted May 2, 2020 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted May 2, 2020 On 28/04/2020 at 08:55, John said: The Witton Lane Stand before and after. Billy Walker all time Villa leading scorer and I guess this must be Witton Lane before the photos above?? 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAV1 Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 9 hours ago, newhavenhibby said: Vic was manager when I first started to go to the Villa. Vic Crowe did a lot to help turn us around. He almost kept us up from a nearly impossible position in the second division when he first took over. The only League Cup Final by a third division club in his first full season and then a storming promotion the following season. I was there with 57000+ against Bournemouth when Ted McDougal scored a great diving header to give them a 1-0 lead, but relentless pressure from us saw us to win 2-1. I think it was Fred Turnbull and Andy Lockheed who scored for us. We then finished 8th I believe in the second division and Vic was extremely harshly sacked by Doug. Vic was messed around for years by Doug for his compensation. I think Vic’s contribution to our turnaround is greatly overlooked. The fact that the following manager did quite well overshadowed what Vic did. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 11 minutes ago, S-Platt said: Billy Walker all time Villa leading scorer and I guess this must be Witton Lane before the photos above?? It's an earlier picture of the stand on the left, before it was replaced by the one on the right. A terrific photograph, which clearly showing the lower terracing. That original barrel roofed stand, had been in place since 1897. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 17 minutes ago, John said: It's an earlier picture of the stand on the left, before it was replaced by the one on the right. A terrific photograph, which clearly showing the lower terracing. That original barrel roofed stand, had been in place since 1897. I can never work it out but is the lower tier of Witton Lane the same basic original core structure but with reprofiled seats and a upper tier and exec boxes added on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villadevon Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 10 hours ago, John said: Here's a photograph of Pongo Waring winning an aerial challenge, with another Villa old boy Mush Callaghan. Our then manager and former player, Vic Crowe is watching. The old boy clearly still liked to get his head to the ball, I've always liked this photograph: I'm embarrassed to say although I knew of his existence for Villa I wasn't aware of his stats until looking him up on wiki. Debut game for Villa reserves in front of 23,000, scores a hattrick against the unwashed. . 167 goals from 226 appearances including ten hattricks.Record 49 goals in a season 1930/31 From Billy Walkers recollections he appears to be the Gazza of his day from his antics. No wonder a Villa legend. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 34 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said: Vic Crowe did a lot to help turn us around. He almost kept us up from a nearly impossible position in the second division when he first took over. The only League Cup Final by a third division club in his first full season and then a storming promotion the following season. I was there with 57000+ against Bournemouth when Ted McDougal scored a great diving header to give them a 1-0 lead, but relentless pressure from us saw us to win 2-1. I think it was Fred Turnbull and Andy Lockheed who scored for us. We then finished 8th I believe in the second division and Vic was extremely harshly sacked by Doug. Vic was messed around for years by Doug for his compensation. I think Vic’s contribution to our turnaround is greatly overlooked. The fact that the following manager did quite well overshadowed what Vic did. We weren't the first Division 3 finalists. QPR and Swindon had been Wembley winners in 1967 and 1969 respectively, when in the third division. I was at that Bournemouth game as well. Geoff Vowden got our equaliser and the attendance of 48,110, was a third division record. I'll never forget the chants of Villa, Villa, as George Curtis hit the free kick for Andy's winner or the fans stamping their feet in encouragement on the wooden floor of the old Trinity either. Fantastic atmosphere that afternoon wasn't it? 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 46 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said: I can never work it out but is the lower tier of Witton Lane the same basic original core structure but with reprofiled seats and a upper tier and exec boxes added on? The old lower seats and much of the concrete they were attached to were taken up (asbestos was found in the process of rebuilding). The lower tier seating is steeper and I think it probably now goes further back, than the old seating did. Witton Lane itself, had to be realigned and houses compulsory purchased as the new stand goes back a lot further than the previous one did. Hope that helps a little. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAV1 Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 7 hours ago, John said: We weren't the first Division 3 finalists. QPR and Swindon had been Wembley winners in 1967 and 1969 respectively, when in the third division. I was at that Bournemouth game as well. Geoff Vowden got our equaliser and the attendance of 48,110, was a third division record. I'll never forget the chants of Villa, Villa, as George Curtis hit the free kick for Andy's winner or the fans stamping their feet in encouragement on the wooden floor of the old Trinity either. Fantastic atmosphere that afternoon wasn't it? It was great John, thanks for putting me right on a few facts. I think the attendance was only beaten for the third division quite a few years later when Sheffield Wednesday played Sheffield United at Hillsborough. I didn’t realise that QPR and Swindon had achieved that, my claret and blue specs were on. I was 9 ar the time of the Bournemouth match. My Dad was offered 2 tickets for the Witton Lane outside the ground as we queued for the Holte. The bloke said, “The lad won’t see a thing in there.” He was a genuine guy and sold them to Dad at face value. The whole day was wonderful. I recall Ray Graydon being fouled as he had run rings around their player, Ray picked up the ball and jokingly offed it to him. Little things stay with you don’t they? i believe 57000 was for the Sunderland game, the last game of the season when we were promoted back to the first division and Brian Little scored that wonderful goal. Happy days 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 (edited) It's a video rather than a photograph (apologies, there are some good photos also) but Birmingham Live have a nice old video (below) that was shot at the time the new "Witton Lane" stand was built, that Includes a pan around the ground: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/villa-park-witton-lane-stand-13313653 The new stand has 20 rows of lower tier seats, the previous one had 16 (at least it did before the row of executive boxes was added). The old barrel roofed stand was also previously known as both the Main and Grand stands, it also originally housed the dressing rooms. Edited May 3, 2020 by John 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhavenhibby Posted May 3, 2020 Visiting Supporter Share Posted May 3, 2020 10 hours ago, DaveAV1 said: Vic Crowe did a lot to help turn us around. He almost kept us up from a nearly impossible position in the second division when he first took over. The only League Cup Final by a third division club in his first full season and then a storming promotion the following season. I was there with 57000+ against Bournemouth when Ted McDougal scored a great diving header to give them a 1-0 lead, but relentless pressure from us saw us to win 2-1. I think it was Fred Turnbull and Andy Lockheed who scored for us. We then finished 8th I believe in the second division and Vic was extremely harshly sacked by Doug. Vic was messed around for years by Doug for his compensation. I think Vic’s contribution to our turnaround is greatly overlooked. The fact that the following manager did quite well overshadowed what Vic did. Villa v Notts County was my first game, I think around November in 1971. I could not believe the size of the crowd for the third division and just being in the Holte was an experience as a young lad that hooked me back to Villa Park for the next 20 years plus. Great days. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAV1 Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 11 hours ago, John said: It's an earlier picture of the stand on the left, before it was replaced by the one on the right. A terrific photograph, which clearly showing the lower terracing. That original barrel roofed stand, had been in place since 1897. That’s a great picture and way before my time! Do you know when the stand was built that replaced that? The one before the present stand, that I call the “old” stand, forgetting of course that it had a predecessor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fun Factory Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 1 hour ago, DaveAV1 said: That’s a great picture and way before my time! Do you know when the stand was built that replaced that? The one before the present stand, that I call the “old” stand, forgetting of course that it had a predecessor. Early to mid 60s I think. It was flat roofed for the World Cup games in 1966 but as I wasn't around then someone might have to confirm that! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, DaveAV1 said: That’s a great picture and way before my time! Do you know when the stand was built that replaced that? The one before the present stand, that I call the “old” stand, forgetting of course that it had a predecessor. The work on the stand was completed for the 1966 World Cup games at Villa Park. The first of the games was Argentina vs Spain on 13th July. Tickets for those games cost £1 for a seat in the new Witton Lane stand. Work was still ongoing on it, when the 1966 FA Cup semi-final between Sheffield Wednesday and Chelsea, was played there in April that year, only about 66% of the stand was in use for that game. Edited May 3, 2020 by John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAV1 Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 46 minutes ago, John said: The work on the stand was completed for the 1966 World Cup games at Villa Park. The first of the games was Argentina vs Spain on 13th July. Tickets for those games cost £1 for a seat in the new Witton Lane stand. Work was still ongoing on it, when the 1966 FA Cup semi-final between Sheffield Wednesday and Chelsea, was played there in April that year, only about 66% of the stand was in use for that game. I’ve just looked up what £1 in 1966 would be today. According to the interest calculator I used £1 then is £18.75 now. More evidence that the people’s game is no longer for the average man, whatever the average man is. Despite the huge amounts of TV money the price of tickets has gone up considerably more than inflation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted May 4, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted May 4, 2020 On 03/05/2020 at 09:05, John said: It's a video rather than a photograph (apologies, there are some good photos also) but Birmingham Live have a nice old video (below) that was shot at the time the new "Witton Lane" stand was built, that Includes a pan around the ground: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/villa-park-witton-lane-stand-13313653 The new stand has 20 rows of lower tier seats, the previous one had 16 (at least it did before the row of executive boxes was added). The old barrel roofed stand was also previously known as both the Main and Grand stands, it also originally housed the dressing rooms. Oh dear, trying to play video's on the Meaning Evil website What's interesting is even though the video (and the probably more interesting photo's further down) are in my eyes still fairly modern, none of the construction workers have a high visibility jacket on. At least they have hard hats on mind! Also the photo of Doug standing on the pitch in front of the old stand showed what a massive obstruction the roof was for the Holte End. What a disastrous piece of design that was. Vast swathes of the Holte must have had almost no view beyond the half way line. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 1 hour ago, sidcow said: Oh dear, trying to play video's on the Meaning Evil website What's interesting is even though the video (and the probably more interesting photo's further down) are in my eyes still fairly modern, none of the construction workers have a high visibility jacket on. At least they have hard hats on mind! Also the photo of Doug standing on the pitch in front of the old stand showed what a massive obstruction the roof was for the Holte End. What a disastrous piece of design that was. Vast swathes of the Holte must have had almost no view beyond the half way line. Funny story about the design flaws, my mates and I had seats in the lower tier of the "Scottish Stand" for the opening game. The lower tier had an extra row of seating initially. That was all very well, until the fans attempted to take their seats in the last row. Those ticket holders that were able to squeeze themselves down the back row (not everyone could), then found that when they tried to push their seats down to sit, the seat either hit the back of the seat in the next row, or the space between their seat front and the back of the next row seats was a couple of inches at best, making it physically impossible to sit down on them. That row had been removed by the next game! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted May 5, 2020 Moderator Share Posted May 5, 2020 4 hours ago, sidcow said: Also the photo of Doug standing on the pitch in front of the old stand showed what a massive obstruction the roof was for the Holte End. What a disastrous piece of design that was. Vast swathes of the Holte must have had almost no view beyond the half way line. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted May 5, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted May 5, 2020 6 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: When that roof was put on there must have been some old boys who had stood perfectly happily in the same part of The Holte since the 1920's who were like WTF? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
withes_shin Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 The Holte's Last Stand Glad to say "I was there", need to look very carefully to spot me though!! My usual spot was left side, 2/3rds of the way up to the right of the stanchion (as you look at the photo it was by the back stanchion on the right side) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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