Saturday 12th October 1974
Villa Park Stadium
Ground Capacity:- 55,000
Kick Off:- 15:00
Entry Fee:- 25p
Programme:- 10p
Venue #6
ASTON VILLA ... 1 BLACKPOOL ... 0
I remember this one a couple of months before my 14th birthday went with a couple of friends from the street where I lived they were brothers and supported Aston Villa, I always aspiring to be different wanted Blackpool to win. We watched the game from the terraces of the Holte end about ten steps from the front (pitch side) and with the goal slightly to our left.
Blackpool played well for most of the game considering the amount of injuries they had and with the changes they made from the week before at home to Hull City with Glyn James acquiring the number 4 shirt from Paul Hart, Alan Ainscow coming into midfield pushing Wyn Davies out on the bench and also the long term injuries of Alan Suddick, Keith Dyson and Kevin Moore who were all waiting to see specialists. Regular keeper John Burridge left out for the third game running in favour of George Wood, Burridge joined Villa the following year.
Not in with the run of play as far as I was concerned Villa got the decisive goal through Ray Graydon in the second half his twelfth of the season and increasing his tally as top goal scorer in division two to the delight of my two friends causing anger to eat away at me and ending in a fight on the way home which I lost of course, well it was two against one.
The stands were named then much as they are today with the Holte end behind the goal which is a large two-tiered stand and replaced one of the largest terraces in the country back in the day. The stand opened in 1994/95 season and has a capacity of 13,500.
The North Stand is at the other end of the pitch slightly older being built in the late 70's it is two-tiered with executive boxes running through the middle with the lower tier replacing terracing in the early 90's with the addition of nearly 3,000 seats.
At one side of the pitch is the Trinity Road Stand which is three-tiered with a small tier at the front and two larger ones at the middle and back which are separated by executive boxes. This newer version of the stand was opened in 2001.
On the other side of the pitch is the Doug Ellis Stand which is the only stand to have changed it's name since 1974 when it was known as the Witton Lane Stand. This stand has two tiers and was opened in 1996 prior to the European Championships of which Villa Park was a host venue.
MATCH DETAILS
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