1.1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

I’d gone to Villa Park a few years back with my father to watch Villa v Leeds, so when Swansea got promoted at the end of last season I set out Villa Park as an away trip I really wanted to do. A chance to go back and revisit it. Also, I was quietly confident that we’d finally pick up our first away win of the season here.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

Travelling from Cardiff was very easy. Only really took about two hours (+ a half hour stop at Strensham Services). Easy enough. We parked about a mile away from the Ground as we arrived quite late and thought any car parks nearer would be packed out already.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

We arrived there and went straight into the ground really. I had a conversation with a few Villa fans after they asked me what I thought the score would be. They were all confident they’d win comfortably after they’d beaten Chelsea 1-3 at Stamford Bridge a couple of days before. I told them they’d need to be careful, and not complacent, because this game wouldn’t be easy!

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

Amazing ground, to be fair. Really nice. Old fashioned. I love how they’d designed it. I do have one complaint though, the stairways to the upper tier were so, so narrow. Upper tier holds probably about 1,000-1,500 away fans and that’s a lot of people to be crammed into the narrowest of stairways. It was okay with people coming in, in drips and drabs, but getting out was a nightmare!

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

Aston Villa 0-2 Swansea City. First away win in the Premier League and a chance to bring the Villa Boys back down to earth! Their supporters were absolutely awful, mind. Very disappointing. Sung ‘’Villa Villa Villa’ at the beginning then heard nothing of them until McLeish brought off Ireland and they all booed. Terrible support! Also, SHOCKING facilities! Amazing ground, but the concourses were terrible. No alcohol on sale for away supporters, one small vendor for pies and soft drinks. No where near big enough concourse for that many people. Something Villa really need to address!

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

As mentioned before, getting out of the ground itself was terrible. A real nightmare. Queued for about 30 minutes just to get down the stairs and outside. A mile walk back to the car and we did get away from the area without any queues at all, which was good. Raced back. Amazing doing an away day and being home, with three points, by 8pm!

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out?

One of the best away days of the season so far! Mainly because of the result and the atmosphere generated by our supporters. No banter at all during the game with the Villa fans who were very quiet, but no surprise really considering the scoreline. Still I would recommend going to Villa Park, it’s a nice ground and an easy three points for your team!