THE HISTORY OF VILLA PARK, THE HOME OF ASTON VILLA FOOTBALL CLUB SINCE 1897
In the late 19th century, Villa Park was part of a pleasure ground that consisted of a football and cricket pitch, athletics track, and a small grandstand. Aston Villa at that time still played their home matches at the Perry Barr ground, but in 1897 moved to the superior Villa Park.
Before they moved in, they had already built a new main stand and accompanied this with open terracing on the remaining sides. The stadium was bowl-shaped back then, and could hold about 40,000 people.
Aston Villa opened their new ground on the 17th of April 1897 with a friendly match against Blackburn Rovers (3-0).
In the next two decades Villa Park got gradually expanded, and in 1913 lost its bowl shape when the cycling track got removed. Plans were made to expand the stadium to a capacity of 130,000, WW1 brought these to a halt.
Works continued after the war though, and were concluded in 1923 when the new Trinity Road Stand opened. At that time the stadium could hold about 80,000 people.
Villa Park recorded its highest attendance in 1946 when 76,588 people attended a match against Derby County.
In the next decades only smaller changes were made, which included cover for the Holte End and a refurbishment of the Witton Lane Stand in 1964.
Villa Park was one of the playing venues of the 1966 World Cup, hosting three group matches.
The stadium underwent a next change in 1976 when a new North Stand opened in place of the Witton Lane End. The new stand led to heavy debts though, and no further changes were made until the 1990s.
In 1993 the new Doug Ellis Stand opened, followed by the demolition and reconstruction of the Holte End. The transformation of the stadium into an all-seater was completed when the North Stand got fitted with seats.
Villa Park hosted three group matches and a quarter-final during the 1996 European Championships.
In 1999, it hosted the last ever European Cup Winners’ Cup final between Real Mallorca and Lazio Roma (1-2).
In 2000, the classic Trinity Road stand from the 1920s got demolished and replaced by a new stand. In recent years tentative plans have been made to expand the stadium to a capacity of 50,000 by rebuilding the North Stand, but its is unlikely that these will be executed any time soon.
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