Villa on Tour
The boys are back in town, as Max Stokes experiences his first away day under Dean Smith, with the Villa on Tour lads. He must be a lucky omen, as the Villa Head Coach chalked up his first away win of the season with the emphatic 3-0 win at Derby.
Somebody get Stokes an away season ticket now!
Below is the video of Villa on Tour’s trip to Pride Park, followed by Max’s review of the game and impressions of Derby’s ground.
You can read all the other away day reviews and watch the corresponding videos – here
If you’re on Youtube, make sure you subscribe to their channel, so you’ll know when the next away day video drops.
Villa Away Day at Derby Video
Date: 10th November 2018
Score: Derby 0 Aston Villa 3 (McGinn, Abraham, Hourihane)
Ground: Pride Park
Attendance: 30,400
Away Review of Derby County
By Max Stokes (Villa on Tour)
Away Atmosphere – 10/10
From the first whistle you could tell it was going to be a good day. The atmosphere in the away end was incredible throughout the game and one of the best I’ve experienced in a long time.
The fantastic team performance on the pitch was only making for a better atmosphere in the stands. As soon as the goals began to flow, the atmosphere became that of a party. The continuous belting out of “We’ve got Mcginnnnnn” went on for ages and then came the mocking of the Derby fans with one of my personal favourite songs: “Is there a fire drill?”.
Overall, the best away atmosphere I’ve experienced this season by far and one of the best ever in my opinion.
Away End facilities – 6/10
The facilities were fairly decent at Derby to be fair. The stadium itself is modern and one of the biggest in the Championship. The concourse was split in two, which was a shame as the away fans were split. However, this didn’t prevent a rowdy concourse. Definitely not the worst away end I’ve been in but it was nothing special.
(If you went to Pride Park fill in the FSF survey about your own experience)
Home Fans Atmosphere – 4/10
I was going into the game expecting a good turn out by Derby fans but they just didn’t seem up for it. Not once did I hear a song from them, but that was probably because the away end just sang over them the whole match. I was expecting their usual bouncing up and down chant but that never made an appearance either, but I suppose it’s a bit inappropriate when you’re 3-0 down.
Empty Seats My Lord?
Very little. Frank Lampard has been working his magic in recent weeks, so it’s no surprise to see the Rams fans flocking to watch them. It was certainly full down our end of the stadium but at the other end there were a few empty patches behind that goal. One of the better turnouts I’ve seen this season, even though they didn’t make much noise.
Best Thing about the Ground?
Being a more modern stadium, it properly isn’t as interesting as visiting it, as it would have been the Baseball Ground. The fact there was a decent sized crowd to witness Villa’s performance, was perhaps the best thing.
Classic Moment of the Away Day?
It can only be one moment. That John McGinn header that opened the floodgates in the final quarter of the game. It sparked the away end into absolute chaos and there’s no better feeling than a moment like that.
Anything funny happen?
I suppose the multiple chants aimed at Derby such as “is there a fire drill?” and “Frankie, what’s the score?” provided more than enough entertainment towards the end of the game.
The moment that topped off the day was one that took us by surprise, to say the least. When we were hanging around the stadium after the game, I spotted the back of a familiar head. We run up to the press office door and out came Dean Smith. We shook his hand, had a quick chat about the game and then got a photo with him. He was such a kind bloke and it was the perfect way to end the away day.
If Carlsberg did away days ????????. What a day @AVFCOfficial @JamieCampion01 @mjestokes pic.twitter.com/N8SIWhYmzM
— Owen Thompson (@otvillayouth) November 10, 2018
Any other business?
Throughout the day we were working with Unilad and the club themselves in producing a much more high quality video, in which we took a guy called ‘Bam’ who had never been to a Villa game, on a Villa away day and showed him what it’s all about.
It took him a while to get used to all the songs but I think it’s fair to say he a fully fledged Villa fan after that one! Keep an eye out on the official Aston Villa YouTube channel for the video.
Overall, both the atmosphere and incredible performance by Villa really did make this one of the best away days for a very long time. Hopefully this will set us up nicely for the tough run of fixtures we’re heading into. All eyes on the derby day…
UTV
Follow Max on Twitter here – @mjestokes
Follow Owen on Twitter here – otvillayouth
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Fantastic result. Great photo with The gaffer. Bring on the blues. Dean has certainly got this team believing again, & we, as supporters can be extremely proud of our beloved VILLA.
I have to admit I moaned a lot about Bruce and now I know it was justified, this is the best that this team has played for years and if there’s more to come the rest of the league will need to look out.
Can’t believe the improvement in such a short time, can we sign Tammy and Bolasie on permanent deals, keep it up lads looking forward to our next game and feeling confident for 3 more points.
Lets wait until Bolasie actually starts games before you start thinking about permanent deals! Haha.