At Villa Park my wife and I were seated in Row E right up against the plastic netting keeping the Villa fans away from us. Good view of the whole pitch and close to the action we thought. But no once the game started in came a line of policemen who took up position (standing) right in our line of vision. Now we couldn’t see the goal at the Holte End (good thing some might think) and about a quarter of the pitch was lost to us. Requests for them to sit down were met with smiles. There were seats they could have used. I wrote to Aston Villa about our experience and this morning received a reply from their Security and Safety Co-Ordinator. He has obviously taken my complaint seriously and had the following comments: “I have reviewed the CCTV of this area and have noted the presence of West Midlands Police officers at this location and that spectators, yourself included would have had an impeded view due to their presence.” He goes on to say that it was disappointing that the stewards did not do anything about it as they could have moved us to more suitable seats. He will also discuss the issue with the Police in order that they can review their deployment processes and seek to avoid such issues arising again in the future. I have to say that I didn’t expect my complaint to be taken so seriously so fair play to Villa. Finally my wife and I have been asked to contact him if we go to Villa Park again and he will make sure we have a more positive experience.
It was like that down the front of the stand at Blackpool last year in the cup. A combination of stewards, police and other staff gathered and it was s heck of a job to get them to move. The latecomers made it even worse by hanging around that area. I know there wasn’t much going on that was worth watching but it spoiled at least the first twenty minutes of the match. Some of them didn’t seem bothered that we were being inconvenienced
A offer of a refund of some sort might have been nice. But a reply is better than you would get at some clubs I suspect so credit where it's due.
