Wednesday, February 10

Aston Villa travel guide

Aston Villa
FA Premier League
Villa Park
Wednesday, February 10, kick off


Tickets
Executive members and season ticket holders who applied for tickets to see United at Villa can now find out if they have got tickets.

United have got approximately 2,315 tickets priced at £43 for adults, £30 for over 65s and £24 for under 16s.

Last season, reds paid £35 for adults and £21 for over 65s and under 16s and the allocation was 2,800.

Liverpool got the same number last season and had it reduced by about 500 this season due, Aston Villa said, "to persistent standing" in the Liverpool end.

Aston Villa's press office has not replied to a Reds Away request to confirm the reason for United's allocation reduction.

Home end tickets are still on sale to people with a booking history with the Aston Villa ticket office.

Take a virtual tour of Villa Park here.

Weather

According to the BBC, it's going to be quite a chilly night when United visit Villa Park on Wednesday.

The temperature will peak at 4C/F in the day and will drop to -4C/F at night, so it will probably be in the region of 1C/F during the match.

The pitch should be in good condition after being in two days of sunshine.
TV
The match will not be shown live on English television, but you can watch it live via Veetle or Sopcast online. Check back here at 18:45 on match night for live video links.

BBC One has an edition of Match of the Day on from 22:45 to 12:05, which will feature highlights from the game, as well as from Arsenal v Liverpool and Chelsea v Everton. Details here.

Travel

Car £25
If you're using a satnav or an internet routeplanner, use the destination postcode B6 6HE for Villa Park.

From Manchester, the journey is 94 miles each way and should take just short of two hours each way, depending on what time you set off.


You should allow more time for your journey as the M6 gets very busy during the evening rush hour.

The general route is via M6 → M5 → A38 → A5127.

Parking - free
It can be tricky as there is traffic is excluded on parts of Trinity Road, Witton Road and Aston Road on matchday as detailed here.

There is also a residents-only parking zone in operation for a pretty fair distance from the ground, with traffic wardens dishing out £60 to people who breach it. The zone covered is here.

Helpfully, this map tells you the streets where it is free to park and which aren't covered by the residential parking zone.

We recommend Upper Sutton Avenue, Brooklyn Street, Hannover Close, Fentham Road, Arden Road and Freer Road.

As an example, for Arden Road, use the postcode B8 1DY. From there it's a short walk onto Witton Road and to the ground. It should take 10 minutes in all.

There are plenty of paid-for car parks charging £6 or so a space. Aston Villa Leisure Centre, on Aston Hall Road (BL6 7LB) charges £6 a space and the New Aston Social Club, also on Aston Hall Road (BL6 7JU) charges £5 but has fewer spots.

Train - £28.60
A return ticket bought on the day will cost you £28.60. It is too late to buy discounted tickets at this stage.

Getting there
Don't set off before 10:00 as rush hour fares will apply.

When you get to Piccadilly, ask for an off-peak day return to Witton, for £28.60 – it costs the same to Witton as it does to Birmingham.

Manchester Piccadilly to Birmingham New Street
From 10:07, direct trains leave at 07 and 27 past the hour. Journey time is roughly 90 minutes.

The last train you can get to make kick off comfortably leaves Piccadilly at 17:27.

Birminghan New Street to Witton
When you arrive at New Street, go to platform 1A (or 2A for the 18:17 departure).

Trains leave there for Witton at 17 and 47 past the hour all day. Journey time is 10 minutes.

You pass the stadium as you arrive into Witton. It's a three-minute walk to the United-end turnstiles. Follow your nose.


Getting back
Witton to Birmingham New Street
In theory (the timetable) there are supposed to be one small train departing at 57 past each hour...but in reality, that goes out of the window on a matchnight.

A queue usually forms on the approach to Witton Station and it's a case of getting on a train when possible. Expect it to take about 20 to 40 minutes after the match before you get back to the centre.


Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly

There are three services you can get home.

The first leaves at 21:57 and gets you back into Piccadilly at 23:37.

The second leaves at 22:28 and gets you back into Piccadilly at 23:57.

The third leaves at 23:09 and gets into Crewe at 00:16. You then leave Crewe at 00:44 and arrive into Piccadilly at 01:59. After that, you're waiting around until 05:00.

Coach - £17
United are running coaches to this game. They leave from the Old Trafford N2 car park at 16:30 and are due return by 00:30. Places cost £23 per person. To book, call the club on 0161 868 8000.

The Betty Bus leaves Chorlon Street Coach Station at 15:00 and the Bishop's Blaize pub in Chester Road at 15:15. Places cost £17. To book, email your name and phone number to redsaway@hotmail.co.uk

Red Army Travel is running a coach to this game. Places cost £20. For details of departure times and how to book, go here.

Public coach - £13 (plus £2.20 for onward train).
Megabus is not running coaches on the day of the game.

National Express is running coaches between Chorlton Street in Manchester to Digbeth High Street Coach Station in Birmingham.

There are seven coaches there and one back.

The outbound coaches leave at 07:00, 09:05, 10:10, 11:40, 12:50, 14:40 and 16:05. Apart from the last one, they cost £4 one way. Journey time ranges between 1:55 and 3:20.

The coach stop is a five-minute walk to Birmingham New Street station where you can get an onward train to Witton (see train section above). To get there, walk up Digbeth Road and onto Upper Dean Street. Then turn right onto Pershore Street and past Debenhams and The Holiday Inn.

A return from New Street to Witton will cost £2.20 on the day. Alternatively, a taxi to the ground will cost about £8.

On the way back, the coaches leaves at 22:30 and reaches Manchester at 01:10. It's £9 one way.

Taxi numbers
Atlas Cars on 0121 631 444 or Sky Radio Cars on 0121 551 2525.

A pub guide will appear here soon.

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