News Archives

2008

Boxing Day in the Holte Hotel

AViDS have organised Mince pies and a few drink for members in our room at the Holte Hotel prior to the match on Boxing Day

The room will be available approximately 3 hours before kickoff and whether you're a regular in the room or never been in there before it would be great to see you.

AViDS player of the Season

Many thanks to Jack Barton for the following article and Tim for the picture.

AViDS committee decided last year that members of the Disabled Supporters Association should have the opportunity to vote for the player they wanted as their ASTON VILLA player of the season. A ballot of members selected Gareth Barry for this award for the 2007-08 season.

An invitation from the club gave us permission for a small number of members representing AViDS to visit Bodymoor Heath to meet Gareth and make our presentation to him. We did this on October 20th when our vice chair Tim Craythorne together with 5 members presented Gareth with a suitably inscribed Magnum of Champagne. Gareth thanked us and asked us to express his thanks to AViDS members for choosing him to be the first recipient of this award.

Further to this award a shield is to be purchased and suitably engraved, on an anuual basis, with the name of the player selected each season. Villa have given us permission to hav this shield permanently displayed in the room which the club has allocated for our use in the refurbished Holte Hotel.

The Holte Hotel

As the new season dawns, AViDS would like to remind all members that we still have the use of a room at the Holte Hotel before home matches, the room is on the first floor and is accessible via a lift in the Hotel. Wheelchairs can enter the Holte Hotel from the rear (via the Holte End car park) and there are disabled facilities available. Just mention AViDS when entering the Hotel and you will be directed to the room.

Food and drinks are available from the bar and you can enjoy sky sports on the TV in the room as well as the chance to meet some of the old players who often drop in before the matches.

AViDS hope you can enjoy these additional facilities and welcome all your comments on these facilities.

2008/09 fixtures

AViDS.co.uk now has the fixtures online for 2008/2009. If you spot any errors or know of any changes that are not reflected, let us know and we'll update it as soon as possible.

FA Youth Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg - Villa Park

We are hoping to get a great crowd down to support our Youth Team in the return leg of their FA Youth Cup match against Chelsea as detailed below:

Aston Villa v Chelsea

FA Youth Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg - Villa Park

Wednesday 19th March, kick off 7pm.

Admission free

Maximum capacity 14k, gates open at 5.45pm

AViDS Membership Cards

All AViDS members should have received membership cards over the past 2 months. If you have not received your card please can you send your name and address to Antony Jordan on the contact us page and we will ensure a card is sent to you as soon as possible.

You can also contact Antony if you do not wish to be contacted by post, phone or e-mail or to ensure we have up to date address, phone number or e-mail addresses.

Villa Park Signage

Update 24th Jan. This auction has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. Aston Villa apologise for any inconvenience caused.

AViDS have received the following from Dan Meredith, Marketing Executive, Aston Villa Football Club.

The next project to inform you all of, is the auction of the old signage took down off the stadium to make way for the new branding. There is a wide variety of crests and lettering and it’s the ideal opportunity for your members to own a piece of Villa history. All items come with a certificate of authenticity and where available a photo of where they were in situ.

"Don’t miss your chance to own a piece of Aston Villa’s heritage when authentic pieces of memorabilia go under the online hammer.

Villa’s former signage, including impressive letters and crests, are going up for auction today on eBay for a 10 day period. The bidding starts tomorrow (Wednesday 23rd January) at 12 noon and continues through to 12 noon on Saturday February 2.

Highlights of the auction include two beautiful large 3D acrylic crests from the Directors Entrance and a lovely set of chrome letters spelling out Aston Villa Football Club.

All items would make perfect additions to a games room or sports club.

There are 47 separate items going under the hammer and they all have no starting or reserve price.

All proceeds go to Acorns Children’s Hospital and the Villa Park William McGregor Statue Fund”

2007

AViDS supports Marlon Harewood

Marlon Harewood was grateful to receive a £1000 donation from AViDS for his Leukemia charity. It was presented at the home game against Manchester United recently and received a mention for AViDS in the official program.

AViDS have made this donation to support Marlon as one of our previous committee members and a long standing member and friend of AViDS has been fighting this condition over the past year.

Independent living rally

AViDS have been asked by the family of one of our members to publicise an Independent Living Lobby.

The information has been provided as a document that can be viewed here. Please be aware that this document is around 700k so may take time to download if you have a slow connection.

If you have any news or events that you would like to see included here, please contact the webmaster on our contact us page.

ATTENTION DISABLED SEASON CARD HOLDERS

If you can't attend a game, please inform the ticket office, if your seat can be sold for the game, a voucher will be sent to you that can be usd to buy villa merchandise or towards your season ticket next year.

There is a large waiting list for disabled spaces, so it's possible for your seat to be re-allocated even if you can only contact the ticket office on the day of the match. If you can't attend, please give another fan the chance to watch the Villa.

Promoting A Level Playing Field For All Football Fans

July 2007

From the new Chair - Joyce Cook

Dear friend of NADS

I am delighted to be writing to you in my new capacity as NADS chair. Some of you will already know me through NADS (Vice Chair) and the disabled branch of englandfans. For those of you I have yet to meet in person, I very much hope to see you in the near future at one of NADS local or regional events.

Continued, click here for the full letter.

Season ticket holders FAQ on Smart Cards

For season 2007/2008, all season ticket admission to Villa Park will be via the use of season cards. Advice on "HOW TO USE YOUR CARD" to gain admittance has been detailed in the pack received with your card, as well as the "SEASON TICKET CONDITIONS OF ISSUE". We strongly advise that you read and familiarise yourself with these guidelines prior to using your card for the first time.

Please click here for more.

We need your help

If you travel away I need your view on away grounds to add to our website. Include season visited, ticket price, view, accessibility and (if you risk it) the quality and value of the food and drink.

Use the contact us page on the website and send your view to Antony Jordan, hopefully I will be able to start this new section soon and we can make it a useful resource with the fans view of grounds people may want to visit.

© AViDS Registered Charity No. 1089398