It was a difficult summer for Aston Villa fans as financial issues imploded as we missed out on promotion back to the Premier League and it seemed we only had our pants left to hock under former owner Dr Tony Xia.
Fast forward a touch to the arrival of Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens and not only was there plenty of relief, but there was also renewed hope.
Having brought in Christian Purslow given his background, and then the arrival of head coach Dean Smith and his new backroom team including John Terry, plenty of fans felt the club had taken good steps forward once again and despite a few hiccups results wise, there are few grumbles about the slow and steady changes our new gaffer is bringing in when it comes to our style of play.
Smith’s effect in reinvigorating the fans was probably obvious to all and his first game in charge at Villa Park against Swansea City not only saw his first win, but we were also full to capacity in the stands.
Talksport in another dull international break have looked at 2018/19 crowds so far and in their table of 20, Villa come in at 10th place and we are only beaten by clubs with bigger stadiums.
20. Derby County – 28,114 vs Birmingham City (November 3, 2018)
19. Nottingham Forest – 29,427 vs Norwich City (October 20, 2018)
18. Brighton and Hove Albion – 30,592 vs Fulham (September 1, 2018)
17. Southampton – 30,784 vs Burnley (August 12, 2018)
16. Leicester City – 32,184 vs Burnley (November 10, 2018)
15. Sunderland – 32,193 vs Oxford (September 1, 2018)
14. Cardiff City – 32,321 vs Manchester City (September 22, 2018)
13. Leeds United – 35,417 vs Middlesbrough (August 31, 2018)
12. Everton – 39,161 vs West Ham (September 16, 2018)
11. Chelsea – 40,499 vs Cardiff (September 15, 2018)
10. Aston Villa – 41,326 vs Swansea City (October 20, 2018)
9. Rangers – 50,130 vs Dundee (September 15, 2018)
8. Newcastle United – 51,749 vs Tottenham (August 11, 2018)
7. Liverpool – 53,457 vs Southampton (September 22, 2018)
6. Manchester City – 54,316 vs Manchester United (November 11, 2018)
5. West Ham – 56,9947 vs Wolves (September 1, 2018)
4. Celtic – 59,143 vs Aberdeen (September 29, 2018)
3. Arsenal – 60,030 vs Wolves (November 11, 2018)
2. Manchester United – 74,525 vs Everton (October 28, 2018)
1. Tottenham Hotspur – 80,188 vs Liverpool (September 15, 2018)
Can’t do better than that can we.
