Don Hutchison has spoken in awe of Leeds and Aston Villa’s home grounds, as he told Optus Sport.
The former midfielder shared that ‘before anyone else’, the likes of Leeds and Villa had the ‘big stadiums’ in English football, and they were ‘incredible’ places to play in during his professional career.
When Leeds and Villa were both in the Championship, they, season after season, recorded the highest attendances at home and also travelled in higher numbers than anyone else.
And the Leeds and Villa faithful will love Hutchison’s comments about Elland Road and Villa Park.
“When you look back in our playing careers and you look back at the brilliant stadiums you played in,” said Hutchison.
“I always thought Elland Road was always ahead of anyone else. I always thought that they had the big stadium. Before Man United built on theirs and before Liverpool got a little bit bigger.
“Themselves, Sheffield Wednesday and Villa probably had the big stadiums before anyone else.
“And Villa had that massive main stand (the Holte End) where it was incredible to play, it was incredible to play your football their.”
It’s a crying shame that Leeds haven’t been able to have a full house at Elland Road since their promotion to the Premier League.
Villa, who earned promotion two seasons ago, were lucky to fill out their stadium before COVID hit, and given that they won their highest percentage of matches at home and more than anyone in the league last season, it’s pretty clear that the backing worked.
But when supporters are allowed back into stadiums for the forthcoming campaign then, in terms of atmosphere, there aren’t many better places to be than in B6 and in Yorkshire.
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