As we know, Villa have plans to increase their stadium capacity to a figure north of 50,000 with chief executive Christian Purslow – speaking in November – outlining how the club were “hoping to be able to apply for planning consent in the next month or so”.

It was after Steven Gerrard’s first match in charge, against Brighton in November, that fans really began to vent their fury at the travel disruption on the roads and at train stations.

Hundreds of Villa supporters have been forced to queue in freezing and wet weather due to ongoing issues with the West Midlands rail network.

“I think fans that have gone to the trouble of using public transport, trying to get away on local trains, finding themselves queuing in the freezing cold for way too long, it really does need to change,” Purslow explained.

“We are putting all of our best efforts into trying to persuade local authorities that they need to really improve that aspect of infrastructure around Villa Park because, let’s face it, if the local authorities can’t get our fans away safely and quickly after games with a 42,000 crowd, imagine what it would be if we were to go to 50,000 without that improvement being in place.”

In our BirminghamLive supporter survey, 60 percent of Villa fans who responded said they travel to games at Villa Park by car, with 29 percent using trains. Four percent take buses, another two percent fly in from overseas and the same amount opt to walk.

On average, the majority of Villa fans (49.7 percent) have said it takes them between an hour and two hours to get home after a match, while almost 20 percent of supporters say it’s more between two to three hours.

Of those we canvassed, almost 40 percent said travelling to Villa Park is a poor experience, Others described it as horrendous (27 percent), average (24 percent), good (8 percent) and excellent (2 percent).

We then asked Villa supporters a simple question – what needs to improve to make the match-going experience a better one at Villa Park?

The answers were pretty clear as 30 percent asked for better train services and 21.percent recommending a new park-and-ride facility, something that’s often available at other Premier League grounds.

Increased car parking was another suggestion (27 percent), as was a shout for the reintroduction of the AV1 bus service specials to and from Birmingham city centre (10 percent).

Here is a selection of some of the comments we had from the more than 3,000 responses to the BirminghamLive survey…

A Villa fan from Solihull said: “Parking is an issue. Getting from Electric Avenue to Lichfield Road can take upto an hour unless we leave early and miss the end of the game.”

Another from Warwick pointed out: “Getting close enough to the ground to walk is the biggest issue. The traffic starts to build 3-5 miles from the places where you can park securely, and 40,000 exiting at the end of the ground makes for slow progress to get away.”

A Villan from Kings Norton added: “Parking in a safe location near to Villa Park is my biggest issue as I’m a female on my own.”

A Lichfield lion said: “The issue is the two train stations – Witton and Aston – being too tiny for a club the size of Villa.”

Another, from Acocks Green, commented: “The whole of the bus, rail and car commute is a nightmare. The continual capacity crowds are not being catered for.”

A Villa fan from Selly Oak echoed that point, and said: “Terrible rail and bus connection. If we ever expand the ground and get into Europe we will be a laughing stock, last home game I queued in the rain for 50 minutes, rammed outside the station, on the platform and trains.”

“To get from Aston to Birmingham New Street in the 1980s they laid on special buses from near the ground into the city centre, a couple of quid clear the crowds in half hour.”

Another from Sutton Coldfield said it can take them two hours to get home from Villa Park.

The match-goer said: “I’ve tried the train – horrific queues to get away from the game. Takes up to two hours to get home. The bus isn’t possible but, again, queues and service is shocking. So car it is – but dreadful traffic, no proper parking facility. Needs to be a park-and-ride provided.”

A Villa fan from Kingswinford has stopped taking his young son to night games in the week, adding: “It takes me 1.5 hours to get home. Night games are a particular challenge with having a young son, so I’ve stopped taking him to any non-weekend games.”

Another from Bournville said: “We need more parking. I would use the train but getting home via train is too difficult with children due to overcrowding on the platform and in the carriages. I’ve stopped taking my kids now.”

A Villa fan from Kingswinford has stopped taking his young son to night games in the week, adding: “It takes me 1.5 hours to get home. Night games are a particular challenge with having a young son, so I’ve stopped taking him to any non-weekend games.”

Another from Bournville said: “We need more parking. I would use the train but getting home via train is too difficult with children due to overcrowding on the platform and in the carriages. I’ve stopped taking my kids now.”

A disabled Villa season ticket holder from Aldridge added: “Trains often get cancelled with no notice and I’m made to walk to Aston station when potential trouble games are played. I am disabled and struggle. No one seems to care.”

And lastly, a Villa fan from Worcester told us: “Congestion within 5 miles of Villa Park is by far the biggest issue. Four of us travel and aim to be at Villa Park at least two hours before kick off as traffic is so bad. Liverpool and Anfield, for example, is a lot less hassle.”

BirminghamLive has forwarded a copy of our supporter survey results to Villa’s big decision-maker Purslow ahead of this weekend’s home fixture with Southampton (3pm kick-off) with another sell-out crowd expected.