An Aston Villa fan has spent six years and thousands of pounds building an incredible Subbuteo-inspired replica of their Premier League stadium.

Football-mad Alan Crampton, 62, created the miniature 10ft 8ins x 7ft 7ins version of Villa Park at his home in Brackley, Northants.

The married dad-of-five began his labour of love back in 2019 using old Subbuteo grand stands and off-cuts from the plastic factory where he worked.

Since then the iconic football stadium has been recreated in meticulous detail - down to 3D printed seats and thousands of fans.

Alan, originally from Birmingham, spent up to 12 hours a day in his 'man cave' cutting plastic pieces into shape and painting them their famous claret and blue.



The ground also includes executive boxes, toilets, banners, the dugouts, food stands, stewards, police on horseback and even litter.

Alan reckons he has forked out around £2,000-£3,000 so far on the stunning model, which he first had the idea to build over 40 years ago.

Factory supervisor Alan said: "From the age of eight I absolutely loved Subbuteo and when they released the grand stands in 1978 I said one day I was going to build Villa Park."

"I finally started it in 2019 when I was working in a plastics factory and began using the off-cuts to start building the Trinity Road stand. "

"When Covid hit and I was furloughed this gave me plenty of time and I worked hours on end to complete the stand and it grew from there."

"Because I had more time on my hands, I went into more detail than I had previously planned."

"I have used Subbuteo stands but also cut it out from plastic off-cuts as I don't like 3D printing too much. This way it is just all me and feels more authentic."

"It began in my office before I moved it into my son's bedroom when he moved out. But then it got too big for that too."

"So I built a man cave in the garden in January this year which is 24ft by 15ft and is where it currently lives."

"I've got four lads and a daughter. They all love it while my work mates all think that I'm mad."

"I'm a sad old man, but there are plenty of us around. I just chose to build Villa Park instead of a model railway."

"I have had reaction from all over the world - from South Africa, Australia, USA, Argentina and Norway. I've been quite overwhelmed really."

Alan is also raising money for local charity Do It For Defib, which installs and maintains public access to defibrillators.

Fans can buy a seat in the ground and Alan will then add a figure designed to look like them and place them in their stand of choice.

He added: "So far I have raised £4,100 by selling off seats where you can have a little figure to look however you like."

"But it's not only Villa fans who are donating, I have had a lot of support from all over, including the Subbuteo community too."

"Due to the scale of it in order to fit in the figures, and with it being a Subbuteo pitch, it wasn't possible to get 42,000 seats in there - there's 13,048 instead."

"There's around 2,000-3,000 fans in there and once I fill it, I will then put on the roof. "

"The seats are 3D printed and so are the figures which I've bought from model makers who usually deal with model railways."

"The figures have probably set me back the most and the whole thing has probably cost me £2,000-£3,000."

"But I had one guy offering me £10,000 to take it off my hands - but I want to complete it first."

"Ideally, it will end up at Villa Park, maybe in the museum they keep talking about building - but we'll have to wait and see. "

"That's the ambition anyway. I've been a fan since 1971 and began going in 1973 when we'd just got promoted from Division Three."

"I'm enjoying it now though, I would just love some silverware. When I'm not at the Villa, I am working on this. "

"On a weekend when I'm not working, I'm at it for 12 hours a day."

"My wife thinks I am mad, obsessive but seeing it now - she is also very proud."

"Because she now has a bar in what she calls the garden room and I call the man cave, that keeps her happy."