General,
Exactly a year ago my family & I (including son Luke Aston...) moved to California for work reasons. Prior to this time I had either been a season ticket holder or avid follower for the past 15 years. Very frankly leaving the country wouldn’t have been an option for me earlier in my supporting days (for football reasons) however the past couple of years were such a turn-off I had no qualms about moving 6,000 miles from Villa Park.
Of course as we all now know, no sooner had I got on the plane Mr. Lerner appeared on the scene & the rest is history!
I now find myself in the very strange situation of falling back in love with the club I once lived & breathed; yet having to do it from the other side of the planet! I guess I now know how it feels to have a long distance love affair! My life is made slightly easier by the fact that just about every Villa game is now shown either live or delayed on Fox Soccer Network or Setanta, however as I am sure you can appreciate its just not the same...
Very recently it was announced on these very pages that the guys over in NY were going to try to set up a US Villa supporters club & even had a website up & running. As they requested I immediately gave them my contact details via the website. However a month or so later they announced that for whatever reason they would just be keeping it to the NY fans for the moment until they could expand it further. It now looks like the site hasn’t been updated since the start of the year.
I certainly don't want to sound unappreciative of these guys’ work & efforts. I have a full time job & I can certainly imagine how much effort this must have taken just to have gotten this far. However it has left me feeling disappointed that we are unable to form a collective of fans when I know that we have so many over here. It also concerns me that with all of the added interest we must have gained from our brothers in seal brown & orange (the Browns fans for the initiated) that we don’t have any way of harnessing & tracking this support & yes, I hate to say it, potential revenue.
Very recently I attended an totally amateur England Vs. Scotland game here in Ventura Co. with my son & was surprised to find four Villa fans in the team or on the sidelines. The only way we met was that they saw my son wearing his Villa shirt. I appreciate that California & New York probably have the largest amount of ex-pats of anywhere in the U.S., however this was sleepy Simi Valley, not Beverly Hills!
What finally made me put pen to paper was the announcement of the much-speculated U.S. tour. Although I was ecstatic at the news surely we need to try & have some organization (sorry organisation, I’ve been here too long!) in place to help co-ordinate & best capture the goodwill & interest that will no doubt follow the event?
Before anyone shoots me down, yes I would be willing to help. Before leaving the U.K. I was secretary & then chairman of a trade association (without compensation & alongside my day to day job) & know what it takes to make things like this work & frankly I don’t think it can work simply based on fan power alone. The club will have to support this effort if it isn’t just going to die a death like the previous attempts. Please add this to your list of things to be looked at & hopefully sooner rather than later if we aren’t to miss the boat this summer.
Rant over. Please keep up the excellent work, thank Randy for everything & please consider bringing the Villa to the West coast in the summer!
