Evening (or morning...!) Villans,
Was hoping to post in the Sheff Wed fans topic but my account might not be approved in time so I'll post an annoyingly long "short" summary here.
I'm a Wednesday fan based in Kent and previously a very active poster on our forum Owlstalk (same username). Last season was like some sort of mad dream considering that I'm 29 so - aside from the glory years when my Dad took me to the football (early 90's so I was about 5/6 years old in our pomp and so couldn't truly appreciate it) it was our best season in probably nearly 20 years. Obviously for you guys it was probably more of a mad nightmare.
I don't know too much about Villa in truth - but I've always perceived them as one of those clubs who are just... Premiership. If that makes sense? Maybe you'll have a bad year, or things won't go to plan, or you'll struggle with injuries or whatever else - but when it comes to the crunch you will remain a Prem team.
As an outsider last season you guys seemed something of a basket case (I'm honestly not trolling here - I don't know the ins and outs and it just seems like nothing went right all season and that usually isn't a good sign).
But in terms of an opening fixture - Sheffield Wednesday v Aston Villa is a 90s footballs fans bread and butter. That is a solid Premier League game. We are where we are and I'm under no illusions - we've been terrible for years and we aren't entitled to success, but last season I saw some moments where I had to pinch myself; namely pounding Arsenal into the ground at Hillsborough and reaching Wembley, one of the absolute greatest days of my life despite the result.
My Dad an I are travelling up tomorrow. I have no idea what to expect. We had a strong season once we had a settled squad and that squad remains with one or two key additions in Fletcher and Abdi so I'm hoping for a good campaign.
Villa are a proper, established Premier League club in my eyes who've taken an unfortunate foray into the league below. Yourselves, Newcastle, Norwich and a few others will make it an extremely tough season.
Good luck for tomorrow. Watch out for Forestieri's workrate, Abdi's creativity, Wallace's ability to score a worldy and the renewed optimism of 20k+ Wednesdayites.
Regarding ticket prices - Ludicrously expensive but the genie is out of the bottle now. If we want to compete and spend millions on players we must accept some form of sacrifice. I don't agree and it's sad but it's the reality we live in. One point I differ from most Wednesday fans on is our new badge. Next year is our 150th Anniversary and the badge is a nod to our history (it's an old 70s design) and as much as I loved the previous design, I think this one is both unique and brilliant. Likewise there has been some extreme criticism of our new shirt. It's not the blue and white stripes we are used to, but one of my favourite ever Wednesday kits was solid blue with white sleeves. We've had everything from hoops and solid colours to stripes so I can embrace change. If we get promoted it will be an iconic kit. If we don't it'll be a 2016/17 kit. I'm cool with that. At least it's still blue and white. (The third kit is sexy as by the way...)
Enjoy your time at our home and good luck for the season, barring the two games against us!
Brownlad
