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Gordon 'Sid' Cowans


mikeyp102

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Even now he is still the best passer of the ball at the club.

And had the best slide tackle I've ever seen.

I had the joy of watching him for many years and the joy of playing against him once, trying to get the ball from him was next to impossible.

Really nice bloke as well.

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Even now he is still the best passer of the ball at the club.

And had the best slide tackle I've ever seen.

I had the joy of watching him for many years and the joy of playing against him once, trying to get the ball from him was next to impossible.

Really nice bloke as well.

Indeed . I have seen him play countless old star games and he is still the classiest player on the pitch. I remember standing on the Holte with my dad when we beat Everton 6 - 2 in 89 and just being in awe of somebody who could take perfect corners with both feet .

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This thread really brought out the old farts, didn't it? 

 

Yeah, Sid was (and is) a big hero of mine, along with most of the other names mentioned - Little, Cropley, Gidman, etc. (I'd add Ray Graydon to that list). 

 

My favourite memory of Sid though is possibly a slightly odd choice - when he was playing for Sheffield United in a Cup match against Villa at Bramall Lane. I have a couple of mates who are Blades fans, and Sid was as big a hero to them as he was to us. He got injured and stretchered off, and the ENTIRE ground, both sets of fans, stood and applauded him off with a HUGE chant of "Only one Gordon Cowans". Very moving. 

 

The finest English midfielder of his generation, and disgustingly overlooked for England selection, when he should have been a fixture. 

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Here's a good length preview of the 80-81. I presume it has all the goals and lots of Sid.

 

God I wish I was alive for that season and then that fateful night in Rotterdam. It makes me sad that I was a few years too late to see us at the top. I'd do anything to see us win the Europa League let alone the Champion's League. Still, it'd just be nice if we were playing some nice football and weren't flirting with relegation season after season. I'm not one of these proud fans who think we deserve to be in the upper echelons because we're the mighty Aston Villa, but God I want to see us challenging for the kind of honours we were back in the the good old days.

 

Watching that 80/81 footage and the 1982 final fills me with a lot of pride as a fan, but it also makes me incredibly sad and frustrated that thanks to the money in football there's a damn good chance us and a lot of other fantastic clubs will never get anywhere near that sort of thing again. I can only sympathise (not quite empathise, but damn close) what it must be like to be a Nottingham Forest fan right now.

 

That being said, if we get a new owner who has bags of cash and gets us up there again, I won't complain. Maybe if it did happen and we did start winning again, it might feel a little hollow. I honestly couldn't say until it happened. Lots of Man City fans seem to be having a good time of it though. I'd much rather the whole system changed but realistically that's not going to happen, is it? I suppose a massive cash injection and an owner willing to win at any cost is the best we can hope for nowadays. Sad times.

 

Ha, sorry, totally off topic. Sid is an absolute legend and I'm so happy he's working with the first team. The first Villa thing I ever got, before any shirts or even seeing my first match vs Liverpool before they tore down the old Holte End, was a figurine of Sid and I bloody loved it. My older brother became a Liverpool fan and I can't understand how it happened really. Villa are the family team and I can't remember a time before I supported and loved them. 

Edited by Ginko
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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm not sure if anyone else went to the town hall last night but it was interesting to hear from Sid on the current situation at the villa.  I've already mentioned about what he said about the takeover in the takeover thread but I found his comments about playing at villa park fascinating. 

 

He said playing at villa park at the moment is 'scary'.  Make of that what you will!

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Yes it was a very, very good night. The boys were in The Post Office Vauts before the event and it was great to see them again. The team spirit is still very much there for all to see 30+ years on as it was back then.   

 

Interesting that Gibbo said that he only left for Manchester United because our former chairman refused him a 10 year testimonial and that the break up of the team by Turner still stings with the players as does our current plight. Loved Tony's answer that members of the current team would struggle to get a place in the reserve team let alone the first team squad of the early 80s. I thought Newbon put Sid on the spot at the end but he was his usual honest self with his reply and the meagre transfer budget Lambert was given to work with last season was an eye opener.

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I'm not sure if anyone else went to the town hall last night but it was interesting to hear from Sid on the current situation at the villa.  I've already mentioned about what he said about the takeover in the takeover thread but I found his comments about playing at villa park fascinating. 

 

He said playing at villa park at the moment is 'scary'.  Make of that what you will!

 

I'd say it was volatile playing at VP last season. No wonder the home form is so poor

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I'd say it was volatile playing at VP last season. No wonder the home form is so poor

 

I's say with such poor home form over multiple years with the prices we pay, no wonder it's volatile/scary.

It's not something unique to Villa, either. When a substandard set of players are put in front of the fans, and then unsurprisingly continually fail to get decent results, fans get irate and angry.

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I agree Blandy but all too often there are boos at half time when the score is 0-0. For someone like Sid to say what he has then it's clear it's not helping the players so maybe the catalyst for the results to improve is a less toxic atmosphere at VP.

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I'd say it was volatile playing at VP last season. No wonder the home form is so poor

 

I's say with such poor home form over multiple years with the prices we pay, no wonder it's volatile/scary.

It's not something unique to Villa, either. When a substandard set of players are put in front of the fans, and then unsurprisingly continually fail to get decent results, fans get irate and angry.

 

 

Agree with this, even amazes me how fans think they can adapt passing football at VP. Whenever the players try to play it on the deck and keep it, we scream and shout to get it forward. Even MON won like 8 or 9 in his last two seasons at VP.

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Here's a good length preview of the 80-81. I presume it has all the goals and lots of Sid.

 

God I wish I was alive for that season and then that fateful night in Rotterdam. It makes me sad that I was a few years too late to see us at the top. I'd do anything to see us win the Europa League let alone the Champion's League. Still, it'd just be nice if we were playing some nice football and weren't flirting with relegation season after season. I'm not one of these proud fans who think we deserve to be in the upper echelons because we're the mighty Aston Villa, but God I want to see us challenging for the kind of honours we were back in the the good old days.

 

 

 

The future does look bleak and the despair is hard to avoid, but occasionally you hear something so totally astounding that it can't but make you believe that anything is possible.

 

Today I heard that during last summer Sevilla were forced to sell 17 of their better players because of their financial problems.

 

They replaced those players with mainly free-transfers and went on to finish 5th in La Liga and win the Europa League.

 

They beat a better team in the final.

 

The stand-out player in the final was Rakitic, a player they only paid 2.5m and looked better than anyone Villa have paid a lot more for.

 

Miracles are possible; just ask one the old farts how much of a surprise Villa's championship-winning side were.

 

Anything is possible.

 

Pretending that it isn't is just Villa's excuse for giving up.

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  • 2 years later...
Quote

 

Farewell to a legend: Gordon Cowans leaves Villa

International review: Amavi win/Ayew loss/Jedinak rested

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It is with great sadness that Aston Villa Football Club announce that we are to part company with one of all-time great players and servants, Gordon 'Sid' Cowans.

Instrumental during his playing days in the Club’s greatest achievements, Gordon returned to Villa Park to apply his knowledge and skills to our developing young players as a senior member of our Football Academy.   

He has worked with diligence and compassion to help bring through many who are now household names in the Villa family and we are sure all associated with the Club, fans and employees alike, will agree, it is a privilege to have had Gordon as a member of our team, both on and off the field of play. 

He may be leaving, but he will not be forgotten.

Gordon says: “All good things must come to an end someday and it is right to make this change at this time.

“Although I will no longer be turning up to work for this great club, I will remain a lifelong supporter. 

“Under the guidance of the new owner and his management team, I look forward to many years of supporting Aston Villa from the stands as we start the climb back towards our rightful position as the area's premier football club. 

“I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to our wonderful fans who have given me such tremendous support over the years and helped me through the more challenging times in my career. You will always be in my heart.”

 

Legend leaving

 

Have not seen this posted anywhere sorry if I have missed it. This seems odd has he left of own accord or pushed?

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I did see a tweet from Dr X that Sid had gone and wasn't sure of the detail why.  I for one am gutted he's gone.  I have no idea of how good he is with the youth team, I just don't have exposure to that side of the club, but he is one of my all time fav players and I for one hoped he had a job for life with the club for all he has given us.

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