Overseas Villa Fans Check-In Desk

[reykjavik]

1. Reykjavik, Iceland
2. Valur 
3. It was probably 1978.  I visited Villa Park with my son, spring 2009.

We are not many Villa fans in Iceland.

[Grasshopper]

 not many Villa's in Iceland either.

Why would you need a fan anyway? its cold enough as it is

[Larscapaldi]

1. Willebroek, Belgium
2. Anderlecht, but it's been a while since I've seen them play
3. I had been following the prem (and Villa) for a while, but I really started supporting them after the Newcastle game where we won 3-0 Vassell and Barry twice. They ended with 8, after that Taylor handball and the Bowyer/Dyer fight.. Will never forget that game, and hated the magpies ever since too!

Nowadays I try to attend 3/4 games each season, although I've only been to Wolves this year, so I'll have to make an extra effort in the coming months ;-)

[6065_Villa]

Living in Perth now but my first visit to VP was the 80/81 season, managed 8 games and was hooked for life.

Go to watch Perth Glory with the kids which is the only live football fix I get now.

[Hughes]

1. Norway - Trondheim now Oslo. 

2. Rosenborg Trondheim- born and bred not far from their ground. 

3. Been Villa since 1979-ish.  Back then we all collected football cards (not the stickers, I am too old, the proper cardboard cards). All my friends supported red or blue teams but the claret and blue together with the name (John Gregory is right) completely convinced a 6 year old. We all have a cross to carry in life and since then Aston Villa has been my cross to carry. Have been to VP numerous times and seen Villa on TV in almost all corners of the world on travels (my wife calls Villa fans "the football answer to local Star Trek conventions", but by God she has had to put up with a lot of strange stuff and crap football). My experience is that there is always someone- not many but still someone- who turns up in that famous shirt, no matter where in the world or when during the day.  My love for this club has just grown over the years and it is definitely VTD. See you away at Leeds! 

Edited November 16, 2016 by Hughes

[TheAuthority]

I'm from Stourbridge in the West Mids, but now live in NYC and I chose Villa at about 7 years old - just loved the colors and the beautiful the away kit '81 & '82.  I also had the le coq sportif replica shirt with shadow stripes as a hand me down from my cousin - just the sexiest shirt ever made.

I went to see the New York Red Bulls when Henry played for them against the LA Galaxy with Beckham. The standard of football was awful but Henry's 1st touch was still world class. He just didn't have the pace to get away from anyone anymore. I also went Yankee stadium to see the new NYC team get smashed 7-0 by the Red Bulls. I thought it would be nice to see Pirlo but he couldn't get in the game. Feel sorry for the Red Bull fans tbh. They've worked hard to try an build a good thing down there then the oil rich owners create another team on their doorstep. 

There were lots of other Villa fans in my class as a kid, then the glory hunting bastards all changed to Manure after they won the FACup in 84? I stayed with Villa. First game was a 3-1 win against Chelsea when Simon Stainrod scored twice (about the only time he did anything good for us.)

In the early 90's I started going more often as a teenager and my brother-in-law then became head chef at Villa Park for a few years. I sneaked into almost every game at VP under Big Ron and got to see that great team that came so close. I remember after THAT Oldham game going back on the train to Manchester where I was at school. When I got back to Manchester all the Manure fans were celebrating in town - a nightmare.

I came over for the FA Cup final which cost me an arm and a leg - less said about that the better. I'll be back at VP on Boxing Day for the game against the mighty Burton Abion (God how depressing have the last few years been?)

[Liam100]

1. Limerick, Ireland. 

2. Limerick FC.  I am also the treasurer of the Limerick Independent Football Trust ; )  https://liftlimerick.com/ 

3. When I was getting interested in soccer we started going to the Limerick games and I started following the English results in the paper.  Yes, I picked Aston Villa because I liked the name!  When I found out we wore claret and blue that was it. 

I think that was 1976.  In 1977 we won the league cup and came fourth in the league so there was a lot of excitement. 

I lived in Hertfordshire for 12 years up to 2005 and went to a few games. 

In 2008 we flew over to Birmingham to see Queen and Paul Rodgers. They played on the Thursday. We went to Villa on the Saturday (0-0 v Portsmouth), and Sale v Munster in Stockport on the Sunday. Friday afternoon we spent at Cadbury's! What a trip. 

 

[Spoony]

Sounds like we have a really solid Scandi and Irish following! 

[Hornso]

Answer however you want but I'd be interested to hear:

1. Geelong, Australia
2. I go to 1-2 Melbourne Victory games per season, but if Geelong were to join the A-League I'd support them. I'd also probably get behind a club if Xia bought them like Man City have done with Melbourne City.
3. After the 1998 World Cup as a 13 year old I became really interested in football and with little world football highlights available back then the premier league was the most attractive choice. My uncle became a Liverpool fan and said I had to pick a club as long as it wasn't Manchester United. I looked at my options and fell in love with the name Aston Villa, have been obsessed ever since.

[il_serpente]

1.  Born in Oslo but moved to US at age 7 and have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 26 years.

2.  I used to follow the San Jose Clash -> Earthquakes when MLS started and had season tickets for a while and lived walking distance from the stadium for a couple of years.  Then they left for Houston and I lost interest.  Right about that time it became a lot easier to follow Premier League and other European leagues and I never got interested again when a new SJ Earthquakes team formed a few years later.

3.  Apologies for the long winded explanation to follow.  I hadn't carried over any interest in soccer (sorry, that's what we call it here) after leaving Norway, but started playing on a novice men's and women's indoor team at the end of the '80s and enjoyed it a lot.  I visited Norway for the first time in 20 years in 1990 during the World Cup and found myself watching 2 games each day with my Norwegian family and was hooked.  The next time I visited Norway was 3 years later and my uncle showed me recordings of qualifying games, including the defeat of Engerland, and I got fired up for the '94 WC and did my best to find new about Norwegian players (mostly via newspaper box scores).  When I was finally able to see Premier League Highlights I looked for the Norwegians and sort of followed Man Utd (Solskjaer, Johnsen, Berg) and Spurs (Iversen).  A little later my uncle was telling me about this great young player named Carew.  I wanted to see him play but found it difficult when he was in the other European Leagues.  Then he joined Villa and I could actually see him play.  I also remembered that when the San Jose Clash first started they had played a friendly against Villa and the local PR described them as "historic Premier League club with a tremendous tradition" or something like that and I had thought they sounded cool.  So I became a serious Villa supporter right as the good times under Lerner and MON started.  MON left, Carew left, following the team got more and more disheartening, but my dedication to Villa has, if anything, grown during the dark times.   Unfortunately, I have not been able to see a match yet this season but am hoping for a quick return to the PL, if only so I can watch games again.

[maqroll]

On 11/11/2016 at 10:36, Midfielder said:

1. where are you from?
2. what team (if any) do you support in your homeland?
3. how did you come to support Villa?

 

1. New England

2. None. If I didn't already follow Villa, it would be New England Revolution, which was formed in 1996, but...

3. I became obsessed with Villa in 1994 when PL highlights started being shown here. Everything about Villa seemed so steeped in tradition and passion. The Trinity Rd stand woodwork, the noise from the Holte End, the mysterious atmosphere in the ground that is just awesome in the true sense of the word. The name of the club, the colors...and it didn't hurt that the team played nice football. "Villa picked me" is kind of cliche by now, but for me it's sort of true. But I had to be open minded to comprehend the really unique aura that the club had, and still has on better days. I made the pilgrimage in 1999, but haven't been back since. Maybe when we are at Wembley next spring I'll make it over again.

[maqroll]

On 11/15/2016 at 09:53, Grasshopper said:

 not many Villa's in Iceland either.

Why would you need a fan anyway? its cold enough as it is

[Midfielder]

When I created this thread, I was interested to see what I guess could be an audit from those who responded, of where they are from and ended up on VT. I read, as the posts came in, then over time I got preoccupied with offline stuff and came back to forum a few weeks ago. Anyway, so, I always planned to tot up the responses and just feed back. So, of those who responded, here are the results, I realise there are many more from places XYZ but off the info in this thread, here are the results: 

AUSTRALIA 8 @6065_Villa , @Hornso , @AJ , @Villan_of_oz , @ozvillafan , @nick76 from England, @Banger75 , @ThunderPower_14

IRELAND 5 @Liam100 , @villakram , @Richie k , @dubliner , @Newry_Villan

NORWAY 5 @Hughes , @tarjei , @Michelsen , @villa82 , @AndFos

UNITED STATES 3 @TheAuthority , @il_serpente from Norway, @maqroll

SWEDEN 2 @NoelVilla , @Hopp from England

ICELAND 1 @reykjavik

BELGIUM 1 @Larscapaldi

NORTHERN IRELAND 1 @Derryvillan from New Zealand

NETHERLANDS 1 @Amsterdam_Neil_D from England

QATAR 1 @JAMAICAN-VILLAN from Jamaica

NEW ZEALAND 1 @Kiwivillan

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1 @Spoony from England

Thanks to all who responded, it is rewarding to see that AVFC has stretched globally, to your reaches, and that here you are. Whilst I don't own nor run this website (just a regular member) i think it's fair to say that from the "local" villa fans on here resident to the UK who use this site, a big "fair play" and thanks for your support. I'm from Birmingham but live outside of the area and love the mix on this site, the only Villa site I use or ever check apart from the official one. 

It is actually quite rewarding to see how "big" we are as a club, in this way, with you here, as we have rotted for a year below our top-division-home. Our club, as you know, is rich in history and trophies-of-old... Football is cyclical. Our time will come. It won't be blockbuster Man City style, it'll come our way. Andy, from the Shawshank Redemption... spent ages planning his escape, before crawling through that pipe of crap to escape the other end as a free man, Edmund Dantes similarly, we will have our success, our vengeance. The story is written, I believe that, but you join us at a time of the hero being downtrodden. 

With you on board, with us, our eventual heroes will resurge and we will get back in the Prem one day soon, the journey we endure will all be worth it in the end. On another note, you could support one of England's glory clubs, you don't, you're affiliated with us, despite the lack of success we offer for your kinship. Now, I may have had a few drinks but the sentiment is real, continue with us on our roller coaster ride, we are proud to include you in our claret and blue tapestry. Much love, Midfielder.

 

[Keener window-cleaner]

Great thread! Don't know how I missed it before.

1. Sweden, Västerås (pronounced like Westeros in Game of Thrones), allthough currently living in Stockholm.

2. Västerås SK.

3. Initially because of season review videos bought on a language course in Isle of Wight in 1993, where Dean Saunders scored a lot of great goals! A few years later a class mate in my football academy school got a youth team contract with Villa - guess if I envied him!

 

 

 

[AJ]

58 minutes ago, Midfielder said:

When I created this thread, I was interested to see what I guess could be an audit from those who responded, of where they are from and ended up on VT. I read, as the posts came in, then over time I got preoccupied with offline stuff and came back to forum a few weeks ago. Anyway, so, I always planned to tot up the responses and just feed back. So, of those who responded, here are the results, I realise there are many more from places XYZ but off the info in this thread, here are the results: 

AUSTRALIA 8 @6065_Villa , @Hornso , @AJ , @Villan_of_oz , @ozvillafan , @nick76 from England, @Banger75 , @ThunderPower_14

IRELAND 5 @Liam100 , @villakram , @Richie k , @dubliner , @Newry_Villan

NORWAY 5 @Hughes , @tarjei , @Michelsen , @villa82 , @AndFos

UNITED STATES 3 @TheAuthority , @il_serpente from Norway, @maqroll

SWEDEN 2 @NoelVilla , @Hopp from England

ICELAND 1 @reykjavik

BELGIUM 1 @Larscapaldi

NORTHERN IRELAND 1 @Derryvillan from New Zealand

NETHERLANDS 1 @Amsterdam_Neil_D from England

QATAR 1 @JAMAICAN-VILLAN from Jamaica

NEW ZEALAND 1 @Kiwivillan

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1 @Spoony from England

Thanks to all who responded, it is rewarding to see that AVFC has stretched globally, to your reaches, and that here you are. Whilst I don't own nor run this website (just a regular member) i think it's fair to say that from the "local" villa fans on here resident to the UK who use this site, a big "fair play" and thanks for your support. I'm from Birmingham but live outside of the area and love the mix on this site, the only Villa site I use or ever check apart from the official one. 

It is actually quite rewarding to see how "big" we are as a club, in this way, with you here, as we have rotted for a year below our top-division-home. Our club, as you know, is rich in history and trophies-of-old... Football is cyclical. Our time will come. It won't be blockbuster Man City style, it'll come our way. Andy, from the Shawshank Redemption... spent ages planning his escape, before crawling through that pipe of crap to escape the other end as a free man, Edmund Dantes similarly, we will have our success, our vengeance. The story is written, I believe that, but you join us at a time of the hero being downtrodden. 

With you on board, with us, our eventual heroes will resurge and we will get back in the Prem one day soon, the journey we endure will all be worth it in the end. On another note, you could support one of England's glory clubs, you don't, you're affiliated with us, despite the lack of success we offer for your kinship. Now, I may have had a few drinks but the sentiment is real, continue with us on our roller coaster ride, we are proud to include you in our claret and blue tapestry. Much love, Midfielder.

 

And your little survey is the tiny tip of a very large iceberg. There really are Villa fans everywhere.

When I wear my shirt out in public, I meet not only other Villa fans, but fans from other clubs, and it is always pleasant to meet them and talk about football. Even a Coventry fan, and some West Brom fans, meeting them has been nice once they have gotten over their initial disdain.

Then there are those that yell out " Yeah! Woohoo! Go Hammers!", but they are just idiots.

[MikeMcKenna]

Don't know if this is the thread to add a story but as it's about an Aussie Villa fan I will fire away.

Some years my daughter spent a year in Australia. While there she made friends with an Aussie girl in an outback town. 

A few months ago my daughter got a call from a lad who was a friend of said Aussie girl. He told my daughter he was coming to the U.K for a months and asked if she knew any Villa fans and she said I was an die hard fan and maybe able to help. As a 7 year old kid his football coach gave him a Villa shirt after a trip to Europe and from that day forward his dream was to see Villa at Villa park.  

He wanted a ticket for any home game before end of the season, so I bought him one for the derby v sha a few weeks. He was over the moon with the offer and subsequently in heaven when we beat them. Of course he was buzzing andamazed by the atmosphere that day as the ground was rocking!

As we were in the corporate area, after the game I introduced him to Ken McNaught who in turn introduced him to Peter Withe, Sid Cowans, Des Bremner and many other members of the 81/82 teams. As he was leaving Villa Park he bumped into Doctor Tony, got his autograph and a photo with him. 

Needless to say he had the day of his dreams and is now even more of a Villa fan for life :-)

[Villaphan04]

1. Washington DC

2. None

3. My grandma is from Birmingham, and her side of the family all supported Villa so I started following the Villa

[Midfielder]

1 hour ago, AJ said:

And your little survey is the tiny tip of a very large iceberg. There really are Villa fans everywhere.

When I wear my shirt out in public, I meet not only other Villa fans, but fans from other clubs, and it is always pleasant to meet them and talk about football. Even a Coventry fan, and some West Brom fans, meeting them has been nice once they have gotten over their initial disdain.

Then there are those that yell out " Yeah! Woohoo! Go Hammers!", but they are just idiots.

The shouter, was it this guy:

 

[Midfielder]

1 hour ago, Keener window-cleaner said:

Great thread! Don't know how I missed it before.

1. Sweden, Västerås (pronounced like Westeros in Game of Thrones), allthough currently living in Stockholm.

2. Västerås SK.

3. Initially because of season review videos bought on a language course in Isle of Wight in 1993, where Dean Saunders scored a lot of great goals! A few years later a class mate in my football academy school got a youth team contract with Villa - guess if I envied him!

 

 

 

My reply took a few mins as I had to count and type all the names out! You're added sort of, to the Svenska list. Also by the way, I know Vasteras , it's where tight gits like me fly into Sweden to save a few quid on the flights and get the connecting coach to Stockholm or used to anyway, been a while. 

Ah.... manga Norwedianer pa detta.... Sverige backom! 

 

Edited May 5, 2017 by Midfielder

[tomaspg]

add another swede to the list

living in gothenburg, i go  to the odd game but dont really support any particular local team. Cant really remember how i picked villa, was quite a while ago