Aston Villa History Thread

[sidcow]

1 hour ago, AVTuco said:

Thanks for the comments. It's weird to watch clips from that time with so few fans in the stands. And that was the heyday of English club football!

Imagine going to VP with 15.000 people in it. Not fun.

I will requote something I wrote in the favourite pictures thread.  15,000 would have been nice that day. 

It's hard to believe now just how down in the doldrums football was. 

On 27/04/2020 at 21:05, sidcow said:

In a big packed match it was like a living breathing thing, constantly swaying.

If a goal was scored it was absolute pandemonium and you could end up miles away from where you started, proper shoulder to shoulder stuff. 

There were always urban legends about people pissing in your pocket but obviously just rubbish. 

Sadly my time there from 1983 till demolition was mostly punctuated by poor attendances.  Football was nowhere near as popular as it is now and the crowds weren't there.  Plus Villa were poor for large parts of the mid 80's to mid 90's.

The barrel bottom was finally hit on 1st February 1986 when I stood on that terrace in freezing conditions for a top flight game against Southampton to witness a dreary nil, nil draw.  Think on this, it was a first division game and the attendance was 8,456.  It's staggering to think now. 

However there were some amazing moments, great European nights, Tranmere Semi final.   As someone said elsewhere here the noise and atmosphere from a packed Holte Terrace was like nothing you can witness now. 

 

[TRO]

On 27/05/2020 at 11:20, VillaJ100 said:

Rummenigge the sore loser said we were the worst team to win the European Cup

Don't say much about them ,then does it?

what a silly man, slagging off an opponent ,who has beat you.

If they had been the team that we all thought they was......they would have won....but they failed to score....so they wasn't.

Edited May 30, 2020 by TRO

[John]

I remember shouting across the road to a bunch of Bayern fans before the game, to ask them what they thought the score would be. They shouted back 5-1 to them, talk about being over confident! I told them we would win 1-0 as we disappeared into a bar. I rather hope that they remembered those predictions a few hours and a few beers later.  

[DaveAV1]

I remember we got to the stadium hours before kick off and got a train into Rotterdam. As we came out of the station it was all red and white and not looking good. We kept walking, turned a corner to a sea of Union Jacks. The whole of the centre including a large fountain was Villa. It was an amazing afternoon with lots of stories which need recalling outside a pub with a few beers and certainly not written down! But those were the days. 

Some of the crowds we had home and away in the 3rd division were just incredible. Anyone who was at the Bournemouth game will never forget it. 

Equally unforgettable was Sunderland at home, when we were promoted back to the first division. I think they closed the gates 90 minutes before kickoff. It was a roasting hot day and people were fainting and being passed over heads to the front of the Holte to the St. John’s Ambulance crews. The pitch was lined with people recovering by the time we kicked off. I was 12 and my Dad lifted me into the moat, which was packed with kids. Then Brian Little scores that goal. Woooow!!!

[The Fun Factory]

22 hours ago, AVTuco said:

A question: why is there so many empty seats in the stadium? Did they not sell all seats for safety reasons? Or were we or Bayern not able to sell more tickets? Or something else?

In the commentary Brian Moore said it was being shown on live tv in the Netherlands so perhaps neutral fans stayed away, esp after the trouble in Anderlecht in the semi final. 

Edited May 30, 2020 by The Fun Factory

[John]

2 hours ago, The Fun Factory said:

In the commentary Brian Moore said it was being shown on live tv in the Netherlands so perhaps neutral fans stayed away, esp after the trouble in Anderlecht in the semi final. 

I remember sitting with my mate in the main square in Brussels with a chilled beer in our hands, when a local lady, asked us if there would be trouble at the Anderlecht game that night. We assured her that there wouldn't be. How very wrong we were.  

[TRO]

I remember coming out of the stadium, with fans crying in ecstasy, overwhelmed by the achievement.

I remember being in a state of shock, only pleased to see us in a European cup final, not actually win it.

I said to my mates, you have to win the league, to even enter this competition, the enormity was just sinking in......I said "how awesome is this", knowing it was the pinnacle of our history making exploits.

Its most unlikely we will ever do it again......but I am convinced if we follow the right path and make the right decisions, its not impossible........its all about doing the right things and a big slice of lady luck.

but I will also say this......you don't win that competition, with luck alone.

Edited May 31, 2020 by TRO

[PaulC]

On 30/05/2020 at 08:23, OutByEaster? said:

The dark days of the 80's for football attendance I think - despite winning being Champions and going on to win the European Cup that season our average attendance was only 26,700. Eleven teams in the First division had average attendances under 20,000 that year.  By 1985-86 our average was down to 15,218 and only three teams averaged more than 25,000. Hooliganism, heavy handed policing and crumbling stadiums meant football in general was in the doldrums in the 80's. 

I remember Chelsea getting home gates of 4000, Arsenal and Spurs 12000. Football was on a huge downer in the 80s

[DaveAV1]

Back in the third division we were occasionally on MOTD, it would never happen now. I remember on Final Score the BBC has a reporter in Blackpool to cover our game, I believe it was the game when we were officially promoted. The reporter said something like, “If it wasn’t for Blackpool tower behind me, you’d think we were in Birmingham.”

I believe that season our home crowds, on aggregate, were about the 4th highest in the whole country. 

Edited May 31, 2020 by DaveAV1

[PaulC]

9 minutes ago, DaveAV1 said:

Back in the third division we were occasionally on MOTD, it would never happen now. I remember on Final Score the BBC has a reporter in Blackpool to cover our game, I believe it was the game when we were officially promoted. The reporter said something like, “If it wasn’t for Blackpool tower behind me, you’d think we were in Birmingham.”

I believe that season our home crowds, on aggregate, were about the 4th highest in the whole country. 

That was in the 2nd division wasn't it. We won that game 3-0. Then we played at Hillsborough. Think there were about 14000 villa fans there and many of us ran on the pitch to celebrate going up. We won that game 4-0. Fond memories. 

[DaveAV1]

3 hours ago, PaulC said:

That was in the 2nd division wasn't it. We won that game 3-0. Then we played at Hillsborough. Think there were about 14000 villa fans there and many of us ran on the pitch to celebrate going up. We won that game 4-0. Fond memories. 

You could be right, one season seems to blend into another the older I get!

[Zatman]

1 hour ago, DaveAV1 said:

You could be right, one season seems to blend into another the older I get!

2012-2016 was just one really shit season to me

[The Fun Factory]

Tbh I would be amazed if we ever even compete in the Champions League, let alone winning it again. Europa would be a start.

[Zatman]

Our game vs Sheffield United will be our 1st ever competitive game in June

[Follyfoot]

On 25/01/2020 at 12:05, Brumstopdogs said:

 

Left side, left side give us a song, 'the left side' Arggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

 

Tizwaz - Swapshop 

 

 

[peterw]

On 30/05/2020 at 22:40, The Fun Factory said:

In the commentary Brian Moore said it was being shown on live tv in the Netherlands so perhaps neutral fans stayed away, esp after the trouble in Anderlecht in the semi final. 

 

it was actually not as sparse as you'd think. because of the trouble v Anderlecht the section of the ground opposite the cameras was supposed to be kept empty for segregation reasons, yet quite a few fans found there way in and were sitting in the part of the ground meant to be empty. So, the ground was actually more full than it was supposed to be.

[John]

Tiswas every time for us, Follyfoot. I remember we rocked up to a pub at 11am, which was near to Goodison Park, for a couple of pre-game sherbets in the late 70s. We were playing Liverpool that day and the local clientele had Swapshop on. We suggested they give Tiswas a try instead. A few hours later we had converted a number of Scousers and a lot of incoming Villa fans, were happy to see that their Saturday morning show was on, to greet their arrival. 

Edited June 16, 2020 by John

[NIVillan]

On 29/05/2020 at 22:09, sidcow said:

To be fair I watched the whole game back a couple of years ago for the first time since I probably watched it on TV in 1982.

It wasn't as bad as I remembered.  Sure they had more / better chances but it wasn't a total smash and grab. I can see why brief highlights would be very one sided though. 

This, my 13 year old nagged me to watch the match on the Anniversary, missed the online showing so I dug out the DVD.

I warned him it was one way traffic and that we managed to get a shot in, though I was trying to remember as I had not really watch the game since that night in 82.

First half it was pretty even and we applied ourselves very well.  They didnt really create a clear cut chance and Withe was causing them problems without creating a chance for ourselves.

I wandered off and missed the start of second half where my son shouted through I think you remember the second half.  We were heavily under the cosh for the first 20 odd minutes but again we worked our way back into it where we contained them pretty much and of course created the goal.

Even at the end when they created chances and the offside goal we wasnt too stretched, you only got nervous in hindsight cause it was a 1-0 lead and you were worried the Dream was going to end.

That team though was built to play exactly like that.  Soak up large amounts of pressure and then fast rapier attacks.  Very underestimated and under valued.  An old boss who was a Spurs fan said to me that he saw Spurs vs Villa at EHL in 1981.  He said that Villa were a great team and deserved to be champions.

 

The other thing I blanked out of my mind was that we wore all white, as a Kid I have the away kit with the claret shorts so when I thought back to that night my mind skipped that we wore white shorts as well.

 

[limpid]

58 minutes ago, John said:

Tizwaz every time for us, Follyfoot.

Today
Is
Saturday
Wake-up
And
Smile

[John]

1 hour ago, NIVillan said:

you only got nervous in hindsight cause it was a 1-0 lead and you were worried the Dream was going to end.

I certainly got more than a bit nervous during the game . I can still remember thinking that the clock behind the other goal was ticking over way too slowly, for my liking (an opinion shared by everyone around me too). Oh how we welcomed the sound of the final whistle!   

Edited June 16, 2020 by John