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Aston Villa History Thread


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1 hour ago, John said:

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! :hooray:  

The Championship Play Off final was the worst for that for me. 

Worse still I went to the toilet just after Derby had scored and hadn't a clue there had been a long stoppage in play so I was going nuts as the overtime minutes kept stacking up.  Don't know how my heart kept going. 

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23 hours ago, Zatman said:

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

Top bit of Trivia 👍

My Wife has already said we will be a future pub quiz answer.  Who played the first PL fixture after lockdown?

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1 hour ago, sidcow said:

Top bit of Trivia 👍

My Wife has already said we will be a future pub quiz answer.  Who played the first PL fixture after lockdown?

Last before lockdown and 1st game after 😉

 

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4 hours ago, Follyfoot said:

Sally James 

 

Corrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

As a young pre teenager something definitely stirred in me for the first time. 

7b2d2a74a6a4727656de299c8c0c9b0d.jpg

 

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Interesting article from the Guardian for those of us who weren't alive to remember this:

Quote

When Aston Villa played behind closed doors as European champions

The Premier League is making its return at Villa Park. This is not the first time the ground has been empty for a big game

By Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports Blog

When Aston Villa take on Sheffield United on Wednesday, it will be the first time Villa Park has hosted a Premier League game behind closed doors, but it will not be a unique occasion for that famous old ground. Villa were champions of Europe the last time they played a competitive match in an empty Villa Park. Violence and glory provided the ingredients for the story behind their game against Besiktas on 15 September 1982.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/16/when-aston-villa-last-played-behind-closed-doors-european-champions-besiktas

Article has some nice photos also.

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15 hours ago, Brumstopdogs said:

Look at that pitch!

Remember the night well..........................North Stand lower.

Pitch looks pretty good to me........................remember going up to Ayresome Park with Villa and there wasn't a blade of grass on the entire pitch. 🙂

The modern namby pamby footballer would have a fit though!

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3 hours ago, newhavenhibby said:

Remember the night well..........................North Stand lower.

Pitch looks pretty good to me........................remember going up to Ayresome Park with Villa and there wasn't a blade of grass on the entire pitch. 🙂

The modern namby pamby footballer would have a fit though!

Scary place Ayresome Park back then, not for the faint hearted 

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When he gets the ball he's bound to score! What a night that was, I still recall the relief when Ken added the second. "just like a team that's going to win the European Cup" Did we know something, back then or what? :hooray:

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10 hours ago, John said:

When he gets the ball he's bound to score! What a night that was, I still recall the relief when Ken added the second. "just like a team that's going to win the European Cup" Did we know something, back then or what? :hooray:

The mid 80's were my formative years of watching Villa live. 

I've heard the Holte End sing "when he gets the ball he does f all" on more than a few occasions.  Literally total disrespect for a bona fide legend. Times were bad. 

I actually think our near worse relegation in history and the 3 years we spent in The Championship were still better times than the mid 80's decline and season in Div 2.

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7 hours ago, sidcow said:

The mid 80's were my formative years of watching Villa live. 

I've heard the Holte End sing "when he gets the ball he does f all" on more than a few occasions.  Literally total disrespect for a bona fide legend. Times were bad. 

I actually think our near worse relegation in history and the 3 years we spent in The Championship were still better times than the mid 80's decline and season in Div 2.

I have to say that having been old enough to have seen us get relegated in season 1969/70, this was beyond doubt the worst relegation in our history, in my opinion. It was bad enough going down in 66/67, but the slow realisation, that we wouldn't be leaving Division 2 by being promoted, but by being relegated, which crept up upon us, when we finished 16th, 18th and then finally 21st, was incredibly grim.

We did have the odd bright moments along the way, such as the arrival of The Doc and the sleeping giant was eventually awoken when we found ourselves in Division 3. In hindsight, those dire seasons, made us only appreciate more the good times that were to follow, that were unimaginable back then.  

Other than that, I can understand why 1986/87 may have felt slightly worse than 2015/16, probably as it came so soon after our glory years, but for me, we were not cast adrift quite so soon in 86/7 and the team didn't seem to accept the inevitable quite so readily (although it was a close run thing between those two awful seasons). In my case, I had also deluded myself into thinking that after all of those years back in the top flight, we wouldn't have to face the indignity of relegation again, much as I'm sure Villa fans had also thought back in seasons 1935/6 and 58/9.  

I think that other than in the mid/late 60's, we had always felt confident that we would come back up to the top flight, hopefully sooner rather than later, which probably made the bitter pill of relegation a little easier to swallow.   

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38 minutes ago, John said:

I have to say that having been old enough to have seen us get relegated in season 1969/70, this was beyond doubt the worst relegation in our history, in my opinion. It was bad enough going down in 66/67, but the slow realisation, that we wouldn't be leaving Division 2 by being promoted, but by being relegated, which crept up upon us, when we finished 16th, 18th and then finally 21st, was incredibly grim.

We did have the odd bright moments along the way, such as the arrival of The Doc and the sleeping giant was eventually awoken when we found ourselves in Division 3. In hindsight, those dire seasons, made us only appreciate more the good times that were to follow, that were unimaginable back then.  

Other than that, I can understand why 1986/87 may have felt slightly worse than 2015/16, probably as it came so soon after our glory years, but for me, we were not cast adrift quite so soon in 86/7 and the team didn't seem to accept the inevitable quite so readily (although it was a close run thing between those two awful seasons). In my case, I had also deluded myself into thinking that after all of those years back in the top flight, we wouldn't have to face the indignity of relegation again, much as I'm sure Villa fans had also thought back in seasons 1935/6 and 58/9.  

I think that other than in the mid/late 60's, we had always felt confident that we would come back up to the top flight, hopefully sooner rather than later, which probably made the bitter pill of relegation a little easier to swallow.   

I think my feelings about 86/87 and preceeding season or 2 were as you say partially because they followed so soon after true greatness.  But it was also because football itself was in such a state of disrepair.  We were at a low ebb in a generally depressing time for football. 

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