Moderator OutByEaster? Posted April 24, 2020 Moderator Share Posted April 24, 2020 At a previous Heritage and History supporters group meeting, the club discussed filling the 11 framed spaces in the brickwork on the side of the Holte End with an All Time Aston Villa XI. We've agreed to help them create a shortlist for each position which they'll allow season ticket holders and members to vote on. Therefore, we would like to start this process by asking for your help in creating a shortlist of players for each position. To help a little in narrowing selection, the club have created some parameters from the outset. There have been many players and many formations played over the years. The club see a 4-4-2 as the simplest interpretation of how to fill a side. The use of roman numerals is deliberate. Players will have worn all sorts of numbers and that number would relate to a different position not only depending on the formation - with the introduction of modern squad numbers anything goes! To make the short list, we would ask that players have done at least one of these things: Played at least 100 times for Villa Won a major trophy with Villa Played in a promotion season with Villa Please try and take in to account the “ALL TIME” element, and don’t restrict this to players you have seen play. The Harry Hamptons of our history should be taken in to account. You don't have to name ten, the idea is that we come up with a list of ten that season ticket holders and members can vote on - name as few or as many as you'd like. So, your thoughts on left backs, right backs and centre backs - i'll add an ongoing list to this post, so you can see who we're recommending. We have until 7th May. Left Backs Colin Gibson Alan Wright Charlie Aitken Steve Staunton Howard Spencer Tommy Mort Joe Tate . . . Centre Backs Paul McGrath Allan Evans Shaun Teale Frank Barson Olof Mellberg Gareth Southgate Ugo Ehiogu Jimmy Crabtree James Cowan Frank Moss Jnr Ken McNaught Alec Talbot Chris Nicholl Right Backs John Gidman Gary Williams Mark Delaney Gary Charles Kenny Swain George Cummings Stan Lynn . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator OutByEaster? Posted April 24, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted April 24, 2020 I'm just going to go straight ahead and whack Paul McGrath in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerCollins29 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Charlie Aitken Mcgrath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyvilla Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 allan evans , mcgrath , delaney , mellberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Hutton In all seriousness in recent times we have not had great full backs. Alan Wright and Delaney, Gary Charles was a player I liked mainly for his offensive than defensive play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 The women don’t a mention at all 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Frank Barson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 McGrath Teale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 John Gidman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 Gidman, Mcgrath, Evans, Williams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, sir_gary_cahill said: The women don’t a mention at all Well yeah. Neither do the under 18s. The best all time 11 is obviously going to be exclusively sourced from the men's first team. Edited April 25, 2020 by Davkaus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Davkaus said: Well yeah. Neither do the under 18s. The best all time 11 is obviously going to be exclusively sourced from the men's first team. Why is that? It should be equal, I know why it isn’t like that because everyone just copies everyone else in 1 way or another, that’s the society we live in Edited April 25, 2020 by sir_gary_cahill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 16 minutes ago, PaulC said: Gidman, Mcgrath, Evans, Williams/Gibson Fixed. For some years that position was like a timeshare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 19 minutes ago, rjw63 said: Fixed. For some years that position was like a timeshare. Yes wasn't too sure who to pick. More notable mentions are Steve Staunton and Alan Wright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 34 minutes ago, sir_gary_cahill said: Why is that? It should be equal, I know why it isn’t like that because everyone just copies everyone else in 1 way or another, that’s the society we live in Maybe in another 50 years you would have have a point but in all honesty right now our women's team exists and not a whole lot else... We haven't got a great history and none of them would be deserving of a place so better just to leave them out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator OutByEaster? Posted April 25, 2020 Author Moderator Share Posted April 25, 2020 40 minutes ago, sir_gary_cahill said: Why is that? It should be equal, I know why it isn’t like that because everyone just copies everyone else in 1 way or another, that’s the society we live in It is entirely equal - if you can name a female Villa player that's better than Gordon Cowans in midfield she'll get in. I'm all for equality in sport, but right now it's true to say we've never produced a female midfielder with the ability of say Henri Lansbury, and I'm not sure if women's football anywhere has - if they played a mixed game, Lansbury would be the best player in our women's team by a distance - and it's extremely unlikely that anyone will be nominating Lansbury for this side. On sporting merit, there isn't a female player near to the first team of any league side right now - if there was, she could play, I don't think there's any rule that stops a woman playing in the Premier league if she's good enough. There's scope for an all time women's XI i think - but the women's team has only been running for a few years and is only just starting to emerge as a good side - it'd be a little bit too soon for it to have much merit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Supporter Villan_of_oz Posted April 25, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) 6 hours ago, sir_gary_cahill said: Why is that? It should be equal, I know why it isn’t like that because everyone just copies everyone else in 1 way or another, that’s the society we live in Not having a pop at you, as I'm ignorant to the answer but how many AVFC women could there possibly be that fit the criteria? It surely couldn't be many, this isn't society or sexism. This is just plain and simple about time. The men have 130+ years of history to pull on. I'm sure in 50-100 years time there will have been a female player for us who puts here hand up for a shout to be in the best XI. Edited April 25, 2020 by Villan_of_oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 13 hours ago, villa4europe said: Maybe in another 50 years you would have have a point but in all honesty right now our women's team exists and not a whole lot else... We haven't got a great history and none of them would be deserving of a place so better just to leave them out That’s the way it is but it shouldn’t be like that, women are as deserving of coverage and publicity as men Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 13 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: It is entirely equal - if you can name a female Villa player that's better than Gordon Cowans in midfield she'll get in. I'm all for equality in sport, but right now it's true to say we've never produced a female midfielder with the ability of say Henri Lansbury, and I'm not sure if women's football anywhere has - if they played a mixed game, Lansbury would be the best player in our women's team by a distance - and it's extremely unlikely that anyone will be nominating Lansbury for this side. On sporting merit, there isn't a female player near to the first team of any league side right now - if there was, she could play, I don't think there's any rule that stops a woman playing in the Premier league if she's good enough. There's scope for an all time women's XI i think - but the women's team has only been running for a few years and is only just starting to emerge as a good side - it'd be a little bit too soon for it to have much merit. I don’t think it’s equal at all, there is much less media coverage of the women’s game. There seems to be stigma that in society that women are less deserving of acclaim or praise for some unknown reason. It shouldn’t be like that but that’s the way it is, we should all club together to change it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 7 hours ago, Villan_of_oz said: Not having a pop at you, as I'm ignorant to the answer but how many AVFC women could there possibly be that fit the criteria? It surely couldn't be many, this isn't society or sexism. This is just plain and simple about time. The men have 130+ years of history to pull on. I'm sure in 50-100 years time there will have been a female player for us who puts here hand up for a shout to be in the best XI. I don’t see it changing any time soon, women are just completely overlooked, I don’t know why, it’s always been for as long as I can remember. It’s sad really but it’s just the way it is, the way it’s always been Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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