rjw63 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Remember when you used to collect football cards, and Villa were so far down the league pyramid they hardly ever featured? There were always players that stood out for their names or appearance. Like this guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 Or him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 Mexican revolutionary Tony Dunne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Always remember this chap and his stern face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markc Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 14 minutes ago, Xela said: Always remember this chap and his stern face Love the sponsor name 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 The very scary Micky Droy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Thanks to the Merlin albums I am more knowledgeable with squads/lineups of non Villa teams from the mid 90s than I am for this season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 Ralph Coates, king of the comb-over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rds1983 Posted October 18, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted October 18, 2020 I didn't realise they had football cards/stickers that long ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 54 minutes ago, Wainy316 said: Thanks to the Merlin albums I am more knowledgeable with squads/lineups of non Villa teams from the mid 90s than I am for this season. Same. I could name more of the Oxford, Luton or Coventry teams of 1988 than I could the Southampton, Fulham and Baggies teams of today! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 A more recent one. Boy did this guy have a concorde hooter or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 1 hour ago, rjw63 said: A more recent one. Boy did this guy have a concorde hooter or what? Iirc he was a midfielder when we signed him, he was converted to a defender while at villa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GarethRDR Posted October 21, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted October 21, 2020 I remember the first Merlin sticker album I managed to complete, and I remember the sticker I needed to do it. It was the 95/96 season album, I'd had the previous year's one but not managed to complete it so I was all-in to finish this one. Unfortunately, living in Germany at the time they were quite difficult to come by, the nearby smaller NAAFIs either didn't stock them or what very little they had sold quite quickly, so we were often waiting for whoever was heading on a short trip back to the U.K. to return with an influx of fresh swapping opportunities; my Dad was thusly tasked when making his occasional detachments back, he would return with boxes but would ration the sticker packets out as an incentive for good behaviour and/or peace and quiet on long road trips. Almost everyone on the playground knew which stickers each other already had or desperately needed, and as albums started to fill out so too did the scuttlebutt grow about who was nearing completion and what they needed to do it. After some time, I had narrowed my search down to one solitary player: An eternity seemed to pass between getting down to the final one and finally, finally hearing tell one morning as we waited for the schoolbus that a kid in the year below me had the John Salako I was searching for. The only problem; it wasn't a spare, he'd already stuck him in. I found the boy in question and offered the entire contents of my official Merlin's™ swap tin (which I'd sent away for), numbering about 60-strong (including shinys and doubles) for a chance, just one chance at peeling the sacred relic from its parchment. "I'm really good at it, I won't damage your book, and I promise I'll stop if it starts to rip" I said, lying through my teeth knowing full well that I was tearing that **** out either way and be damned the consequences. I was in the year above after all, and there was a clear, established social hierarchy as to how these things should work on the playground. Brow-beaten, the boy relented and I began to peel (a sentence one should not type out too often, I grant). I am yet to treat any task I have undertaken in my following decades on this planet with such care, precision and mortal dread, and I have long since been of the belief that I know exactly what it must feel like to have to defuse an explosive device. First, the corners; as a youth I had a nasty nail-biting habit, so the first hurdle of this process was often the most challenging for me. Fortunately, both top corners were obliging enough to lift without issue, thus I began the slow, steady drag downwards, trying to keep the sticker as level as possible. A speck of white detritus appeared on the page where once there was Salako. Then another. I could feel the eyes of the book's owner searing into me, ready to pull the plug on the whole transaction. "It's okay, I got this, nearly there....", I was dispensing meaningless platitudes faster than an Avon lady, anything to quell the tremblings of insurrection. I would not be denied my prize. A line began to appear on the book, 7/8's of the way down, so very nearly at the terminus... it was now or never. I yanked at John Salako as a Magician would a tablecloth, and my boldness was rewarded by the fates that day; the line had ended, the specks were no more, it was a clean peel. No rips to the sticker, no rips to the book. Before another word could be spoken, I thrust forth my album, leaning against the official Merlin™ slip-on hardback cover (which I'd sent away for), I lined John Salako up and thumbed him into place. It was over. I had won. 3 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It's Your Round Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 That’s some claim to fame @GarethRDR, not many people have thumbed John Salako and lived to tell the tale! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junxs Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 I completed the 88/89 Panini sticker album, was looking at it a few years ago. Had a hilarious picture of David Moyes when playing for one of the Scottish teams, I'll see if I can dig it out and post a picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GarethRDR Posted October 21, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted October 21, 2020 18 minutes ago, Junxs said: I completed the 88/89 Panini sticker album, was looking at it a few years ago. Had a hilarious picture of David Moyes when playing for one of the Scottish teams, I'll see if I can dig it out and post a picture The legendary crackhead one? 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 (edited) mates dad played for coventry really nice guy, he still gets sent panini sticker books from cov fans in the post for him to sign his sticker and send back, its a bit surreal Edited October 21, 2020 by villa4europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Why do they all look about 59. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 1 hour ago, rodders0223 said: Why do they all look about 59. Exfoliation hadn't been discovered yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 On 18/10/2020 at 13:51, rjw63 said: Ralph Coates, king of the comb-over I thought that was Sir Bobby, king of the comb over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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