handsworthvilla Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Bit of a random one for me. 2003 League Cup quarter final at home to Chelsea. Was my first season going without my Dad and with my school mates instead. Stood at the back of the holte in the freezing cold for an under the lights game. Chelsea had just got the Roman money so had a few stars and were starting to rise. I remember Angel scored an absolute cracker in the first half, then Chelsea equalised. Then late on Gavin McCann scored the scrappiest goal late on in front of the Holte to give us the win. The Holte went absolutely mental I remember being pretty drunk walking back chanting "we're going to Wembley" with my mates and thousands of others. Just a great feeling. I kept the newspaper report of the game on my bedroom wall for years Of course we didn't end up going to Wembley, got knocked out in the semi's by Bolton. But nevertheless a great memory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLillis Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Great thread! Reading through these memories remind me that I have seen so many good Villa moments! Those of us who are old enough have been blessed with many good Villa sides and consequently have many many memories to choose from.I’m very happy that our younger generations finally look to have a team to be proud of again. So with that in mind I choose the play off final as my favourite memory. The day we regained our place in the top tier was an incredibly emotional day and a brilliant experience from start to finish. Villa will have to do something amazing to top that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNVillan Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 1 hour ago, danceoftheshamen said: Many great days for me over the years, the Wembley final when we got promoted against Derby was one for sure. It truly felt like we had somehow escaped oblivion after nearly going Bankrupt under Xia. That amazing day in Rotterdam was of course up there too as me & my mates went over on the Train/Ferry/Coach special... what a day that was & i can still now clearly remember the excitment on the first leg of the journey (train from New st) & feeling as though we were invincible even though everyone other than Villa fans fancied Bayern (which was half the German national team effectively) to win it. The singing & drinking on the ferry over to Ostend and the sweltering 30+ degrees on the 3rd leg of the journey on one of hundreds of coaches between Ostend & Rotterdam and after a real nail biting final when Jimmy Rimmer scared the bejesus out of us all going off early in the game & making way for a rooky Nigel Spink, the European cup glistening with a 1000 camera flashes bouncing off it as Dennis Mortimer proudly lifted it into the evening sky. What a day! The only time that was topped was that day at Highbury in 1980 Arsenal (a) when still as a school kid, i went in the North bank (home end) with our colours on, on my own. This was due to my mate & his dad having tickets and thinking i had too (i didn't but didn't tell them as i knew his dad would refuse to take me otherwise & i was so desperate to be there) So i ended up being helped into their end by a friendly guy & his son who made me hide my scarf but could do nothing about the Villa badges sewn into the back my denim jacket, so the guy kindly stood behind me through the turnstiles so the stewards & Arsenal fans didn't see them. initially at least. They then told me if i sidled along a thin strip of terracing which went right down the length of the side of the pitch i would be able to stand next to where the Villa (Clock end) were. I did this and found there were quite a few Villa fans bunched up there but i think some Gooners must have been in there & saw my colours and prior to KO it all started to kick off just behind me. That was when bizarrrely i ended up on the Pitch with Pele!! He was just being walked into the centre circle with everybody singing "sign him up sign him up sign him up" and as it went off behind me i saw my chance and climbed the little fence in front of me onto the pitch, i ran across (so yes this was my claim to fame as i shared the pitch with Pele ) and leaped onto the fence housing the Villa fans before dive bombing into the arms of my fellow villains!! Shame we lost but when news trickled through that we had won due to Ipswich's result we went wild!! I remember the whole of the M1 being seized up and all the Villa partying & chanting on it celebrating our famous tilte win. What wonderful times. The Rotterdam day in 1982... wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnbull Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 1975 League Cup Final v Norwich. What a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villarule123 Posted January 1, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted January 1, 2021 I don't think anything can rival the Derby promotion decider. When you think of how bad things could have been if we didn't go up, losing our (at the time potential) best ever player, nearly going out of business the season before, the decade of pain and turmoil we'd been through. Then we have a Villa fan manager/captain combo completing our revival. I'll never forget the relief/happiness/excitement I felt when that final whistle went. And to top it off, I got to give @Stevo985 a huge man hug 10 minutes later. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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