mottaloo Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 I got to thinking last night about my youth and the Villa....memories of certain things that will never leave me, so here goes a few of em : - 3pm kick off on a winter's afternoon....half way through the second half, the A V floodlights kicking in, twinkling against the slate grey sky, pigeons fluttering off them as they warm up. - Having a crap view of the game from the Holte until we score, a mad surge and you end up 10 yards away from your mates, but now with a better view ! - Same crush in the Holte, no room to move, a fat drunk bloke behind you declares loudly he needs a piss....then as if by magic a 5 yard gap appears all around him ! The theme from an "unfinished silent movie" (Hurricane Smith) as players warmed up. Music supplied by Andy Cash records of erdington. - Cigar smoke drifting across and its lingering smell.....(and I dont even smoke) - Geezer in front of you, with a transistor radio, letting you know the other scores. (Who needed smart phones !) - Or, checking the scores as they were put up at half time - each game had a letter reference. Game A was Liverpool v Cov, game B was Forest v man city... - Chanting "Sid Sid Sid !" before the match as he warmed up by the left corner flag, but I dont ever recall Mr Cowans even acknowledging us ! - Singing "seats aggro" if the trinity road posh boys got outraged at the ref. As you can work out, these were recalled from my days standing on the Holte. I've tried to leave out stuff like on the way to the game/after the game & just tried to keep it of memories inside VP. I realise this thread might appeal to those of a certain age ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Yeah brilliant memories I remember the smell of the HP sauce factory wafting across the ground if the wind was in a certain direction and they had a brew on Also Mohican punks sniffing glue out the back of the Holte Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The left side! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The right side! Stood down the right side front of the Holte with the same people every game. I never knew their names or anything much about them but they were Villa fans and that's all that mattered. Stood there with a fag in my mouth and unable to get it out because I was so tightly packed in and then just spat it out on the floor before it burnt my lips as it reached the filter tip. Surging backwards and forwards when things got exciting and ending up standing nowhere near where I had started off. Being crushed up against the barriers that had been placed to separate the standing crowd from the group in front and behind. Wearing a load of Villa badges on my fake leather jacket and having silky Villa scarves draped from my jeans and running the length of my legs. Just being there and being part of it. It's not the same any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villahero Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The bus back into town with me dad. Hot chestnuts from the kiosk at the bottom of the ramp where the pallasades are and then to the shop by home. Sweets for me, party seven and the sports argus for me dad...ah, could almost cry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrees Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Brendan Ormsby drives Montego Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Earliest memory, police horses chasing Villa and Forest fans up and down outside when there were houses, me watching from inside on the Holte and thinking it was incredible, fascinating, thrilling. If that happened now I'd quite rightly just think they were pillocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Queuing down the Trinity Rd or Witton lane to get into the Holte Arriving in the ground at 1.30 for a 3pm kick off to ensure you got a good place on one of the bars. My son can't beleive this as we now arrive 5 mins before KO Always wondering what it must be like to sit at a game. My dad said we couldn't afford it. Wearing 2 AV scarves around you wrists pretending to be tough Standing at the back of the Holte wondering if the away fans would pay a visit Pandemonium at Aston station trying to get a train on the way home Bumping into away fans on the way back to said station Getting up on a saturday morning and then deciding whether to a game or not. None of this forward planning malarky Knees up Mother Brown Great times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbuddies Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Standing outside the Holte End after a game with West Ham waiting for my mate who I had got separated from and not batting an eyelid when a mass of claret and blue came walking and chanting up Witton Lane and then realising just before it was too late that they were Hammers and not Villans and making a sharpish exit from the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The Villa Werewolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b23avfc Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 I miss those days! apparently when I was a real fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tismyk Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The Dougal Mob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 What about when the Trinity used to throw the toys out and all start banging the wooden seats and stamping on the wooden floors Actually, its amazing that stand didnt go up in smoke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted April 8, 2012 Moderator Share Posted April 8, 2012 Massive snaking queues for the (old) Holte End turnstiles if it was a big game. The programme sellers at the bottom of the Holte, selling from a tiny little stand. Looking up at the underneath of the Old Trinity road stand and seeing the curved supports. The double dividing fence between the two sides of the Holte. Occasionally, just occasionally having to actually buy a ticket for the Holte - like for European games - Juventus, Barcelona etc. The sound of the seats in the Trinity all tipping up as Tony Daley or Mark Walters ran down the wing, and everyone there stood up. The clock on the Witton Lane stand, between the Yellow Ansell's signs.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Sky Divers landing on the centre spot with the match ball Now thats entertainment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Villa youth days and the Zulu very scary as a kid, seeing the groups of houligans outside the ground. Always reminds me of the Film the Firm with Gary Oldman when they are around the Birmingham flea market avin it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 I can remember trouble at Reserve games early 80's, particularly v Millwall Reserves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Sky Divers landing on the centre spot with the match ball Now thats entertainment I remember the one guy getting stuck on the terrace roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Sky Divers landing on the centre spot with the match ball Now thats entertainment I remember the one guy getting stuck on the terrace roof. Yeah dressed as Santa, hit the trinity roof, rolled down it and off it, all in front of a stunned audience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AValon Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Getting pulled out by the plod (because they could!!), patted down and heaved down the whole flight of steps at the back of the Holte....then having to make your way back up from the middle to join your mates, if you could. The young kid in a crombie who used to get on the pitch before kick-off and dance round the coppers chasing him, to the sound of cheers and oles from the Holte. Right side. Not being able to breathe, move or anything much the night the great Pele came to VP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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