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31 years ago today we won the European Cup


Farlz

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Yeah I was in Munich last year, but forgot to change the location. And packoman I am definitely a fan of the club, but I don't want to live in the past. My view on England's world cup win in 1966 is exactly the same. A huge achievement but when the commentators bring it up every month it is a bit silly. Can we avoid the 'I'm a bigger fan then you'' bollocks. 

 

And comparing the day of independance for a country, or a revoution or somethong of that nature to a football match is ridiculous. Get some perspective.

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Yeah I was in Munich last year, but forgot to change the location. And packoman I am definitely a fan of the club, but I don't want to live in the past. My view on England's world cup win in 1966 is exactly the same. A huge achievement but when the commentators bring it up every month it is a bit silly. Can we avoid the 'I'm a bigger fan then you'' bollocks. 

 

And comparing the day of independance for a country, or a revoution or somethong of that nature to a football match is ridiculous. Get some perspective.

 

I am. But it was a little tongue in cheek. We're supporting a football club and we're celebrating the biggest day in our history. Well, maybe apart from the day we were founded. And as Drat pointed out, it's very much been significant for our future and even today.

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It's in the past, lets forget about it. It's all getting a bit 1966 now.

 

 

Hmmn i notice your location is "Munich" Voinjama?..

 

Still i think you are wrong here.. there is no problem with remembering this now & then & sharing some memories from that night. Especially on the actual anniversary no matter how long ago it was. The OP actually asked for stories of the night too so do you think it's wrong that a supporter wants to hear such stories because you have no personal interest nor experience of the night in question or even more bizarrely as a Villa fan would rather it didn't happen? To try to just erase it is very disrespectful both to the players who achieved it & the club & it's history & frankly makes you sound very naive indeed

Edited by danceoftheshamen
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It's in the past, lets forget about it. It's all getting a bit 1966 now.

 

 

Hmmn i notice your location is "Munich" Voinjama?..

 

 

 

 

I take it you didn't read my post above?

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I hereby propose the following addition to the VT meme/vocabulary...

Voinclanger

Voy·un·klang·ur

Noun:A monumental error in judgement, ultimately leading to mass hysteria

"We should probably rethink the McLeish appointment, we've pulled a real Voinclanger."

;)
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Yeah I was in Munich last year, but forgot to change the location. And packoman I am definitely a fan of the club, but I don't want to live in the past. My view on England's world cup win in 1966 is exactly the same. A huge achievement but when the commentators bring it up every month it is a bit silly. Can we avoid the 'I'm a bigger fan then you'' bollocks. 

 

And comparing the day of independance for a country, or a revoution or somethong of that nature to a football match is ridiculous. Get some perspective.

 

I am. But it was a little tongue in cheek. We're supporting a football club and we're celebrating the biggest day in our history. Well, maybe apart from the day we were founded. And as Drat pointed out, it's very much been significant for our future and even today.

 

 

 

 

It's in the past, lets forget about it. It's all getting a bit 1966 now.

 

 

Hmmn i notice your location is "Munich" Voinjama?..

 

 

 

 

I take it you didn't read my post above?

 

 

Actually  i didn't as i was writing my post when you posted it i guess  :rolleyes: 

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Voinjama you are certainly entitled to an opinion and I respect that. It's just a shame that you're so wrong ;)

 

Tbh I don't really care how other teams treat their past successes. We are Aston Villa and we are obsessed with the fact that we won the European Cup in 1982. As the Villa site says "No matter how young, the most essential part of any Villa supporter’s education is to be aware the club won the European Cup by beating Bayern Munich in Rotterdam on 26th May, 1982"

 

And you know what, I'm fine with that.

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Yeah I was in Munich last year, but forgot to change the location. And packoman I am definitely a fan of the club, but I don't want to live in the past. My view on England's world cup win in 1966 is exactly the same. A huge achievement but when the commentators bring it up every month it is a bit silly. Can we avoid the 'I'm a bigger fan then you'' bollocks. 

 

And comparing the day of independance for a country, or a revoution or somethong of that nature to a football match is ridiculous. Get some perspective.

 

I am. But it was a little tongue in cheek. We're supporting a football club and we're celebrating the biggest day in our history. Well, maybe apart from the day we were founded. And as Drat pointed out, it's very much been significant for our future and even today.

 

 

 

 

It's in the past, lets forget about it. It's all getting a bit 1966 now.

 

 

Hmmn i notice your location is "Munich" Voinjama?..

 

 

 

 

I take it you didn't read my post above?

 

 

Actually  i didn't as i was writing my post when you posted it i guess  :rolleyes:

 

 

My post was made 15 minutes before yours...so that's a lie. I'm gonna delete my voinjama account and come back under a different name. You won't know it's me.

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Well i was there & had a fantastic couple of days.. The club arranged various travel packages at good prices & the one i chose was the Football Special train from New st to Dover then ferry to Ostend & finally a last leg via coach to Rotterdam... What a brilliant journey we had. There were also various other routes being taken but the authorities had decided to split us all up for security reasons as there had been some trouble in earlier rounds most notably in Anderlecht when some cars had been set on fire & such although it was thought we had possibly been infiltrated by Chelsea & West Ham supporters looking for a ruck.

 

The train journey was great & full of teenage anticipation. We had a ball on the way down to Dover with lots of singing & shenanigans & talk of Bayern Munich who were strong favorites for the game with Breitner, Karl Heinz Rummenigge & a few other West German internationals in their ranks. I remember Rummenigge coming on a midlands news bulletin the night before we left saying how they were sure they would beat us comfortably

 

So onto the Ferry & we purchased a crate of Stella Artois between us which had double the effect in the fresh air up top on the ferry crossing. I remember standing there listening to renditions of "the Brummies are ere clap clap clap clap" & Bells are ringing" & Gary shaw, Gary Shaw.. Gaaary Gaary Shaw ...When he gets the ball he's bound to score Gaaary Gary Shaw, amongst others...

 

Finally we arrived in Ostend & one of my 1st memories of a foreign land was hundreds of Villa fans disembarking the Ferry across one of the tunnels they use which was full of armed Belgian police who were clearly still nervous about our presence after the rioting in Anderlecht.. This elevated into near panic when our numbers swelled & a huge roar of "The Brummies are ere" went up amplified to a deafening level by the acoustics of the tunnel & i remember seeing the one officer with a panic stricken look on his face grab his gun in readiness just in case... But we were not there for that & he need not have worried.

 

Then we went out & it became clear the temperature was hot... very hot in fact & somebody said it was in the mid 80's already which for morning was hot indeed... Then we all were ushered onto a massive convoy of coaches.. how many i really don't know but there were many.. hundreds in fact which was very impressive & the convoy just went on for miles.

 

So the final leg of our journey to the Feyenoord stadium began... & boy was it hot..Everyone had their tops off & the heat started to pull the Stella we had consumed earlier straight back out of us but now in the form of sweat..  fuzzy heads abounded!. It was almost unbearable actually that heat & someone said it was now somewhere in the mid 90's... A long coach trip which was by far the worst leg of the journey.

 

Then finally we arrived.. a good few hours before the big KO. .

 

The authorities had seen fit to divide Rotterdam into two halves for the game as part of a massive security operation & It very soon became clear we had been given the horrid side of the city.. there was very little there to do.. A few filthy shops with what appeared to be Cheese in one, Meat in another & Clogs in another.. we had been given the rough end of the city thats for sure no doubt because of the trouble caused in earlier rounds of the competition. eventually we found a bar which was packed with Villa Fans & they had the locals up on tables dancing. I never did work out if that was done by choice or by force.. We heard a story of an overturned coach carrying Bayern fans & have to say though it was all going to go off again for a while... but then we found out it was simply a traffic accident. We chatted to a local guy who spoke broken English & he was determined to tell us we would lose.. "No chance!" we told him but he didn't believe us.

 

So to the game... What an atmosphere... the temperature inside the stadium was scorching hot despite it being an evening KO although even that felt cooler than the coach trip as at least we could breath fresh air now.

 

This is where it really dawned on me....here we are Aston Villa FC, the club i started supporting when we were in the 3rd tier of English football now in the biggest game of our history against the mighty Bayern Munich.

 

The whistle blew & straight away it was clear that Bayerns technical ability was superior but they couldn't seem to fathom our spirit & strength. Our fans were loud & proud & easily out-sang the Germans... By all accounts there were 26000 Villa there that day although some of those had traveled unofficially so were never reflected in the official figures which stated more like 10,000 -16000.

 

Then very early on Jimmy Rimmer held his hand up.. Oh my goodness this was a scary moment.. Huge in fact. You have to understand that Nigel Spink was a mere untried reserve keeper. None of us had a clue how good he was & Jimmy had been incredible.. It was akin to us seeing Brad Guzan replaced by our Youth team Keeper today. Everyone was like "Oh no!"

 

The Germans got a lift from this, not that they needed it & started to gradually threaten more & more but Spinks pulled of a couple of excellent stops. The game wore on & we were doing really well defensively but couldn't seem to click up front.. Bayern were doing a good job on us but were still wary of Tony Morley in particular it seemed & it became apparent why as suddenly he was slipped through & off he went coming straight towards us & turning their RB inside out before delivering the perfect ball across the box... There was Peter Withe.. surely he couldn't miss?!... time seemed to freeze for a moment & all i remember is seeing him not get a clean contact & the ball appear to go off sideways instead of straight at goal... Then "SMACK" it hit the post.... "Oh no i thought he''s missed a sitter"... But then there was the ball... In the net...GOOOOAL!!!!!

 

Withe collapsed on the floor & half the VIlla players appeared to pile on top of him.. I was literally yards away right behind the goal & could clearly see the look of furious delight on his face... Yes! Every Villa fan was emotional with tears of joy streaming  down the toughest looking mens faces & everyone was hugging each other

 

 

Then thoughts went back to the game... Could we hold on?.. Young Nigel Spink was in goal & you knew Bayern would now throw everything at us which they did.. but they simply could not break through. They had a goal disallowed & Spink saved everything they could throw at him but other than that we coped.

 

The last 5 minutes lasted for half an hour so it seemed but then the Whistle went.

 

Joyous celebrations, everyone looked wide eyed absorbing every last moment & you knew those moments would be firmly etched in those people's memories forever such as these i share with you today are etched in mine... I hope you get just a glimmer of how it felt from these words & remember that this is how great this club can be... We were in the 3rd division when i started supporting Villa.. do you think i ever thought we could do that?...Did the media? Did the experts who "know the game inside out?" ... No .. Nobody gave us a prayer

 

Keep the faith & UTV

 

Thanks DOTS ..............You saved me having to type such a massive post. Your recollections are spot on & very much how I remember it too. As you say that last 5 minutes seem to take a lifetime & I will never forget Dennis climbing those stairs to raise that huge, huge Cup dramatically, triumphantly & imperiously into the joyous Rotterdam night sky..........Great & Indelible memories.

 

I always celebrate the Rotterdam Anniversary by rewatching it on video & crashing out a bottle of Claret.

 

Happy Days! :)

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I know I will be in the minority on this, I dare say I will be the only one on the forum who holds this view, but I'm not here to agree with everyone and be a lapdog like Blair was to Bush.

Why don't you find a political forum for your political thoughts?

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Yeah I was in Munich last year, but forgot to change the location. And packoman I am definitely a fan of the club, but I don't want to live in the past. My view on England's world cup win in 1966 is exactly the same. A huge achievement but when the commentators bring it up every month it is a bit silly. Can we avoid the 'I'm a bigger fan then you'' bollocks. 

 

And comparing the day of independance for a country, or a revoution or somethong of that nature to a football match is ridiculous. Get some perspective.

 

I am. But it was a little tongue in cheek. We're supporting a football club and we're celebrating the biggest day in our history. Well, maybe apart from the day we were founded. And as Drat pointed out, it's very much been significant for our future and even today.

 

 

 

 

It's in the past, lets forget about it. It's all getting a bit 1966 now.

 

 

Hmmn i notice your location is "Munich" Voinjama?..

 

 

 

 

I take it you didn't read my post above?

 

 

Actually  i didn't as i was writing my post when you posted it i guess  :rolleyes:

 

 

My post was made 15 minutes before yours...so that's a lie. I'm gonna delete my voinjama account and come back under a different name. You won't know it's me.

 

 

 

Gosh you really like being disrespectful to everybody don't you Voinjama... So you actually think i would bother to waste my time lying about your post?... How odd!...There is a good book you may like which might just help it's called "Attitude is Everything".. It tackles issues such as yours very well... I have no problem with you Voinjama it was you who came in to a thread about our finest ever moment & started saying we should pretend it never happened ....Remember?!

 

anyhow......Moving on :unsure:

Edited by danceoftheshamen
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Wasn't there, watched it on TV. The ensuing few hours were all about me being very, very, VERY drunk. 

 

Bought a copy of every newspaper the next day. 

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I was there-I remember stopping at a mates house on the Sunday night,getting up at the crack of dawn & getting the night service into town for a train to Euston,then across London to Liverpool St for a train to Harwich.from there,a ferry across to theHook of Holland which took about 8 hours.We stayed in Amsterdam for 2 nights and onto Rotterdam on the day of the match.There was a big pub not far from the station with "Double Diamond" adverts blazoned over the outside that was used as base for the day.

 

I can hardly remember anything about the game other than I didn't enjoy it because I was so nervous but remember the unbelievable feeling when the whistle blew at the end.

 

Rotterdam seemed on lockdown but we eventually found a bar to celebrate in but unfortunately,my money had run out & I only had 1 pint all night.We had to sleep outside the station ready for a early train the next morning.There were 100's of Villa fans roughing it all the way along the road back towards the Double Diamomd pub.The 8 hour ferry was a killer with no money & we got back into London just as the FA Cup final replay between Man City & Spurs was kicking off.

 

I've done a lot of trips since in far more style but none come anywhere near the emotions of that ight in Rotterdam.

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