Time for Villa to have wilderness years
It’s clear that animosity is growing between us and Villa. Our mentions on their messageboards say it all. Great say I. This is a natural part of rivalry with both sets of clubs coming out with wild inaccurate generalisations about their local enemies.
For what’s it worth I don’t particularly hate Villa, but there is no team I enjoy beating more. I have quite a few mates who follow Villa and went to a school in Edgbaston,(Bearwood side) where it was almost a half and half split.
That was back in the 70s and early 80s and it is true to say around there no Villa fans gave a monkey’s about Blues or Albion fans about Wolves.
In those days whilst we had a great side we only got the better of Villa on a handful of occasions.
With both our clubs having a rich history there was a healthy respect.
In those seasons to the mid 80s there was a cracking rivalry with the 4 big West Mids clubs all up there and Cov as well in the mix.
What happened in the mid 80s then handed all the cards to Villa. Still fresh from recent title and European wins their two closest geographical rival disappeared at the same time into the wilderness where they stayed for a generation. This hadn’t happened before and with success breeding success all wavering fansand football luvvies enticed by the new game called the Premier League headed to Seal Park to see Villa at the top table.
Whilst at this time we and Blues were sliding to the 3rd tier, in front of 10,000 crowds losing to the likes of Woking and Kidderminster, and generally scrambling around for existence all through the 90s.
In that 86-02 period, when us and Blues re appeared Villa came close to winning the title twice more, had a couple of League Cup wins and lost a cup final.
Albion shirts disappeared altogether from Bearwood in that period. I’d say the same was happening in the likes of Stechford with Blues shirts.
By now the gulf between the clubs were a chasm. I saw us lose 4 0 in the cup to them in 98 with them mocking us as minnows – the media were saying the same. It was a sad day for all of those who historically remembered us as the club we were, and the more decent wiser Villa fans I spoke to were saying that too.
Since our re-emergence in 02 we have been a yoyo club hardly troubling Villa’s dominance as top dogs until the last couple of years.
Last year was only the 3rd or 4th time in almost 40 years Villa haven’t been top W Mids dogs. Wolves did it in 80, Blues a few years ago and us in 79, of course.
Villa had one relegation near the end of the 80s, but they bounced back straight away. No 16 years in the darkness for them so their dynasty continued.
Now, through the tides of life we thankfully have a decent side again, back to the type of club we historically have been, which only Villa fans over 40 will know. Meanwhile Villa are a club in crisis.
They have had half a lifetime of the comfort zone. The last real slump period they had was in the late 60s to 75, a eight year period, which no one under 55 will remember.
Well, maybe it is now their time to suffer. God knows we have. Maybe 8 0 at Chelsea is a sign of things to come. Well, if it is I won’t pity them anymore than they pitied us.
I will see it as an opportunity to make up the ground lost in the wilderness years and give a more equal footing.
It seems some of them say they don’t give a pooh. Well they do. They are not top dogs anymore and you have to look back to the early 70s in their wilderness years to find the last time they weren’t top dogs for 2 years in a row around here- Something highly likely to happen this year.
Also, they don’t like us singing about being pride of the midlands. Sorry but we are now. Yes, you may be the bigger club and we all know about Peter Withe in off the post in 82 and all that stuff. Yes, you have more fans and more recent silverware, but we are currently a better club.
We are better run, with a better squad of players and better prospects. How many Villa players would get in the starting 11 at Albion? Is Benteke, their best player, any better than Lukaku, our 3rd choice striker.
At the minute Villa are pooh, and all the gloryhunter element who laughed at our demise and belittled us might just be seeing what goes around comes around.
They might also learn a little bit about other footbal clubs. Of local fans I have found their fans generally the least knowledgeable about the game- it comes of an attitude of arrogance borne of them previosly seeming relegation proof.
It’s a long time since Villa had a period in the darkness. Now might well be the time, and if it is you won’t see any tears at the Hawthorns, Molineux or St Andrews. You might find a little bit of humbling might just make Villa a nicer club. Their time will come again, but let’s hope not for a good while and in the meantime we will enjoy being Pride of the Midlands.
v
