Chelsea Fan - Chill Out Villa!

Chill Out Villa!

It's nice to be so popular amongst you all. Firstly, I'd like to thank you all for visiting Vital Chelsea, if half as many come down for the Carling Cup tie we'll have a cracking atmosphere, secondly, nice to see so many of you took the bait. Come on Villa it's only £20!

However, that's not the purpose of this brief sojourn into enemy territory, it's not even the slanderous comments posted about me, my team or own owner, instead, I'd like to put the record straight about something in my article yesterday that was misunderstood - the ONE gold star comment.

Now, let's get this straight, I fully support your campaign to get the gold star on your shirts for the next campaign. The fact that you are struggling is indicative of the old gits that run our most treasured game. In fact, as a youngster, I was somewhat transfixed by your European Cup success.

I don't fall into the category whereby you're supposed to support an English team in Europe, too many nights up in Merseyside and Manchester in the dark late seventies and early eighties when you risked being carved up for speaking the wrong dialect. But you were different. You bucked the trend, a new kid on the block challenging the finest in Europe.

I can recall Jimmy Rimmer being taken off early on and a young Nigel Spink coming on. I can recall Peter Withe just about managing to hit the winner and then the glorious celebrations. However, it wasn't the triumph that mesmerised me about your unlikely bunch of heroes.

Supporting Chelsea, we've had a few great wingers, Charlie Cooke and Pat Nevin to name but two from an era gone by, you were similar. I can still see Tony Morley racing down the flanks for Villa, I can recall him cutting inside and scoring that wonder goal at Everton that helped launch you towards a League title. You were different to the t*ss*rs from further up north! You played football that had some gumption about it.

The fact that your fall from grace only served to mirror the troubles my own beloved side experienced could be described as living in a parallel world. Take the chairmen, see what I mean. Now, I'm sampling the sweet smell of success, sometimes I have to pinch myself to see if it's true. We've yet to win the Holy Grail of European competition; hopefully this will be our year.

Living with the downside of things - high ticket prices, a plastic fan invasion et al, is just a small price I'm prepared to pay, however, I have to admit a wry smile spread across my face when Randy Lerner took over the helm, could the Villa I had a grudging admiration for as they bucked the trend all those years ago, be the next football power to emerge?

In all honesty nothing would give me greater pleasure apart from, of course, the success I hope for my own team. Enjoy it whilst it last chaps as you too could soon be the target for every bitter supporter up and down the country who secretly envies the cash injection they would give their right arm for.

See you all in SW6!

Article submitted by Merlin

Can I just ask for the article comments to be left decent please, I don't want any personal abuse thanks very much ! JF

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