Proper football. 1 sub, numbers 1 - 12 on shirts, no names, no advertising, run out on to pitch, kick ball around, kick off. Brilliant. Hardly ever a backwards pass. Proper terracing, proper atmosphere. I've followed Villa through thick and thin since 67 and always will but modern football fries my head. Just look at the Holte End back then. Incredible. All Seater mandate ruined grounds.
The third villa goal summed up Andy Gray . Brave and fearless to the point of madness. He was a great centre forward during his first two years at villa.
I was 10 and my villa following days were just starting. Andy Gray was my first hero, was heartbroken when he went to Wolves. That whole villa team were legends, 75-82 were magical years for us.
Villa had more major honours to their name than any other English club at this point in time and had been the most successful club in English football for three-quarters of the twentieth century! When Sky/BTSports journalists and viewers try to re-write the history of the game and tell you that club x, y and z are the biggest and most historic, point them in the direction of Villa Park and remind them that the game's original giant - the truly great, historic "big" club of English football - is Aston Villa FC. Also tell them Villa's DNA demands they will one day be back on the very top of the pile, in their rightful place.
I remember being at the game but I don't remember anything about the evening afterwards :-) Andy Gray was so small but as you see in the winning goal, he outjumped everyone. Great memories of standing in the Holte with over 20,000 other fans.
Oh God. What happened to Villa. Andy Gray is one of our all time greats. Still that team mainly broke up in 1978-79 and a virtual new team won the league and European cup shortly after. Can Villa be ever as great again.. Yes.
I was 18 years old what a fantastic game old school football ⚽️ end to end 👏 great memories in the holte end. Villa fans are greatest fans end of story. Up the villa
Not for long tho as he scuttled off to Molineux then Goodison. Have goals will travel. Nice to see that the Midlands clubs mainly didn't desert their homes. Great stadiums especially Molineux.
@@seltaeb3302 - Andy Gray gave everything for the Villa though (which sadly meant he was always injured), and the club made a fortune when they sold him. He only cost £110,000 and Wolves paid £1.5 million for him.
Fabulous to look back on those days. I would have been there in the Wilton Lane. If you listen carefully they play the theme of the unmade silent movie at the start by Hurricane Smith. My favourite players back then were Cropley, Carradous and Graydon but what a team throughout in truth. Also I bet the groundsmen earned his money!! 🦛 playground
I loved pitches in different states, the worse they are you got great matches like the terrible Baseball Ground. Clough would deliberately over water the pitch for namby pamby teams namely Italians & Spanish. Players would give you great skill without complaint on them. Now it's too perfect & has took that variable element out from excitement. Result boring.
As a 6 year old at the time , I refused to go after getting caught up with police horses and a charge from West Ham outside the ground on my previous trip to Villa Park .......My Dad and brother had seats next to Macari who signed their program.......Needless to say , when they returned unscathed, had a great game , great seats and a Villa win , I was beside myself with envy ......lol
This was Villa's greatest team. Unlucky that lots of games in long cup runs effected league games and Andy Gray was just unplayable at this time. Saunders' had to break up the team for various reason's ---injuries, players wanting to leave/aging etc -----but he built another great team.
Can't wait to see Aston Villa here in Townsville ,North Queensland when they meet the Brisbane Roar later this month at the recently built "Bendigo Bank" stadium,which has an all seater capacity of 25000.
wow, these names (both sides) come drifting past me, like ghosts from my MUCH younger days. Look at the state of that center circle, and only early November, despite following one of the longest hottest, driest summer's, on record. I guess Technology makes today's turfs look unreal, no matter which month it was. Note how fortunate United were, having a sympathetic Ref, 4 or 5 times.
He made some money with these million pound transfers back then he had. Just as well as football can kick you down when you're up as injuries did for him. A brave goalscorer & a big mouth!
I remember the Rangers game. We was let into the Holte end, even though the Rangers fans had already broken in to the Holte, they were throwing bottles up to the roof gurders, showering glass everywhere, match abandonded a guy got stabbed, as far as i remember. Good times the 70s being a Villa fan.
United started well that season and were top of the league in early October. Then Buchan got injured and they couldn't function without him. He came back in mid-December and, of the 21 league and cup matches between Christmas and mid-April, United W 16 D 3 L 2. By then they were in the FA Cup semis and they threw three or four of the remaining league matches before winning at Wembley.
@@VillaBoy Right, thanks for that. It was still a big mistake as Gray went on to have a terrific career. There again, Villa won the League and European Cup without him.
@@vordman Wrong Andy was never a goal scorer after leaving Villa he only scored 38 for Wolves in 133 games and 14 in 49 games for Everton. Saunders knew what he was doing the best sale he ever made were his words.
@@VillaBoy The memory cheats, I suppose. Andy Gray had a great footballing brain and though his goal scoring might not have been prolific later, there were a lot of big goals in those numbers. He scored the winner for Wolves in the League Cup final. And he became a cult figure at Everton. Although not really a first eleven pick he often came off the bench to turn a game and was admired for his bravery.
stevan jones ..well said m8..hes a fucking idiot!..i was a cockney red in the 70s and 80s when we were only winning the odd cup..but great days glad I was part of the red army!
@@mickfoskett6629Ha. Don't make out United were some lower league dross like Port Vale or Scunthorpe. You were still one of the most successful teams in English football by the 1970s (7ish championships, FA cups, European cup). Plus the whole George Best thing Fact is, you're a glory hunter. End of x
@@thomasglover7937 ..did I make out united were some kind of lower league team like Grimsby or Scunthorpe?..no just stating facts that during the 70s and 80s we were only winning the odd cup then but I still went home and away..and by the way..i was born in Salford and my family moved to London when I was 5..don't comment on something you know nothing about!!👹
