What a year! As we approach the half-way mark in our first season out of the top-flight for 29 years there's a certain amount of misfiring of the cylinders, but at least Aston Villa has started winning some games again, a feature we've seen little of over the last 5 years, especially at home where once Villa Park was universally acknowledged as being a fortress. At least this season we've yet to be beaten on home soil.
When we started on a new journey with Randy Lerner just over 10 years ago, we had good cause to be reasonably cheerful early on, but it was eventually proven that the said owner was not really what we hoped for as our chairman: apart from his appreciation of aesthetics, we found him not really appreciating what was needed to guide one of the greatest pioneering clubs of the great game, let alone being the leading club of the Midlands.
But now Aston Villa is getting back on track - isn't it? Or is it not yet safe to make such an assertion after 5 years of disillusionment? Well I, as a glass-half-full supporter, think it is safe to say that a revival is under way under an astute owner and chairman, though at this stage we may be huffing and puffing a little.
I thought it might be worthwhile, at this stage of renewal, to reflect a little on the great pride that once existed at Aston Villa.
Not so very long ago we were European Champions, but if we were to go back about 100 years, when the world of football was utterly different to what it is now, it was our club - Aston Villa - that was regarded at that time as the leading club: apart from continual successes in the top flight (when being runner-up was also regarded as a big achievement), Aston Villa epitomised the notion of football glamour of those days. And that popularity continued right until the Second World War and beyond, despite the success of Arsenal in the 1930s.
In terms of vision, Villa have had plenty of seers. We can go way back, of course, starting with the arrival of George Ramsay in 1875/76, who finally ended his full-time commitment to the club over 50 years later. And it was an old Villa director (the little known Charlie Johnstone) who spotted the South American potential over 100 years ago. Charlie was a smart 'reader' of the game and was full of ideas about how coaching and training methods should be developed: indeed, some of his ideas came to fruition. Further, Fred Rinder successfully led and developed the club as chairman from 1898 to 1925, yet returned as a director at age 78, in 1936, to help to re-awaken a Villa that had (temporarily) slipped from its high perch. It was he that brought Jimmy Hogan to the club.
Jimmy Hogan was appointed as Villa manager after he had spent years helping to develop football in Austria, Germany and Hungary, and when Hungary famously defeated England at Wembley (by 6 goals to 3) in 1953, the Hungarians hailed Hogan as being the inspiration behind their success. They became World Cup finalists in 1954 and they again beat England in a friendly, by 7-1.
Hogan was associated with Villa from 1936 to 1939 (as manager) and then again from 1953 to 1959 (as youth coach), when some very good players emerged from Villa's academy, like Alan Deakin, John 'Slogger' Sleeuwenhoek and Harry Burrows. A one-time young Villa player we came to call Big Ron was substantially influenced by Hogan, and we saw the benefit of that influence when Big Ron was our team manager. Eric Houghton, who was manager in our last FA Cup-winning year of 1957, was also greatly influenced by Hogan.
And - perhaps most famously of all - we were blessed with the presence of William McGregor, who was not only called upon to lead Villa away from bankruptcy in 1886, but (with George Ramsay as the then new full-time secretary and Archie Hunter as skipper) galvanised the club to become the Midlands' first winners of the FA Cup in 1887. One year later, in 1888, McGregor became (of course) the creator of league football. Within 10 years of that great occasion, Villa were proving themselves to be the masters of that era in both league and cup football.
Fast forward to more recent years, and a number of us still clearly remember the revolution that took place at Villa Park in late 1968 to save the club from sinking into oblivion, and the Christmas present of that year that started the momentum which enabled the club to win the old Division Three championship in 1972 and then onwards and upwards to becoming (in just 10 years) European Champions.
Doesn't Dr. Tony Xia's approach remind you of some of the characteristics of the personalities and events of yore as listed above? Aston Villa once always led as the most innovative club around, and in Dr. Xia I see some of those same enthusiastic yet far-sighted traits. How much Villa can achieve under his leadership remains to be seen, but I would be very surprised if he doesn't achieve a majority of his targets.
Crisis threatened the club in the years of 1886, 1936, 1968 and then this year, in 2016. But each time there has been a saviour that has arrived to guide the club back to a worthy status. Well, let's at least say that Dr. Xia's approach is as much part of Villa's tradition as anything I've yet seen in 65 years of being a Villa supporter. He appears to have created order and method out of chaos in just a few months.
And with the welcome thought of a Villa rejuvenation in mind, I wish all Villa supporters a very Happy Christmas and a highly successful New Year!
When we started on a new journey with Randy Lerner just over 10 years ago, we had good cause to be reasonably cheerful early on, but it was eventually proven that the said owner was not really what we hoped for as our chairman: apart from his appreciation of aesthetics, we found him not really appreciating what was needed to guide one of the greatest pioneering clubs of the great game, let alone being the leading club of the Midlands.
But now Aston Villa is getting back on track - isn't it? Or is it not yet safe to make such an assertion after 5 years of disillusionment? Well I, as a glass-half-full supporter, think it is safe to say that a revival is under way under an astute owner and chairman, though at this stage we may be huffing and puffing a little.
I thought it might be worthwhile, at this stage of renewal, to reflect a little on the great pride that once existed at Aston Villa.
Not so very long ago we were European Champions, but if we were to go back about 100 years, when the world of football was utterly different to what it is now, it was our club - Aston Villa - that was regarded at that time as the leading club: apart from continual successes in the top flight (when being runner-up was also regarded as a big achievement), Aston Villa epitomised the notion of football glamour of those days. And that popularity continued right until the Second World War and beyond, despite the success of Arsenal in the 1930s.
In terms of vision, Villa have had plenty of seers. We can go way back, of course, starting with the arrival of George Ramsay in 1875/76, who finally ended his full-time commitment to the club over 50 years later. And it was an old Villa director (the little known Charlie Johnstone) who spotted the South American potential over 100 years ago. Charlie was a smart 'reader' of the game and was full of ideas about how coaching and training methods should be developed: indeed, some of his ideas came to fruition. Further, Fred Rinder successfully led and developed the club as chairman from 1898 to 1925, yet returned as a director at age 78, in 1936, to help to re-awaken a Villa that had (temporarily) slipped from its high perch. It was he that brought Jimmy Hogan to the club.
Jimmy Hogan was appointed as Villa manager after he had spent years helping to develop football in Austria, Germany and Hungary, and when Hungary famously defeated England at Wembley (by 6 goals to 3) in 1953, the Hungarians hailed Hogan as being the inspiration behind their success. They became World Cup finalists in 1954 and they again beat England in a friendly, by 7-1.
Hogan was associated with Villa from 1936 to 1939 (as manager) and then again from 1953 to 1959 (as youth coach), when some very good players emerged from Villa's academy, like Alan Deakin, John 'Slogger' Sleeuwenhoek and Harry Burrows. A one-time young Villa player we came to call Big Ron was substantially influenced by Hogan, and we saw the benefit of that influence when Big Ron was our team manager. Eric Houghton, who was manager in our last FA Cup-winning year of 1957, was also greatly influenced by Hogan.
And - perhaps most famously of all - we were blessed with the presence of William McGregor, who was not only called upon to lead Villa away from bankruptcy in 1886, but (with George Ramsay as the then new full-time secretary and Archie Hunter as skipper) galvanised the club to become the Midlands' first winners of the FA Cup in 1887. One year later, in 1888, McGregor became (of course) the creator of league football. Within 10 years of that great occasion, Villa were proving themselves to be the masters of that era in both league and cup football.
Fast forward to more recent years, and a number of us still clearly remember the revolution that took place at Villa Park in late 1968 to save the club from sinking into oblivion, and the Christmas present of that year that started the momentum which enabled the club to win the old Division Three championship in 1972 and then onwards and upwards to becoming (in just 10 years) European Champions.
Doesn't Dr. Tony Xia's approach remind you of some of the characteristics of the personalities and events of yore as listed above? Aston Villa once always led as the most innovative club around, and in Dr. Xia I see some of those same enthusiastic yet far-sighted traits. How much Villa can achieve under his leadership remains to be seen, but I would be very surprised if he doesn't achieve a majority of his targets.
Crisis threatened the club in the years of 1886, 1936, 1968 and then this year, in 2016. But each time there has been a saviour that has arrived to guide the club back to a worthy status. Well, let's at least say that Dr. Xia's approach is as much part of Villa's tradition as anything I've yet seen in 65 years of being a Villa supporter. He appears to have created order and method out of chaos in just a few months.
And with the welcome thought of a Villa rejuvenation in mind, I wish all Villa supporters a very Happy Christmas and a highly successful New Year!
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