Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Villa Memories => Topic started by: russon on August 09, 2013, 11:52:42 AM
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Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Villa Myths thread which has helped enormously as I persevere with a Villa book to raise funds for Stan's leukemia foundation.
I'm now looking into infamous Villa fans such as Tarzan, Werewolf etc and would be grateful for any memories of these individuals plus other notorious fans you may remember. For example, in the 80s there was a thin bespectacled bloke who always wore a black raincoat and stood alone underneath the corner flag scoreboard at the Holte, really into the game and oblivious to anything going on around him, shaking his fist, bellowing at the Villa and demanding effort. He used to be more exhausted than the players when the final whistle went.
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I know Fred West was a Villa fan,hope thats nasty enough for you !
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gregnash?
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When my wife started a new job a few years ago she became friendly with another woman there. A couple of weeks later she came home very confused. She couldn't understand why this woman would say "If your husband is a Villa fan, tell him i am Tarzan's sister. He will know who my brother is".
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Would you like an interview with Mark Ansell?
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I think Bobby Sands was supposed to be a Villa fan.
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I think Bobby Sands was supposed to be a Villa fan.
At least he held out just long enough to see us win the League then...
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I think Bobby Sands was supposed to be a Villa fan.
Time for the old joke, well he was from Nuneaton.
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You are right about Bobby Sands -
One of his contemporaries insides the H-Blocks was Seanna Walsh. This is what he recalls;
"I first met Bobby in January 1973 when we were in the same Cage and he had that cocky Belfast dander and a Rod Stewart haircut....(he was a) mate who enjoyed a bit of craic and slagging," Seanna joked that he was "the only person inside to support Aston Villa--God help him."
He starved himself to death in May 1981 - so didn't live to see the AV lift the European Cup.
I knew many 'bad boys' at the time in Belfast - the loyalists I mixed with tended to be Liverpool fans and an ex-IRA prisoner I knew supported Man City.
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I remember being at a midweek match at Elland Road in the (I think) late 80's and it was terrible match with a fairly small Villa following. There was a very drunk bloke who provided the best entertainment of the night singing his version of 'Mustang Sally' for almost the entire 90 minutes, he was belting it out and eventually people were joining in with 'ride, sally ride'. Whenever I hear the song it makes me think of Elland Road.
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Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Villa Myths thread which has helped enormously as I persevere with a Villa book to raise funds for Stan's leukemia foundation.
I'm now looking into infamous Villa fans such as Tarzan, Werewolf etc and would be grateful for any memories of these individuals plus other notorious fans you may remember. For example, in the 80s there was a thin bespectacled bloke who always wore a black raincoat and stood alone underneath the corner flag scoreboard at the Holte, really into the game and oblivious to anything going on around him, shaking his fist, bellowing at the Villa and demanding effort. He used to be more exhausted than the players when the final whistle went.
Russon, I remember clearly Mr Angry in the black raincoat, he looked like a very meek auditor but as soon as the whistle went he became a man possessed. Oblivious to anyone around him he would hurl vitriol at the players and the referee, shaking his fist, his face contorted into a ball of angst and frustration. My Dad, God bless him, used to really worry about him and on one occasion he said ' calm down pal, it's only a game' , the look of pained incredulity and utter despair which came back would have frozen hell over. The black Macintosh was worn every game, notwithstanding the weather. This was probably 1972 to 1975ish, Holte End standing near the old scoreboard though when we moved towards middle, behind the goal, he followed us. Thanks for recalling a long distant memory Russon, he was a strange but bizarrely likeable character.
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I remember him but wasn't there a few doggy [blokes under the old score board.
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Sorry dodgy
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I remember being at a midweek match at Elland Road in the (I think) late 80's and it was terrible match with a fairly small Villa following. There was a very drunk bloke who provided the best entertainment of the night singing his version of 'Mustang Sally' for almost the entire 90 minutes, he was belting it out and eventually people were joining in with 'ride, sally ride'. Whenever I hear the song it makes me think of Elland Road.
Did this chap have Blonde Hair , if so I know him , he knows a.lot of the old steamers
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I can think of plenty of infamous VIlla .
The Greek , Cockney. Dave in his Mac and steel toecaps .
The steamer who went on too own a football league club .
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Is the Greek, the guy who headbutted a horse?
I vaguely remember a Jesus type guy when I first went down in 86 as a bright eyed 8 year old. Think he's been mentioned here before.
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Obviously Danny Brown. I can get you in touch with him if you wish,
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The warewolf is the one obvious character. There used to be one guy in sat at the front of the Trinity in the late 80s/early 90s who looked a little simple and always had a Villa shell suit and carrier bag. He had jet black hair, pretty tanned skin and a little overeight and was always on his own. If we were on live you could see him just past the dug out. He seeed a bit mad and I used to see him on the way back home on the 23 bus getting off in Woodgate Valley.
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Is the Greek, the guy who headbutted a horse?
Yep. He isn't Greek, neither is he half Arab as the story now goes. I know his Sister and he's Pakistani, which must have been difficult in the 70's
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Other firms would always comment about the little Greek fella at the front , certainly Millwall did.
So the nickname stuck , he is a decent bloke but was a loose cannon , he knows all the lads from the Steamers and the. C C-Crew . But the Greek did his own thing.
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At the front of the holte near the pitch in the middle was a small group of older men who referred to themselves as the 'Frontmen'. They never really got involved in any skirmishes unless it affected their little area which the trooper off chelmsley found out a few times during the early 80s.
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The warewolf is the one obvious character. There used to be one guy in sat at the front of the Trinity in the late 80s/early 90s who looked a little simple and always had a Villa shell suit and carrier bag. He had jet black hair, pretty tanned skin and a little overeight and was always on his own. If we were on live you could see him just past the dug out. He seeed a bit mad and I used to see him on the way back home on the 23 bus getting off in Woodgate Valley.
Thats Colin,he used to get major stick off the noses back in the day he would just get his programme out of his carrier bag,wave it in the air and laugh.
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You are right about Bobby Sands -
One of his contemporaries insides the H-Blocks was Seanna Walsh. This is what he recalls;
"I first met Bobby in January 1973 when we were in the same Cage and he had that cocky Belfast dander and a Rod Stewart haircut....(he was a) mate who enjoyed a bit of craic and slagging," Seanna joked that he was "the only person inside to support Aston Villa--God help him."
He starved himself to death in May 1981 - so didn't live to see the AV lift the European Cup.
I knew many 'bad boys' at the time in Belfast - the loyalists I mixed with tended to be Liverpool fans and an ex-IRA prisoner I knew supported Man City.
If you don't mind me asking, how did you get to mix with the Loyalists? Are you from Belfast or through the army?
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The warewolf is the one obvious character. There used to be one guy in sat at the front of the Trinity in the late 80s/early 90s who looked a little simple and always had a Villa shell suit and carrier bag. He had jet black hair, pretty tanned skin and a little overeight and was always on his own. If we were on live you could see him just past the dug out. He seeed a bit mad and I used to see him on the way back home on the 23 bus getting off in Woodgate Valley.
Thats Colin,he used to get major stick off the noses back in the day he would just get his programme out of his carrier bag,wave it in the air and laugh.
He did not seem the full shilling. Always had that carrier bag with him.
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I remember being at a midweek match at Elland Road in the (I think) late 80's and it was terrible match with a fairly small Villa following. There was a very drunk bloke who provided the best entertainment of the night singing his version of 'Mustang Sally' for almost the entire 90 minutes, he was belting it out and eventually people were joining in with 'ride, sally ride'. Whenever I hear the song it makes me think of Elland Road.
Did this chap have Blonde Hair , if so I know him , he knows a.lot of the old steamers
I can't remember and I have no idea what an old steamer is.
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My vote goes to Jesus Dave.
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The warewolf is the one obvious character. There used to be one guy in sat at the front of the Trinity in the late 80s/early 90s who looked a little simple and always had a Villa shell suit and carrier bag. He had jet black hair, pretty tanned skin and a little overeight and was always on his own. If we were on live you could see him just past the dug out. He seeed a bit mad and I used to see him on the way back home on the 23 bus getting off in Woodgate Valley.
Thats Colin,he used to get major stick off the noses back in the day he would just get his programme out of his carrier bag,wave it in the air and laugh.
He did not seem the full shilling. Always had that carrier bag with him.
I remember a bloke from the late eighties/early nineties who used to go to all the away games. Looked a bit simple, I think he also always had a bag. But if I remember right he was usually wearing jeans and a denim jacket. My mental picture of him as I type this is of him trying to eat a pie in one bite.
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Surely the most infamous Villa fan is the one who can cause volcanoes to erupt merely by going on holiday
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Damo, that's The Werewolf.
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Did someone present him with a cabbage at some point?
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Whilst googling that Bobby Sands Villa thing, I came across this article, about the least likely member of the Barmy Army
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jan/25/martin-mcguinness-love-of-cricket
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Whilst googling that Bobby Sands Villa thing, I came across this article, about the least likely member of the Barmy Army
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jan/25/martin-mcguinness-love-of-cricket
quite amazing the stuff your lean about on H+V
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My vote goes to Jesus Dave.
Is that the guy that stood 3/4 of the way back on the right side against the central fence that ran up the middle of the Holte? Always seemed to be singing on his own and shouting "Jesus Loves the Villa".
There was also an old lady that lived near me in Kings Norton who stood at the front of the Holte. I think her name may have been Cynthia. She must have been well into her 60's during the title winning season. She wore a coat that was covered in Villa badges which must have weighed her down! She was pulled out of the crowd at the civic reception and was up on the balcony with the players and officials.
Somebody said that Peter Withe used to give her his sweat bands at the end of the game in exchange for a bag of sweets although I never saw it happen but Withe often went to the Holte at the final whistle. I would have thought she was long dead by now.
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Peter Withe has bags of sweets at the end of this clip.
http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=%2F
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I seem to to remember in the early eighties the Evening Mail awarding a weekly 'Peter Withe Bag Of Sweets' prize. I can't quite remember who you had to be or what you had to do to get it though.
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Withe always got his sweets at the final whistle from a lady who sat in the Witton Lane stand at the corner of the Holte.
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Withe always got his sweets at the final whistle from a lady who sat in the Witton Lane stand at the corner of the Holte.
Correct. I read somewhere that she worked at Cadburys but on the one occasion I caught some that he threw into the Holte they were liquorice allsorts. Yuk!
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Is it worth considering that maybe some of these "infamous" fans wouldn't actually want to be in a book?
Wolfie, for example, clearly has a number of issues which go beyond him being "a bit of a character" like many people would be. Maybe it wouldn't be best for him to find himself in a book?
I've no idea if he was going to be included, but he just struck me as the most obvious example.
Not laying down the stroppy busybody line or owt, but just a genuine concern that crept into my head.
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Good point. Booby Sands might be a bit difficult to get hold of too, short of holding a seance.
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I think Bobby Sands was supposed to be a Villa fan.
Time for the old joke, well he was from Nuneaton.
Shit on the H block, shit on the H block tonight...
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We've got a werewolf!
We've got a werewolf!!
You aint!
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Good point. Booby Sands might be a bit difficult to get hold of too, short of holding a seance.
Derek Acorah would be glad of the work.
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Is it worth considering that maybe some of these "infamous" fans wouldn't actually want to be in a book?
Wolfie, for example, clearly has a number of issues which go beyond him being "a bit of a character" like many people would be. Maybe it wouldn't be best for him to find himself in a book?
I've no idea if he was going to be included, but he just struck me as the most obvious example.
Not laying down the stroppy busybody line or owt, but just a genuine concern that crept into my head.
There are plenty of us who did things 30 years ago we try and laugh off these days. Was out with a couple of old mates recently and we tried totting up how long we would have been inside if caught for the various misdemeanours we visited on society - we are all "pillars of society" these days...
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I remember being at a midweek match at Elland Road in the (I think) late 80's and it was terrible match with a fairly small Villa following. There was a very drunk bloke who provided the best entertainment of the night singing his version of 'Mustang Sally' for almost the entire 90 minutes, he was belting it out and eventually people were joining in with 'ride, sally ride'. Whenever I hear the song it makes me think of Elland Road.
Might it have been the 0-0 game in 1997? I was at that and Mustang Sally is the only thing I can remember about that game, other than the league cup final replay was at Hillsborough on the same night (I think MartinO'Neiil'sLeicester won it).
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Is it worth considering that maybe some of these "infamous" fans wouldn't actually want to be in a book?
Wolfie, for example, clearly has a number of issues which go beyond him being "a bit of a character" like many people would be. Maybe it wouldn't be best for him to find himself in a book?
I've no idea if he was going to be included, but he just struck me as the most obvious example.
Not laying down the stroppy busybody line or owt, but just a genuine concern that crept into my head.
There are plenty of us who did things 30 years ago we try and laugh off these days. Was out with a couple of old mates recently and we tried totting up how long we would have been inside if caught for the various misdemeanours we visited on society - we are all "pillars of society" these days...
Correct ! for a period of my life I could comment as much about the off field shenanigans as I could about the primary reason for going to Football .
The Everton lg cup thread , I decided not to comment on because of that reason .
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Is it worth considering that maybe some of these "infamous" fans wouldn't actually want to be in a book?
Wolfie, for example, clearly has a number of issues which go beyond him being "a bit of a character" like many people would be. Maybe it wouldn't be best for him to find himself in a book?
I've no idea if he was going to be included, but he just struck me as the most obvious example.
Not laying down the stroppy busybody line or owt, but just a genuine concern that crept into my head.
I don't know why he's considered infamous either.
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Is it worth considering that maybe some of these "infamous" fans wouldn't actually want to be in a book?
Wolfie, for example, clearly has a number of issues which go beyond him being "a bit of a character" like many people would be. Maybe it wouldn't be best for him to find himself in a book?
I've no idea if he was going to be included, but he just struck me as the most obvious example.
Not laying down the stroppy busybody line or owt, but just a genuine concern that crept into my head.
I don't know why he's considered infamous either.
Well, he is famous among us.
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Whilst googling that Bobby Sands Villa thing, I came across this article, about the least likely member of the Barmy Army
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jan/25/martin-mcguinness-love-of-cricket
quite amazing the stuff your lean about on H+V
Seconded.
Still he's following a familiar life path from angry young man to contented OAP: terrorist-statesman-happy to beat his former imperialist masters in the game of Empire.
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I can think of plenty of infamous VIlla .
The Greek , Cockney. Dave in his Mac and steel toecaps .
The steamer who went on too own a football league club .
Mac the sock gave me two pairs of Northampton shorts and a bin! I got to have a kick around on the pitch that they shared with the cricket club.
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Anyone remember the young Teddy boy who used to stand about 2/3rds up the Holte (middle) in the late 70's. A lot of lads bullied him silly - he may have been soft but a Villa fan he was.
As for Cockney Dave where do you start. Can't really remember him going anywhere really dodgy like Leeds, Liverpool etc. He used to make me laugh though as he could never grasp the words to a song. He oused to wear army boots and that damm trench coat. He wasn't really a cockney - more home countries.
Another home countries nut was John a middle age guy in the mid 70's - always got told not to bother with him but found him quite amusing.
Surprised no one has mentioned Groombridge with his bowler hat. People wrap on about Pete the Greek, but this lad was more frightening to anyone who didn't know him.
From my age group you would have to mention Moses (Lincoln) - in the earlier days would go the game with a ginger lad. If I am not mistaken Moses was originally a Leeds fan and his mate a Man Utd fan - what a combination. These two were football nuts and unfortunately Danny's book doesn't really do Moses credit as he was much more into the football than the trouble. He has been unwell recently so I hope he is on the mend.
The other lad who needs a mention is Neil the Skinhead from the 70's/80's who never missed and was far more sensible and indeed knew loads about the Villa than anyone has ever given him credit.
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Anyone remember the young Teddy boy who used to stand about 2/3rds up the Holte (middle) in the late 70's. A lot of lads bullied him silly - he may have been soft but a Villa fan he was.
As for Cockney Dave where do you start. Can't really remember him going anywhere really dodgy like Leeds, Liverpool etc. He used to make me laugh though as he could never grasp the words to a song. He oused to wear army boots and that damm trench coat. He wasn't really a cockney - more home countries.
Another home countries nut was John a middle age guy in the mid 70's - always got told not to bother with him but found him quite amusing.
Surprised no one has mentioned Groombridge with his bowler hat. People wrap on about Pete the Greek, but this lad was more frightening to anyone who didn't know him.
From my age group you would have to mention Moses (Lincoln) - in the earlier days would go the game with a ginger lad. If I am not mistaken Moses was originally a Leeds fan and his mate a Man Utd fan - what a combination. These two were football nuts and unfortunately Danny's book doesn't really do Moses credit as he was much more into the football than the trouble. He has been unwell recently so I hope he is on the mend.
The other lad who needs a mention is Neil the Skinhead from the 70's/80's who never missed and was far more sensible and indeed knew loads about the Villa than anyone has ever given him credit.
I was in the London Lions from 1985-88 and some of the older fellas used to talk about him, usually referring to fighting in the 70s. I had never heard of him in Brum but these Londoners painted a picture of a tough, scary bloke. IIRC they said he lived in Daventry back then but used to travel to most games.
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Probably not what you want for the book but I've seen the woman in this article at our matches being very vocal.
http://www.stratford-herald.com/53559-woman-jailed-for-690000-carer-con.html
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I believe she was known on Twitter as Villa Bitch.
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I have met some loons at the villa but she was on another level. I once sat next to her at at man city and she was vile, offensive - I am certainly not a politically correct person but she is probably my least loved villa fan I have ever met
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I believe she was known on Twitter as Villa Bitch.
That was her name on the back of her shirt
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I remember late 70''s deciding to go to west ham away. I bumped into a mate on the Friday night who said he could get us a lift down to London. I rocked up in town to find the lift was the steamers coach. An eye opener doesn't do it credit !! With some cock up to where the coach dropped us I spent the entire 90 mins in the north bank with west ham. I swore I would never go back there but I did for the 6th round cup game that turned into another experience.
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Ahh the coaches.
A special mention for Sealandair, they must have been the tolerant transport company ever.
A phone call on Thursday, Have a coach (sometimes two) meet us at the back of New Street station on Saturday Morning.
Cash in hand, no questions asked.
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I remember late 70''s deciding to go to west ham away. I bumped into a mate on the Friday night who said he could get us a lift down to London. I rocked up in town to find the lift was the steamers coach. An eye opener doesn't do it credit !! With some cock up to where the coach dropped us I spent the entire 90 mins in the north bank with west ham. I swore I would never go back there but I did for the 6th round cup game that turned into another experience.
Did I miss much the 6th round I got thrown out at the same time as a certain person from handsworth. In the league after that I always paid extra to get in the enclosure it really was that bad the experience and I know a lot of West Ham lads from ilford from where I was brought up
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Ahh the coaches.
A special mention for Sealandair, they must have been the tolerant transport company ever.
A phone call on Thursday, Have a coach (sometimes two) meet us at the back of New Street station on Saturday Morning.
Cash in hand, no questions asked.
Like I say I only went on a steamers coach once but I totally agree with you about how the coach company would put up with things no one else would. I'm sure if we had said to the driver here's a few quid we need to stop off on the way and rob a bank he wouldn't have batted an eyelid just simply said....which bank ?