Ever been to a non villa game at small heath?

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

I need to get this off my chest,ive carried it with me too long.One afternoon a few years back,someone phoned me up saying they had a free spare ticket for a small heath v westham league cup match that night,in a moment of weakness i said yes ill take it.All i remember was a young joe cole came on and turned the game round for westham to win.
Now ive been there other times for villa games which is fine,although i guess theres some fans who regularly go to away games that would never go there on principle.
If people want to condemn me I will take it on the chin,i know i did wrong but i cant undo the past.Ive carried this dirty little secret with me for too long.

[Chris Smith]

Loads of times but not since I was about 15.

I've got a couple of uncles who are Noses so we went with them from time to time and even went with my mates when I had nothing else to do. I got evicted once for looking like a hooligan when Coventry scored against them.

[Nelly]

Ugh. Sadly yes.

A mate of mine got let down on the day of their game with Preston last season, so she was begging me to go as no one else would.

Some old bloke next to me kept trying to talk to me about the game and I didn't have a clue who anyone was!!

What was funny was that everyone around us had planned to invade the pitch should they win (they'd get promoted apparently). Preston won 2-0 (I think) with two excellent goals right in front of me. I really had to bite my tongue! I couldn't shake the feeling that everyone knew I was Villa though. I wouldn't do it again.

[ADVILLAFAN]

I went to SHA v Wigan this year as my bluenose mate's Dad couldn't make it. I was already up town and thought 'free ticket, why not?'.

It was never a penalty in this world!

[pauliewalnuts]

Yes

My dad is a Blues fan, and when I was a kid used to take me to Villa matches (as I kept nagging him).

Every time we came out of the game, he'd say "will you come to Blues with me next week", and I'd flatly refuse.

Then in 1976, I finally agreed, and he took me to see them beat Derby County 5-1.

After the match he was all excited, bless him, and we had this exchange.

Him: "That was a good match wasn't it?"
Me: "Yes, it was"
Him: "Francis is a good player, isn't he?"
Me: "Yes" (I think at this point I probably shuddered a bit).
Him: "Would you come with me again?"
Me: "Under no circumstances".

And i haven't since. He's been to plenty of Villa games with me, though, and carried on taking me until i was old enough to go with friends.

Harsh, but that's the way the cookie crumbles, noses.

[144 Hard Boiled Eggs]

Never - would've been disowned by my family. Nearly all of my mates are noses as I grew up in Acocks Green so had plenty of chances but it was a definite no no!

[b23]

No. Never have and i have no plans to ever do so.

[Upper Trinity]

I went to the recent SHA v Liverpool game at the sty.

On a work jolly, free ticket and hospitality.

I got pissed and laughed at all the retards clapping along to that daft 90's dance tune they play when the teams come out.

[Dave P]

I'm afraid to say I went to 4 games last season and I didn't see them win once.  I've been at various other games of theirs in the past few years as well as my best mate is a nose.

I've also been to pre season friendly away games to watch them as well because of my mate and he has been to a few Villa ones with me as well.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Wow i was expecting excommunication for my terrible confession,but there are others of you who have done it!
As for Pauliewalnuts,what a heart warming story that despite your father you still took up the claret and blue faith.Its good to see the cycle of abuse being broken in at least one family,unfortunately there is still much work to be done because even these days many youngsters are being taken to small heath by their fathers and being subjected to this.Frankly its child cruelty in my book.

[dave.woodhall]

Three or four. The last was when we took some Banik fans there in 1990. Small Heath to their credit laid on tickets for them and we watched as they struggled to a valiant draw against Exeter City in front of about 6,000. At the end of that season they took the entire population of Birmingham to Wembley in the Shard End Glass Shield.

[Dave Cooper please]

I went to some England Youth tournament a few years back with a bloke from work, it was more of an excuse to have a few pints on the way there than to watch any football.
We lasted about half-an-hour before buggering off to the pub again.

[Percy McCarthy]

Loads. Used to go at half-time when they let you in free, not like the ten minutes from the end you got down The Villa. Just to meet my mates really, then we'd go in the supporters club under the Railway End, then the D-Club, later called the Trevor Francis suite, then some of the local pubs as we meandered into town.

I was in the Sportsman once when a bloke came round selling framed pictures entitled 'Birmingham City Legends' with drawings of such luminaries as Paul Devlin on it. Pretending to be a nose, I said to the bloke incredulously 'Paul Fucking Devlin! Fuck me, we must be hard up for legends', as my mates looked on embarrassed but not wanting to say anything to give me away to the rest of the knuckledraggers, who thought I was genuine and were nodding in agreement with me.

[Oscar Arce]

When I was a lad I played for a side that had their team get-togethers in the Supporters Club down the Blues, so I sort of had to go.
A few of my mates were Bluenoses, so I watched some night games down there, notably a 4-0 win over Bolton I think, with a young Francis scoring, and also Jimmy Greenhoff.
This would have been around '71 when they were better than us (just) as we were so shite, with the likes of Greenhoff, Vincent, Latchford, Francis and Summerhill in their side.
I still though, can't get the smell of piss and stale Bovril from my nostrils after all these years......

[dave.woodhall]

Loads. Used to go at half-time when they let you in free, not like the ten minutes from the end you got down The Villa.

I do wonder if their eighties hooligan problem was because they'd encouraged so many rats to get in at half time in the seventies.