http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/harry-kartz---last-aston-6243472Harry Kartz - last Villa chairman to win the top-flight - celebrates 100th birthday
Kartz was in charge at Villa Park when Ron Saunders famously led the claret and blues to the First Division championship in 1981
Harry Kartz, the last chairman to win the top-flight title with Villa, celebrates his 100th birthday today.
Kartz headed up the board when manager Ron Saunders famously led the claret and blues to the First Division championship in 1981.
The centurion will celebrate his milestone birthday with a quiet meal with 17 of his relatives in Knowle this evening.
Kartz, whose wife of 72 years, Dorothy, passed away in February last year, is in good health and is still able to drive locally.
He has two sons, John, 68, and Graham, 64, five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
He was due to receive a telegram from the grandmother of famous Villa fan Prince William – the Queen – at his Solihull home this morning.
Kartz has been invited to Villa Park as a guest of honour for a game in the near future, while the club will mark the occasion with a piece in the programme for this afternoon’s Premier League match against Everton.
A self-made businessman, who built up his own engineering companies, he spent 16 years on the Villa board from 1968-1984 and was chairman from 1979-81.
After his family and Villa, Kartz’s other passion was for horse-racing and he owned runners in the Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Speaking to the Birmingham Mail yesterday, Kartz said he felt “lucky” to reach the grand old age of 100 and “proud” to have been involved in the greatest era of Villa’s history.
“Considering how old I am, I don’t feel too bad,” he said. “I still get about, I still drive every day, I still get out for a coffee every day and I still get to the betting shop every day. I feel very lucky to have had the life I had. Seventy years ago I was flying Wellington Bombers over Germany for the RAF during World War II and I got away with that, so I feel very lucky.”
Kartz keeps a close eye on Villa’s results and is pleased to have been invited back to the club where he helped oversee so much success more than three decades ago.
“I still follow Aston Villa – I’ve been a bit disappointed with them in the last few years but I think they’re coming back to form now,’’ he said.
‘‘I don’t go the matches because I’m not good with crowds. I was proud to be the chairman when we won the league and was proud to be a director when we won the European Cup. It’s all gone very well for me.”
Kartz, who was born in Hockley and first attended Villa as a six-year-old in 1919, originally joined the board in 1968.
He had been in the Villa Shareholders Association and became a deputy chairman under Doug Ellis following Pat Matthews’ takeover. Kartz sided with Ron and Don Bendall to oust Ellis from the board following a 1979 power struggle.
Ellis headed for Birmingham City and Wolves, while Villa enjoyed two glorious seasons in 1981 and 1982.
Despite the boardroom issues at Villa, which obviously put a strain on their friendship, Kartz and Ellis and their respective families have continued to get on well down the years.
During his time at the club, Kartz played a major role in helping Villa acquire Bodymoor Heath, which remains their training base.
He was also in charge of the youth set-up and was influential in the claret and blues recruiting players including Brian Little and John Gidman. Kartz’s son John said his father retains a strong affinity with Villa.
“He still meets up with Steve Stride (former club secretary) and his wife Caroline for a coffee a couple of times a year,” he said.
“The last time he went was in 2007 for the 25th anniversary celebrations of the European Cup. A lot of that group, Ken McNaught, Kenny Swain, Des Bremner and Gordon Cowans and so on, love him from his time at the club.
“It’s lovely to be invited back to Villa Park for a game.
“Dad is quite a private man. Even when he was the chairman at Villa he tried to shy away from too much publicity. But we’ll have quiet meal today and we’re hoping to take him along to the Cardiff or the Sunderland game coming up soon.”
