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Author Topic: Jody O'Reilly  (Read 16348 times)

Offline edgysatsuma89

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #15 on: December 22, 2013, 02:36:08 PM »
It's a terrible tragedy and condolences to family and friends but a 'lifelong dream for a minutes silence' comes across as emotional blackmail. There would be a minutes silence before every single football match if clubs started doing it each time a supporter dies.


I just think the idea of a 22 year old having a 'lifelong dream for a minutes silence' is beyond believable.  Has anyone ever met anyone of that age who's said anything of the like?

Condolences agreed, but no, it is not a life long dream of mine (24).

Offline Lizz

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #16 on: December 22, 2013, 03:46:32 PM »
It's a terrible tragedy and condolences to family and friends but a 'lifelong dream for a minutes silence' comes across as emotional blackmail. There would be a minutes silence before every single football match if clubs started doing it each time a supporter dies.


I just think the idea of a 22 year old having a 'lifelong dream for a minutes silence' is beyond believable.  Has anyone ever met anyone of that age who's said anything of the like?

Condolences agreed, but no, it is not a life long dream of mine (24).

It reminds me of when people discuss a person's funeral and say it's what he/she would have wanted. Do many people actually discuss their funerals in advance? I have, and have written a will. Maybe more do than I realise, but suspect when you're younger death is viewed as something that only happens to other people.

Offline dave.woodhall

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #17 on: December 22, 2013, 03:52:15 PM »
I don't want to sound flippant in any way but when I was 22 I still had a dream of playing at Villa Park, not having a minute's silence there. It does strike me as a way of piling the pressure up another notch.

Offline amfy

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #18 on: December 22, 2013, 09:02:54 PM »
I can completely understand why his family & friends would want this, and I have every sympathy with them. However I also take the view that we have a number of supporters who have died in tragic circumstances, and sadly, over time, there will be many more.

I remember the whole Villa family who died in an awful fireball car crash under a lorry on their way back from a Portsmouth game a couple of years ago. One of the children was buried in a Villa coffin. It was beyond awful. We didn't have a minutes silence then.

On the other hand, just a few weeks ago we joined Everton fans in half time applause for an Everton supporting child who had been killed in a car accident. Of course I joined in, I would never disrespect such a gesture, and I know that our support of the applause was appreciated. These aren't bad things but I couldn't help thinking he wasn't the only Everton or Villa supporting child to have died so tragically.

We see pictures all the time of Villa players visiting kids in Villa shirts in the Acorns Hospice. We are touched by these children's stories, but we let them go without any exceptional tribute.

if we are not careful we are heading towards a reading out of fans/players/people from the club who've died each week, with a routine minute of silence/applause, that means nothing to anyone but their nearest & dearest anyway. It ends up sitting at the level of a birthday request.

It's hard to decide who is & isn't worthy of a minutes silence. Dying in a car accident at 22 is a tragedy. How tragic is it at 37? 42? Still pretty tragic really. If we do this, I don't know where we stop.



Offline Dave Clark Five

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #19 on: December 22, 2013, 10:08:21 PM »
I think we should put a mention of this sad loss in the next programme and a mention at the last home game of those Villa fans/players/officials who have passed away in the last year.

Pauline and myself have stopped at the place in Broad Street where flowers / messages have been left. All very, very sad.

Offline dave.woodhall

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #20 on: December 22, 2013, 10:21:51 PM »
I think we should put a mention of this sad loss in the next programme and a mention at the last home game of those Villa fans/players/officials who have passed away in the last year.

Pauline and myself have stopped at the place in Broad Street where flowers / messages have been left. All very, very sad.

Agreed.

Offline edgysatsuma89

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #21 on: December 22, 2013, 10:50:05 PM »
It's a terrible tragedy and condolences to family and friends but a 'lifelong dream for a minutes silence' comes across as emotional blackmail. There would be a minutes silence before every single football match if clubs started doing it each time a supporter dies.


I just think the idea of a 22 year old having a 'lifelong dream for a minutes silence' is beyond believable.  Has anyone ever met anyone of that age who's said anything of the like?

Condolences agreed, but no, it is not a life long dream of mine (24).

It reminds me of when people discuss a person's funeral and say it's what he/she would have wanted. Do many people actually discuss their funerals in advance? I have, and have written a will. Maybe more do than I realise, but suspect when you're younger death is viewed as something that only happens to other people.

My only wish is to be sprayed gold and shot into space. The rest I'm not bothered about.

Offline CorkVilla

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #22 on: December 22, 2013, 11:08:36 PM »
Very sad...but I have to agree with much of what has already been said. It seems that almost every game these days is preceded by a minutes silence/applause/laughter...so much so that it is almost renedering the whole thing meaningless.

A minutes silence has the power to be extremely moving and at times cathartic but not when it's done every week.

Offline Dave Clark Five

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #23 on: December 22, 2013, 11:20:21 PM »
Very sad...but I have to agree with much of what has already been said. It seems that almost every game these days is preceded by a minutes silence/applause/laughter...so much so that it is almost renedering the whole thing meaningless.

A minutes silence has the power to be extremely moving and at times cathartic but not when it's done every week.

It also tends to belittle the people who have been supporting Villa for many years but quietly pass away with those who sat around them wondering where they had got to. I always think of Ruby who sat in front of us in the Trinity Road Stand. She was in her 90s and managed to get to Villa Park from Yardley. Eventually, she went to live with her sister in Shropshire and we didn't see her again. I hope she is still alive and managing to keep in touch with what is going on. Lovely people like Frank and Edie Beach who worked so hard for the club and were regulars on the old Travellers Club coaches were another example. They slipped away but the club remembered them with an appropriate gesture.

Offline Toronto Villa

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #24 on: December 22, 2013, 11:22:11 PM »
It's a tragedy and I feel for his family but a Facebook campaign? It smacks of emotional blackmail and I can see the inevitable "Heartless club snubs fan" story unfolding.

I imagine WM will do a special and the Mercury will have their editor salivating.

It's sad but the club will open itself up to just about every other Villa fan asking for something similar. How about the bloke who has been going for 60 years? What would he be entitled to?

Offline eastie

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #25 on: December 23, 2013, 06:30:38 AM »
Seems the press are covering this in several media

@MatKendrick: Aston Villa fans calling for a Boxing Day tribute in memory of #avfc supporter Jody O'Reilly http://t.co/4Gg1ANERuM

Quote from:  the mirror

By Matt Lloyd | 22/12/13 

Friends of an Aston Villa fanatic killed in a road smash have called on the club to pay silent tribute to the superfan at its Boxing Day fixture.

Student Jody O’Reilly was hit by a car just hours before he was due to see his beloved Villa play Manchester United last Sunday. Originally from Ireland, the 22-year-old enrolled at Wolverhampton University in 2010 - just to be closer to the club.

And days before his death, Jody spoke on Talksport Radio to pundit, and former Villa star, Stan Collymore.

Jody discussed his team and said how much he was looking forward to Christmas.

But his life was cut short in the early hours of December 15 when he was hit by a car on Broad Street. Despite the efforts of medics, he died at Birmingham’s City Hospital

Last night friends dubbed the popular sport and exercise science student  “one in a billion” and urged Villa to stage a minute’s silence.

Best mate Ritchie Cartwright Ball has launched an on-line campaign to honour his friend at the game with Crystal Palace on Thursday.

He said: “Jody was always at the forefront of everything that went on, he was one in a billion. He was the life and soul of the party.

“Jody was everyone’s friend. You wouldn’t meet anybody who didn’t know him and like him.

“There were people at the uni who came from India and had never been in the country before. Jody helped them to learn English and interact.

“He changed the lives of so many people.”

Over 10,000 have backed the Facebook campaign since it was launched on Friday.

And while strict Premier League rules make a minute’s silence unlikely, it is hoped some kind of tribute can  be paid.

Villa players past and present, including Brad Guzan and Stiliyan Petrov, have retweeted the appeal on Twitter.

Ritchie said: “Jody was a Villa fan his whole life, his whole family are Irish Villa fans. That’s why he came to Wolverhampton so he could be close to Villa, that was his main motivation.”

The tribute page on Facebook, which includes a video from former Villa player Barry Bannan, has been inundated with calls for the club to honour Jody.

The defender, now at Crystal Palace, said: “This is to the family of Jody O’Reilly. I heard the sad news and to want to offer my commiserations for what’s happened and say my thoughts are with you.”

A meeting is set to take place today  between campaigners and the club, while a tribute in the Boxing Day match programme has also been planned.

Ritchie added: “I’ve been blown away by the support, it’s so surreal. Jody would be in his element as the centre of attention.

“He’d be loving it.”

*A 21-year-old man was arrested by police on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving hours after Jody’s death.

« Last Edit: December 23, 2013, 06:50:32 AM by eastie »

Offline brian green

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #26 on: December 23, 2013, 06:59:20 AM »
Somebody ought to say it so I will.   Tributes and silences at football matches are getting out of hand.  The end result is that the tribute becomes devalued.

It is without any question whatsoever a terrible tragedy for the family and the loved ones of the young man who lost his life but the truest and most valuable thing we could do for him as a society is to bring to justice those who killed him.

All I know is that if I lost a son or a grandson in this tragic way the pursuit of justice would be more important to me than sympathy.

Offline eastie

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #27 on: December 23, 2013, 07:28:49 AM »
I think there are premier league guidelines regarding minutes silences as well , it is without doubt a tragedy and the club have put a piece in the Boxing Day programme - I think that is a good gesture in itself and a minutes silence should not be held as where do draw the line with these requests!

Offline cheltenhamlion

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #28 on: December 23, 2013, 07:32:49 AM »
I am with you on that, Brian.

Offline brian green

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Re: Jody O'Reilly
« Reply #29 on: December 23, 2013, 07:41:34 AM »
Let the Sunday Mercury do their worst.   The club cannot be faulted in their response to fans' bereavements.   When my brother died in July of this year, a lifelong home and away fan who saw his first Villa game in 1938, the club sent a floral tribute, a very moving condolences card and a letter to his widow.   His funeral was in Manchester and the manc fans of both hues were well gobsmacked at our club's response.

 


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