A brief guide to the complex rivalries of Midlands football

[stuart r]

The usual rubbish... Here is the bit you'll probably be scrolling through for:

"We start in England’s second city, and the pretty intense brouhaha between the generally more blue collar Birmingham City and Aston Villa, who draw some of their support from well to do areas of the city such as Sutton Coldfield. Villa, the bigger club (sorry Blues), have registered more wins in the Second City derby. But on the other hand, Birmingham have a few trophies to show for it. They beat Villa in the final of the 1963 League Cup to win their first ever major trophy, Ken Leek their two-goal hero in a 3-1 aggregate win over two legs. Then in December 2010, Nikola Zigic scored late at St Andrews to beat Villa in the League Cup quarter finals; they went on to win their second major trophy against Arsenal in the 2011 final."

And here's the full thing: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/nov/27/a-brief-guide-to-the-complex-rivalries-of-midlands-football

[OzVilla]

That is just utter, embarresing, garbage. Written by the same person that wrote the "Bolton fan letter" no doubt.  How does this shit even get into print?

[itbrvilla]

The class thing is utter horse shit.

[Dave]

That is just utter, embarresing, garbage. Written by the same person that wrote the "Bolton fan letter" no doubt.  How does this shit even get into print?

It's not really.

[Villa and West Brom] contested the 1887, 1892 and 1895 FA Cup finals. West Brom were hot favourites for the first, but were defeated 2-0, losing the place completely after Dennis Hodgetts scored an unchallenged opener from an offside position. Having expected the referee to stop play before Hodgetts netted, or at least rule the goal out, the Baggies threw a three-minute tantrum. The referee didn’t budge. They never budge.

Five years later it was Villa’s turn as hot favourites. Sure enough, the result again went the other way, West Brom battering their Midlands rivals 3-0. John Reynolds was man of the match, and was absurdly accused by his own board of only putting in a shift at the big events, in the hope of getting a transfer. Reynolds, understandably piqued, left in high dudgeon. No guesses who he signed for: yep, Villa. Also plumping for the “bugger this” option was Villa keeper Jimmy Warner, who left England for good after being accused of throwing the Cup final on purpose, having bet heavily on West Brom.

Another three years on, and the 1895 final was decided in the first minute, the ball pinballing around the Albion area and clanking off a surprised John Devey. Reynolds was in the Villa winning side, a fact presumably noted by the Baggies board. Villa then proudly put the FA Cup on display in the window of local cobbler William Shillock, only for it to be stolen and never seen again, melted down for coins.

I don't think you'll see articles talking about Villa's FA Cup finals of the late 1800s on the websites of many other newspapers.

[Richard E]

An even briefer guide:-

Villa are ace.

Albion are garbage.
Blose are garbage.
Wolves are garbage.
Every other Midlands team is garbage.

[joe_c]

The class thing is utter horse shit.

He only said "blue collar" because he couldn't spell Lumpenproletariat.

[castlefields_villan]

The usual rubbish... Here is the bit you'll probably be scrolling through for:

"We start in England’s second city, and the pretty intense brouhaha between the generally more blue collar Birmingham City and Aston Villa, who draw some of their support from well to do areas of the city such as Sutton Coldfield. Villa, the bigger club (sorry Blues), have registered more wins in the Second City derby. But on the other hand, Birmingham have a few trophies to show for it. They beat Villa in the final of the 1963 League Cup to win their first ever major trophy, Ken Leek their two-goal hero in a 3-1 aggregate win over two legs. Then in December 2010, Nikola Zigic scored late at St Andrews to beat Villa in the League Cup quarter finals; they went on to win their second major trophy against Arsenal in the 2011 final."

And here's the full thing: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/nov/27/a-brief-guide-to-the-complex-rivalries-of-midlands-football

Did they win a trophy for beating us in the quarter final 5 years ago then ??

[Ads]

How can there be a rivalry when there's only one club in the Midlands?

[PeterWithesShin]

They missed out this bit.

Villa fans: Spend their lives obsessed with Villa.
SHA: Spend their lives obsessed with Villa.
Bitters: Spend their lives obsessed with Villa.

[TheMalandro]

Every other Midlands team is garbage.

What about Walsall?

[AVH87]

'The behemoth, whether rival fans like it or not, and regardless of how they’re doing right now, is Aston Villa' - true.

'Birmingham have a few trophies to show for it' 'Nikola Zigic scored late at St Andrews to beat Villa in the League Cup quarter finals; they went on to win their second major trophy' - If they are going to mention Blues beating us on the way to winning the LC though, surely they should mention us beating Blues on the way to winning the LC in the 90s.

'Generally more blue collar Birmingham City' - Have to dispute this, I'd replace blue collar with jobless fans, if they all work so hard, where are they when it comes to spending their wages on matches on a Saturday afternoon?

[castlefields_villan]

'The behemoth, whether rival fans like it or not, and regardless of how they’re doing right now, is Aston Villa' - true.

'Birmingham have a few trophies to show for it' 'Nikola Zigic scored late at St Andrews to beat Villa in the League Cup quarter finals; they went on to win their second major trophy' - If they are going to mention Blues beating us on the way to winning the LC though, surely they should mention us beating Blues on the way to winning the LC in the 90s.

'Generally more blue collar Birmingham City' - Have to dispute this, I'd replace blue collar with jobless fans, if they all work so hard, where are they when it comes to spending their wages on matches on a Saturday afternoon?

Oh yes - the two 1-0 wins home and away - thanks for reminding me - I'd actually forgotten about that.

[Ad@m]

'Generally more blue collar Birmingham City' - Have to dispute this, I'd replace blue collar with jobless fans, if they all work so hard, where are they when it comes to spending their wages on matches on a Saturday afternoon?

Working shifts, aren't they!!

[dave.woodhall]

It seems a very longwinded way of saying "Everybody hates Villa".

[castlefields_villan]

That's only everybody in the west midlands though isn't it Dave ?

I've known and still do know a lot of big club fans - Man United / Citeh / Liverpool / Everton etc.. who, when we're not actually playing them acknowledge us as a club they respect.