Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Villa Memories => Topic started by: garyshawsknee on September 02, 2010, 06:58:08 PM
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Apologies if this has been covered before,but as i'm not from the Birmingham area,and was only very young in the early 80s I need something clearing up for me.
I'm currently reading the Danny Baker and Danny Kelly book,and there's a part about hard teams,and it has a piece about the mid 80s Blues team.
Quoted from the book.. '' Winger Hopkins-though a hardcore Birmingham fan-found himself playing for the Blues' hated local rivals Aston Villa.
In his last game for the club he wore a Birmingham badge over the Villa crest on his shirt.When he went to take a
corner in front of the Villa fans,they noticed this piece of sacrilege and began,unsuprisingly,climbing the fences that
in those days girded the playing area,clawing desperately at the winger and howling for his blood.Hopkins laughed
at them,flicked them a V-sign,deliberately booted the ball out for a goal kick and ran off. ''
Now,as I never really saw him play,I had the image of him as a rodent like weasel,not a hard man. Was anyone at the game? Is this true ?
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The part about wearing the badge over the crest is correct. The reaction of the crowd and his subsequent actions I am not sure about.
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Yes, he used to wear a Small Heath Alliance shirt underneath his cleaner, more respectable Villa kit. Yes, he did play for our first team.
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Wow! Fast editing!!
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Ta,when was this,just after European Cup years ? I can see why his name is mentioned in the same breathe as Hodge!
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He was on our books from 1979-1983. Made three appearances and scored one goal.
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Thankgod for Mark Walters!!
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Are there any pictures of the shit with the shits crest on his Villa shirt ?
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He was on our books from 1979-1983. Made three appearances and scored one goal.
Did he only make the 3 appearances !, seemed to be around a lot more than that . Must've been on the bench a good few times.
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The goal he scored was was with his 1st touch in his first game after coming on as sub - against Norwich I think.
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Heard this story before and although the badge bit is correct the rest of it is bollocks as far as I'm aware. garyshawsknee, you are spot on with the rodent analogy although like a lot of small heath scum he hid behind bigger boys
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No you're wrong I played against Robert Hopkins and his mad brothers on Sunday mornings in Acocks Green, his brothers were better players than him believe it or not but they were all complete nobheads for a drink and a fight and you would'nt want to cross them.
Hopkins has a Blues badge on his leg, his socks were rolled down when some Villa supporters saw his tattoo, and went balistic, I think it was at Notts County.
He scored in his first touch against Norwich, correct Exeter, he and that other pillar of society,Noel Blake were at Villa at the same time, and both got sent to the dark side, their preferred home. Blake was accused of nicking player's stuff in the changing room at Bodymoor, allegedly.
You can still See Hopkins driving a knackered old white van round Solihull now and drinking in the area.
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You can still See Hopkins driving a knackered old white van round Solihull now and drinking in the area.
Is he a painter and decorater now?
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Rat faced wanker.
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Rat faced wanker.
I thought that was Paul T(a)it.
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Really nasty piece of work is Robert Hopkins. Used to see him a lot at Bel Air nightclub and more often than not he was pissed. Once while watching a Central League reserve match at Villa Park against Blackpool my brother shouted to him during a break in play that the Blackpool number 2 had called him a wanker. He looked up and said did he really.Next tackle against the number 2 he went in hard and late and left him in agony.
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Are there any pictures of the shit with the shits crest on his Villa shirt ?
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh154/kiwi_rocks_101/turd.png)
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He was assistant at Solihull Borough for a while but resigned because they gave him an out of date case of lager as an end of season bonus. (Seriously). I'm surprised he bothered to look the state he's always been in whenever I've seen him in a pub.
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Hopkins was interviewed in a now-defunct magazine called Total Sport which was edited by the aforementioned Danny Kelly. I remember the original tale you quoted being in the magazine almost word for word, so it's possible that Kelly's had a look through his back issues and quoted the story verbatim.
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Are there any pictures of the shit with the shits crest on his Villa shirt ?
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh154/kiwi_rocks_101/turd.png)
Yep, that's the one
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Are there any pictures of the shit with the shits crest on his Villa shirt ?
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh154/kiwi_rocks_101/turd.png)
That's his face alright - not so sure about the hair though!
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I used to see Hopkins out and about in Solihull pubs a lot in the 80s. He was always pissed and always ready for trouble.
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He went through a stage of doing a sort of forward roll/handstand celebration after scoring when he was at the Blues first time around. I don't think he did it after his own goal against Altringcham though.
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I never knew he scored an own goal against Altrincham. Legend.
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You can still See Hopkins driving a knackered old white van round Solihull now and drinking in the area.
Is he a painter and decorater now?
I think he's just a delivery driver, although I've also seen him driving a knackered old Rover.
He looks a real scruffy old git now, same as he looked a young scruffy git then.
You can take the boy out of Acocks Green but never Acocks Green out of the boy.
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how good is he as a player for the dark side.
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Shit?
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Does anyone remember the story about him throwing his tracksuit top into the crowd after they won the Leyland Daft cup in '91? I think he was an unused sub and later realised he'd left his wallet in the pocket and appealed for it's return in The Mail. He should have been used to losing his wallet having shared a dressing room with Noel Blake as a Villa youngster.
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Does anyone know where online to watch the Kidderminster or Altrincham cup hilarities? Can't find anything on Youpo... Tube.
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When Ernie Adkins, one of our former commercial team, worked at the Albion, he offered to give Hopkins a lift home. Upon arrival at the Robin Hood, Ernie suggested that they go in for a pint. When they got in there, the staff were very surprised that Hopkins had tried to get served in there and ordered him to leave. Very embarrassing for Ernie, who sadly died recently, as he was a true gentleman, unlike his obnoxious travelling partner.
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Passed away. Aged 64.
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Passed away. Aged 64.
That’s no age. Rivalries aside, RIP and condolences to his family and friends
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Robert Hopkins passed away in the early hours today. He was 64.
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I'm not sure he belongs in this sub-forum considering he hated the club. Still, shame for his family at some a young age. RIP.
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Edit: Thanks for the merge.
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https://www.heroesandvillains.info/forumv3/index.php?topic=40095.0
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Yes very sad news. He was loved by the Blues.
I was there the night he scored for us after coming on as a sub vs Norwich. For all of the blarny, it is worth noting that he did celebrate and looked delighted.
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i associate him with Blues and the red socks when i hear him mentioned. Yes Sad news and too young
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Yes very sad news. He was loved by the Blues.
I was there the night he scored for us after coming on as a sub vs Norwich. For all of the blarny, it is worth noting that he did celebrate and looked delighted.
Came on as a 92nd minute sub as Ivor Linton had cramp. Tony Morley crossed the ball and he scored with his first and only kick on his debut. If Brian Little hadn't been injured with what proved a career ending injury a couple of weeks before, it's doubtful he would have made the bench.
No player had a longer interval between games in Villa's history.
Between his second appearance on 29 March 1980 and his third and final appearance (and only start) in October 1982, 924 days had elapsed.
https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/robert-hopkins
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I was at Notts County to see him make his full debut
RIP Robert