Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on April 05, 2017, 02:12:57 PM
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65 today.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/09/4f/43/094f439ec856523ac5fecadcbcb70d96.jpg)
(http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/sport-football-pic-1981-aston-villa-captain-dennis-mortimer-holds-picture-id79648084)
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Happy Birthday Dennis. Enjoy your retirement.
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Born in 1980, so didn't see him play. My Dad has always raved about him, particularly his runs from midfield. In our history of distinguished midfielders, where would he rank?
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Lynchpin of the late 70's early 80's team. His goal was in the 3 - 2 win against the mancs xxx special
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Happy Birthday Dennis.
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Saw his debut against West Ham, thought "we paid all that money for that?".
Shot self in other foot just to be sure.
What drive. We were never the same in the odd game he missed.
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Happy Birthday Dennis
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theres legends and then theres legends and boy was he a legend
happy birthday sir dennis
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Happy Birthday Sir Dennis, I will never forget your goal against the redscouse at VP
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Saw his debut against West Ham, thought "we paid all that money for that?".
Kinda the opposite of Petrov who started supernova against the Spammers but was never the gung-ho attacking midfielder we thought/hoped for.
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Fabulous player, in the top three midfielders we have ever had. A joy to watch, spectacularly good at the box-to-box criterion.
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Born in 1980, so didn't see him play. My Dad has always raved about him, particularly his runs from midfield. In our history of distinguished midfielders, where would he rank?
Near the top most definately.
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Happy birthday Dennis......top top player
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Fabulous player, in the top three midfielders we have ever had. A joy to watch, spectacularly good at the box-to-box criterion.
Mortimer, Bremner, Cowans, Morley(don't let's get petty).
A perfect storm.
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Yep that's the one
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Yep that's the one
My abiding memory of that game is this. "Morley, he beats Money too easily,Gary Shaw, Withe! and Villa take the lead.
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A real gentleman. More than willing to talk to anyone. Many happy returns.
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Happy Birthday Dennis- My all time Villa Hero, fortunate enough to have seen you play throughout your Villa career.
I'll never forget the opening MOTD credits with you running from the half way line against Man Utd I think towards the North Stand to score in a victory against them. Yes we used to beat Liverpool and Man Utd with you as our captain !
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Absolutely my favourite player.
Happy birthday Dennis.
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Happy birthday legend!!!
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Before my time, but have watched loads of footage of him. Looked very composed, and appeared to get stuck in when necessary. Great hair too. Hope you had a great day!
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Happy Birthday DM. A real legend and great leader.
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Happy Birthday Sir Dennis, I will never forget your goal against the redscouse at VP
I was standing behind the goal that day. I can still vividly see him running towards me.
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Happy Birthday Sir Dennis, I will never forget your goal against the redscouse at VP
I was standing behind the goal that day. I can still vividly see him running towards me.
Me too! I think if I looked at that footage enough, I would see myself behind that goal.
I also remember his face as he knew he was clear through. I always remember that as the moment I knew we were going to win the league, and only years later I realised how many others had exactly the same thought at the same time.
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Yep that's the one
Mortimer's composure is great, but Shaw's pass is perfect. What a team.
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I was down the Witton End in my usual spot and had a great tail-end view of that move and its outcome. Fabulous.
He scored a very similar goal a few weeks later against Everton at Goodison in the goal of the season game. As that move broke, a Scouser standing near us said 'fucking hell, he's gonna do to us what he did to Liverpool'. And he did!
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Happy birthday Dennis - quality midfielder and brilliant captain. I was only a kid back then, but the few times I managed to get to VP back then, there was always the expectation that we would win, and we always did. I don't think I saw Villa lose a home game until about 1984. I pity the young kids of today watching (until now) a team almost always expected not to win every week.
Cheers Dennis- hope you have a top day after collecting your free bus pass!
Ah just remembered the 1-2 Ipswich defeat. Apart from that one anyway...
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Sir Dennis, my favourite ever Villa player, he signed around December 75 and in that first half season only showed glimpses of what he was capable of, from then on though he got better and better, brilliant all round midfielder, my greatest memories are of him standing on the half way line looking for options and if none were available he would burst forward directly toward the opposition penalty area causing panic, my mates and I would be on the Holte saying he's gonna go any second now, you could sense it, very exciting at the time.
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And not one cap for England.
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A European cup is probably worth more
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And not one cap for England.
Such a great England side at the time though. *rubs chin*
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Used to love watching Morty. Infact I got a bit of a preview before he signed as a school friends dad was a Coventry supporter and used to take us as kids to the occasional game. He was very popular with the Coventry supporters as I recall.
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He combined cultured ability with guts and the grit to rough things up when necessary. Above all though he was a true captain and team leader on and off the pitch. The combination of Saunders as manager and Mortimer as captain was perfect for that squad.
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And not one cap for England.
Such a great England side at the time though. *rubs chin*
It's staggering to think back that a player and captain of the League and European champions couldn't get a single game for a very mediocre England side in the early 1980s.
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Didn't play in red, didn't play in London.
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Great player. Always enjoyed watching him for us, a great captain, leader on the pitch and dynamic player. Actually had the good fortune to meet him on the Wembley car park before the 2000 cup final. Had a chat and pictures taken with him. Happy birthday Dennis.
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Marvellous fantastic brilliant player. Happy birthday Dennis.
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And not one cap for England.
Such a great England side at the time though. *rubs chin*
It's staggering to think back that a player and captain of the League and European champions couldn't get a single game for a very mediocre England side in the early 1980s.
Morley didn't get a look in, Swain, Shaw...
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It's a sort of weird feeling realising people you've idolised are now of a pensionable age. Hope he has a long, healthy and happy retirement
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I still find it amazing that the 80-82 side received so few caps. I know Scotland were better than they are now but Ken and Des were ignored.
By my reckoning this is the caps total that the Champions of England and Europe managed while Villa players.
Evans 4 (all in 1982)
Morley 6 (81-82)
Withe 11 (81-84)
Deacy 4 (all in 1982)
Cowans 7 (all in 1983) plus 1 when playing for us in 1990.
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Born in 1980, so didn't see him play. My Dad has always raved about him, particularly his runs from midfield. In our history of distinguished midfielders, where would he rank?
Unfortunately Tom when it comes to midfielders you have seen no one like Dennis in a Villa shirt. He is comparable with Robson, Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard etc
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I still find it amazing that the 80-82 side received so few caps. I know Scotland were better than they are now but Ken and Des were ignored.
By my reckoning this is the caps total that the Champions of England and Europe managed while Villa players.
Evans 4 (all in 1982)
Morley 6 (81-82)
Withe 11 (81-84)
Deacy 4 (all in 1982)
Cowans 7 (all in 1983) plus 1 when playing for us in 1990.
That always angers me.
Re Sid, well played Bobby Robson in realising how good he was. I always think his predecessor Ron Greenwood was an FA Blazers' choice as an inept, bland stooge when Clough was making groups of average players perform as top teams.
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Imagine how quickly these days a 19/20 year old would be capped as he scored 20 goals (18 league) and won the league. Instead he had a handful of U21 caps and that was it. Vardy was capped after scoring 5 for a side that just avoided relegation.
It doesn't still annoy me, honest.
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To be fair regarding Sid he was starting to get a consistent run in the England team until that dirty Mexican bastard got to him.
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And not one cap for England.
An absolute disgrace that he was never capped. With Mortimer, Morley, Withe, Sid & Shaw in the England Team in the 1982 World Cup we would have won it.
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And not one cap for England.
An absolute disgrace that he was never capped. With Mortimer, Morley, Withe & Shaw in the England Team in the 1982 World Cup we would have won it.
They were still in thrall to Keegan and Brooking at the time. And of course anyone who played for Arsenal.
Greenwood was a total blazers choice.
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And not one cap for England.
An absolute disgrace that he was never capped. With Mortimer, Morley, Withe & Shaw in the England Team in the 1982 World Cup we would have won it.
They were still in thrall to Keegan and Brooking at the time. And of course anyone who played for Arsenal.
Greenwood was a total blazers choice.
Keegan and Brooking only played half an hour each, in the last game. The midfield was generally Robson, Wilkins, Rix and Coppell. Dennis would have been a good alternative to Wilkins, and Morley was surely a better option than Rix. And up front? Francis and Mariner. Not the best. Withe was in the squad but didn't get a kick.
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Had a mate at college who was a big Cov fan & loved Morty. We'd sometimes go and watch Villa play -we saw him score a goal at the Yawnthorns where animal Cantello nearly crippled Ray Graydon and wasn't even booked!
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So to cheer us up after a draw (that's kind of good to be able to type that) I managed to dig this out, with my Dad's archiving the detail as well as having taken the snap. (I'm sure he loved taking us there!)
So left to right my older sister Jo, El Capitan, I think my next door neighbour Matthew Cole, me with the 'sport for all' badge sewn onto my tracky, and my long lost blood brother of primary school years Andrew Jones, who I think was quite involved with some Warks cricket scene in later years.
Got a few of these kind of pics, I love it for the clothes, the car, and the wonderful memories of an idyllic childhood of standing on a milk crate in the Holte End, going to my grandparents in Handsworth Wood after home games, the innocent ease of going to meet my heroes and again and again collecting autographs, getting tickled by Peter Withe sitting on his knee, players pet dogs, then being there to watch Dennis lift trophies that crowned us best in the land and on the continent.
Thanks Dennis for not letting us kids down on days like that at BH in being a lovely man and giving our club it's greatest days.
(http://thumb.ibb.co/djPXMQ/IMG_0931.png) (http://ibb.co/djPXMQ)
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So to cheer us up after a draw (that's kind of good to be able to type that) I managed to dig this out, with my Dad's archiving the detail as well as having taken the snap. (I'm sure he loved taking us there!)
So left to right my older sister Jo, El Capitan, I think my next door neighbour Matthew Cole, me with the 'sport for all' badge sewn onto my tracky, and my long lost blood brother of primary school years Andrew Jones, who I think was quite involved with some Warks cricket scene in later years.
Got a few of these kind of pics, I love it for the clothes, the car, and the wonderful memories of an idyllic childhood of standing on a milk crate in the Holte End, going to my grandparents in Handsworth Wood after home games, the innocent ease of going to meet my heroes and again and again collecting autographs, getting tickled by Peter Withe sitting on his knee, players pet dogs, then being there to watch Dennis lift trophies that crowned us best in the land and on the continent.
Thanks Dennis for not letting us kids down on days like that at BH in being a lovely man and giving our club it's greatest days.
(http://thumb.ibb.co/djPXMQ/IMG_0931.png) (http://ibb.co/djPXMQ)
That is just fantastic.
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Great photo.
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Bodymoor, either 1978 or 79 (I think, memory's gone a bit). Gray and Gidman were still there and I think Evans had just joined.
Rugged (as was the weather I remember)!
(http://www.ydpinkfloydp.com/Dennis_Small.jpg)
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So to cheer us up after a draw (that's kind of good to be able to type that) I managed to dig this out, with my Dad's archiving the detail as well as having taken the snap. (I'm sure he loved taking us there!)
So left to right my older sister Jo, El Capitan, I think my next door neighbour Matthew Cole, me with the 'sport for all' badge sewn onto my tracky, and my long lost blood brother of primary school years Andrew Jones, who I think was quite involved with some Warks cricket scene in later years.
Got a few of these kind of pics, I love it for the clothes, the car, and the wonderful memories of an idyllic childhood of standing on a milk crate in the Holte End, going to my grandparents in Handsworth Wood after home games, the innocent ease of going to meet my heroes and again and again collecting autographs, getting tickled by Peter Withe sitting on his knee, players pet dogs, then being there to watch Dennis lift trophies that crowned us best in the land and on the continent.
Thanks Dennis for not letting us kids down on days like that at BH in being a lovely man and giving our club it's greatest days.
(http://thumb.ibb.co/djPXMQ/IMG_0931.png) (http://ibb.co/djPXMQ)
April 81 - On the cusp of greatness! ☺
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April 81 - On the cusp of greatness! ☺
Yes I thought exactly the same last night myself. Highbury (£1.80!) was May 2nd I think, so that pic was probably less than a month before that trip down South. Matthew Cole next door may have had the villa tracky I was jealous of, but I had Peter Withe sweat bands (not the ones he chucked into the crowd each game alas, but saved my pocket money) and the Season Ticket. Eternally grateful to my dear Dad a few of you have met, we'll be both up from the South for the Reading Game :)
The 7.6 is me being 7 years and 6months btw. Maybe it's time for an old school amateur pics of our heroes thread in memories...