Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: astonvilla82 on March 16, 2025, 09:06:28 PM
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Andy Townsend is down Herbert's Yard, Longbridge Tuesday night, there is about 50 tickets left ( didn't know what page to put it on so feel free to move it)
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So if anyone is going let the community know how it goes.
Townsend is more known to me for his punditry than his play but if i’m correct he’s the last Villa Captain to lift a major trophy ?
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Yep. Captain and Player of the Match during our 3-0 League Cup Final win against Dirty Leeds. He was an excellent player.
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Fun fact, he made his league debut against us having previously only played in non league.
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Might as well put this in here as it’s on a similar vein. This Friday at the Sutton Coldfield Tennis and Squash club there is a forum with Brian Little and Dennis Mortimer. £15 entry fee for charity. Starts at 8pm.
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So I read Townsend was selected for the Republic of Ireland despite being born in England.
Were England that good that he couldn’t make the international squads?
Maybe he should have waited like Rice and Grealish ?
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There wasn't that much to choose between them during his international career. England played at one more Euros, Ireland went to one more World Cup. It wouldn't really have been worth waiting.
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Good player and leader.
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From memory he played no age group internationals and didn't make his debut until mid his 20s.
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From memory he played no age group internationals and didn't make his debut until mid his 20s.
Yes. I was going to say he was a late bloomer and would have had Robson, McMahon and others such as Neil Webb and the twat that is Steve Hodge in front of him in the England reckoning.
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Very good player for club and country and leader , and a good co-commentator now who I always like to listen to .
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McGinn at his best reminds me so much of Townsend.
All action and could chip in with a few goals.
I was surprised we sold him to Boro early in the 1997 season but they were throwing serious money around in those times so he probably got a big pay rise at age of 33-34 as he was then.
Forged a good post career as a pundit/commentator.
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was part of that era when we had some great Irish players , God, Staunton, houghton and Townsend . We had a great team then .
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We won Ireland Player of the Year five times in six years.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAI_International_Football_Awards#Senior_International_Player_of_the_Year
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I think he qualified for Ireland via a parent/grandparent being Irish. He was also playing around the time when if you’d ever drank a pint of Guinness or owned a U2 record then you got selected. See also Cascarino, C
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Or had a Red Setter .
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I think he qualified for Ireland via a parent/grandparent being Irish. He was also playing around the time when if you’d ever drank a pint of Guinness or owned a U2 record then you got selected. See also Cascarino, C
Tony Dorigo playing for England was worse. Born and bred in Australia to Italian parents yet played for the England national team.
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Tony Barton's fault, apparently. Dorigo was called up by Australia but we refused him permission to travel.
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I think he qualified for Ireland via a parent/grandparent being Irish. He was also playing around the time when if you’d ever drank a pint of Guinness or owned a U2 record then you got selected. See also Cascarino, C
Think he traveled to Germany in 1988 supporting England. Made his debut for Ireland a year later. Wasn't long seeing off likes of Liam Brady and Ronnie Whelan in the Irish team. Jack Charlton spotted his potential. When the likes of Carlton Palmer and Batty were in England's Euro 92 squad, it's fair to say Englands loss was Ireland's gain.
Very good player for Villa and Ireland. Better athlete than Barry or McGinn perhaps. Definitely not one to shy away from a 50/50 either.
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I think he qualified for Ireland via a parent/grandparent being Irish. He was also playing around the time when if you’d ever drank a pint of Guinness or owned a U2 record then you got selected. See also Cascarino, C
How many lives were lost to the drink thanks to the second category?
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Townsend qualified through his grandmother. Cascarino was also believed to have an Irish grandmother but it turned out shortly before he retired that his grandmother mother was adopted and not a blood relative meaning he shouldn't have been able to play for Ireland at all. Something like that anyway.
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Townsend was on the Late, Late Show in Ireland last Friday with many other members from the Irish squad who were at the World Cup in Italy, 1990. Fantastic interview and tournament.
Thought it was a bit risky though when Mick McCarthy said (words to the effect) 'in the qualifying group, we were drawing 1-1 with Holland and a draw would be good enough to send both teams through at the expense of Egypt. We made a gentlemans agreement with Ruud Gullit (Holland manager) that we would settle for the draw. Gullit asked me a few minutes later if I had told Niall Quinn as he was going hell for leather for a goal'.
Not sure you are allowed to do that!!
The full interview:
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I think he qualified for Ireland via a parent/grandparent being Irish. He was also playing around the time when if you’d ever drank a pint of Guinness or owned a U2 record then you got selected. See also Cascarino, C
From the top of my head, Terry Butcher, Tony Dorigo, John Barnes, Luther Blissett, Raheem Sterling, Owen Hargreaves, Big Cyrille……
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Townsend was on the Late, Late Show in Ireland last Friday with many other members from the Irish squad who were at the World Cup in Italy, 1990. Fantastic interview and tournament.
Thought it was a bit risky though when Mick McCarthy said (words to the effect) 'in the qualifying group, we were drawing 1-1 with Holland and a draw would be good enough to send both teams through at the expense of Egypt. We made a gentlemans agreement with Ruud Gullit (Holland manager) that we would settle for the draw. Gullit asked me a few minutes later if I had told Niall Quinn as he was going hell for leather for a goal'.
Not sure you are allowed to do that!!
The full interview:
Saw Andy along side Dean Saunders, Tony Morley & Steve Staunton at at Villa Legends evening in Sutton Coldfield. Dean Saunders held court for most of the evening ( and was funny to be fair ) .Andy Townend told some very funny stories about Ireland (Jack Charlton) and coming up against Wimbledon and their shithousery.
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For some reason his short-lived Tactics Truck came into my head last week. I found this clip with Dion joining him in the back seat after a 3-1 win for the Villa at Anfield.
9/11 happened a couple of days later.
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For some reason his short-lived Tactics Truck came into my head last week. I found this clip with Dion joining him in the back seat after a 3-1 win for the Villa at Anfield.
9/11 happened a couple of days later.
I was at this match celebrating my 17th Birthday which is on 10/9
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I think he qualified for Ireland via a parent/grandparent being Irish. He was also playing around the time when if you’d ever drank a pint of Guinness or owned a U2 record then you got selected. See also Cascarino, C
Tony Dorigo playing for England was worse. Born and bred in Australia to Italian parents yet played for the England national team.
I'll see your Tony Dorigo and raise you a Pat 'Taffy' Van Den Hauwe
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Andy Townsend is down Herbert's Yard, Longbridge Tuesday night, there is about 50 tickets left ( didn't know what page to put it on so feel free to move it)
I assume it's aimed for the Noses as like them he never has a good thing to say about the Villa.
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Andy Townsend is down Herbert's Yard, Longbridge Tuesday night, there is about 50 tickets left ( didn't know what page to put it on so feel free to move it)
I assume it's aimed for the Noses as like them he never has a good thing to say about the Villa.
Have you got him mixed up with Platt?
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For some reason his short-lived Tactics Truck came into my head last week. I found this clip with Dion joining him in the back seat after a 3-1 win for the Villa at Anfield.
9/11 happened a couple of days later.
I was at this match celebrating my 17th Birthday which is on 10/9
"Ain't got a clue who this Croatian team is", we know the rest sadly.
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Andy Townsend is down Herbert's Yard, Longbridge Tuesday night, there is about 50 tickets left ( didn't know what page to put it on so feel free to move it)
I assume it's aimed for the Noses as like them he never has a good thing to say about the Villa.
always found AT very pro-Villa
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Andy Townsend is down Herbert's Yard, Longbridge Tuesday night, there is about 50 tickets left ( didn't know what page to put it on so feel free to move it)
I assume it's aimed for the Noses as like them he never has a good thing to say about the Villa.
The husband of a friend of my wife went. He’s a long time Villa fan and said he was really good.
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Andy was sold to 'boro in the August of Brian's last season.
I think we got about £500,000 for him, not bad for a player who was in his thirties and whose knee was showing signs of wear and tear. Andy helped them get promotion but didn't play that much for them in the Prem.
Got a nice ovation for a game at Villa Park.
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I always thought he'd make a good manager. Obviously there was more money in TV.
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Or less effort.
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And longer more assured career.
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Andy Townsend is down Herbert's Yard, Longbridge Tuesday night, there is about 50 tickets left ( didn't know what page to put it on so feel free to move it)
I assume it's aimed for the Noses as like them he never has a good thing to say about the Villa.
Have you got him mixed up with Platt?
Ha! No. Andy seems to be on the co-commentary now for most Villa games I watch but he seems to have no love for the Villa. He's more a blowing smoke up the arse of the Sky Top 5 and Spurs type. Shame really as I loved him as a player.
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A good example is his commentary of the Terry tackle on Milner.
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Andy Townsend is down Herbert's Yard, Longbridge Tuesday night, there is about 50 tickets left ( didn't know what page to put it on so feel free to move it)
I assume it's aimed for the Noses as like them he never has a good thing to say about the Villa.
Have you got him mixed up with Platt?
Ha! No. Andy seems to be on the co-commentary now for most Villa games I watch but he seems to have no love for the Villa. He's more a blowing smoke up the arse of the Sky Top 5 and Spurs type. Shame really as I loved him as a player.
Have mentioned this on more than one match thread. You would never know he was once the Villa captain.
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Have mentioned this on more than one match thread. You would never know he was once the Villa captain.
And one of four to lift a trophy at Wembley. He should be a legend.
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Another strange one, a bit like Platt. Great player for us, but seems disengaged from us as a club, a shame really as he seems a nice fella, but doesn't feel like he is part of the 'Villa family'..if you know what I mean?
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Disagree with some of the sentiments here. He always seems complimentary about us on TalkSport and I believe he still lives in the area, if I’m not mistaken.
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Disagree with some of the sentiments here. He always seems complimentary about us on TalkSport and I believe he still lives in the area, if I’m not mistaken.
I was sat next to him at Ask, Sutton, about ten years ago. He was very polite to the waiting staff and left a generous tip.
He's been down as a good bloke in my book since then.
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I always thought on co-comms a bit like Andy Gray that they expected more of Villa and judged us harder than other teams. Ironically the one I always found even handed with us was Trevor Francis.
As with everything that’s a personal view
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Andy was sold to 'boro in the August of Brian's last season.
I think we got about £500,000 for him, not bad for a player who was in his thirties and whose knee was showing signs of wear and tear. Andy helped them get promotion but didn't play that much for them in the Prem.
Got a nice ovation for a game at Villa Park.
Yeah he did. Him and Gazza played in midfield for Boro, fair to say the legs had gone on both - think it was a Sunday game early season.
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I always thought on co-comms a bit like Andy Gray that they expected more of Villa and judged us harder than other teams. Ironically the one I always found even handed with us was Trevor Francis.
As with everything that’s a personal view
Francis was a total bluenose, nothing unexpected there. Unlike 90% of them he didn't have a pathological hatred of Villa bordering on insanity and thought him even-handed - seemed to be a big fan of Yorkie IIRC.
His claim of Blues having as many fans as Villa in the City was always an imagined fairytale.
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Never heard Townsend ever speak of us either anything less than 100% affection. Dean Saunders too.
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I have often confused Andy Townsend on commentary with Matt Holland, the two sound very similar to each other.
I only realised half way through one particular game, when the other co-commentator called him Matt.
It explained why i thought he (Andy Townsend) wasn't very supportive of us during commentary.
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Disagree with some of the sentiments here. He always seems complimentary about us on TalkSport and I believe he still lives in the area, if I’m not mistaken.
I was sat next to him at Ask, Sutton, about ten years ago. He was very polite to the waiting staff and left a generous tip.
He's been down as a good bloke in my book since then.
Yes I got the same view, even though he played at Birmingham,he didn't have that DVB attitude like some of those other former Birmingham players, perhaps because he knew how to play football and appreciated good football teams
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I have often confused Andy Townsend on commentary with Matt Holland, the two sound very similar to each other.
I only realised half way through one particular game, when the other co-commentator called him Matt.
It explained why i thought he (Andy Townsend) wasn't very supportive of us during commentary.
I always have a little joke that Andros Townsend was actually asked to do punditry by mistake as the media people were really trying to get hold of Andy.
I mean Andros still in playing career was co-commentating on games.
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Another strange one, a bit like Platt. Great player for us, but seems disengaged from us as a club, a shame really as he seems a nice fella, but doesn't feel like he is part of the 'Villa family'..if you know what I mean?
I've never had that impression at all. He always seems to be complimentary about the Villa. I remember him saying once that his son is a season ticket holder at Villa as well.
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Another strange one, a bit like Platt. Great player for us, but seems disengaged from us as a club, a shame really as he seems a nice fella, but doesn't feel like he is part of the 'Villa family'..if you know what I mean?
I've never had that impression at all. He always seems to be complimentary about the Villa. I remember him saying once that his son is a season ticket holder at Villa as well.
Same here. I guess when he's doing the media thing he has to appear impartial. I think he does well in this respect as he reports on the football in front of him not his loyalty for one of the clubs he's played for. That's fine by me.
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You're right, Rob, the 'boro match was a Sunday TV game.
It was three days after Yorke pissed off to the Theatre of Debt on transfer deadline day. The match sponsors were Yorkie Bars...
Still won 3-1, though (Joachim, Charles and Thompson)!
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I always thought he'd make a good manager. Obviously there was more money in TV.
He pretty much joined ITV straight after retiring in 2000 given that tactics truck thing was in September 2001. A decade later and he was their lead co-commentator on their CL coverage so would've comfortably made more than playing in the 90s. Was also on Talksport regularly in that period.
I think it's harsh anyone thinking he has it in for us as I always feel he wants us to do well in games he covers for the world feed. Perhaps the perception is he commentated loads on Chelsea in the 2000s when they were serious contenders in CL and FA Cup. Marginally made more appearances for us than Chelsea.
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Another strange one, a bit like Platt. Great player for us, but seems disengaged from us as a club, a shame really as he seems a nice fella, but doesn't feel like he is part of the 'Villa family'..if you know what I mean?
One thing I would always say on that is do we do enough to get the old players back frequently at VP and make them part of matchday?
I used to go to Arsenal games 2-3 times a season (the Mother supporting them) and they'd always have someone from 80s giving out a supporters award pre match and interviewing them at half time.
Half time now seems to consist of a ten second check of premier league scores and then the competition of trying to kick it towards the centre circle.
In recent times all I can remember coming back were Laursen, Carew and Angel and pretty sure those were the championship seasons.
That possibly leads to detachment compared to other clubs keeping their old players involved more but then I don't really get that sense from Townsend. For most of last season he was saying this group we had were good enough to win a trophy and he would know.
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The on-pitch interview with Jed Steer before the Brighton game was a good demonstration of how to do it.
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You're right, Rob, the 'boro match was a Sunday TV game.
It was three days after Yorke pissed off to the Theatre of Debt on transfer deadline day. The match sponsors were Yorkie Bars...
Still won 3-1, though (Joachim, Charles and Thompson)!
With a centre forward pairing of Riccardo Scimeca and Julian Joachim! It absolutely pissed it down.
We started splashing the Yorke cash the following week with Paul Merson from Boro!
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Never heard Townsend ever speak of us either anything less than 100% affection. Dean Saunders too.
Same as .
Unlike alan smith (alleged villa fan) who seems to harbor a weird grudge against us whenever he does our games.