Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: dave.woodhall on December 13, 2011, 01:05:37 PM
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Everything is now in place for the service to take place next Tuesday, 20th December, at 2pm. The venue is St Mary's Church, Hampstead Rd, Handsworth B20 2RB.
There will be a lot of dignitaries from football and other areas in attendance, so we also need to get as many of us along as possible. The service will take about 45 minutes, which isn't very long to pay tribute to a man we have so much to be thankful to. Please, if you can make it, try to get there.
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I'll be there.
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I'll try and make it if I can work out how to get there by bus.
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I'll try and make it if I can work out how to get there by bus.
It's about 200 yards from the 11 route.
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Is Doug going?
*polishes telescopic sight*
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Number 16 bus from town.
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I'll try and make it if I can work out how to get there by bus.
It's about 200 yards from the 11 route.
Thanks Dave.
That's promising as the 11 route isn't far from where I am. A call to Centro tomorrow then to find whether I need the A or C and an idea of where to get off.
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I'll try and make it if I can work out how to get there by bus.
It's about 200 yards from the 11 route.
Thanks Dave.
That's promising as the 11 route isn't far from where I am. A call to Centro tomorrow then to find whether I need the A or C and an idea of where to get off.
You'll need to get off at top of Wellington Road (if coming from Villa Park direction) or end of Church Lane (if coming from West Brom/Handsworth direction), immediately before what is known as 'Wellington Road Island'. Then walk down Hamstead Road for 200/300 yards and church is on right, opposite Church Hill Road. Entrance to left hand (south) side of church as you face it from road.
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Cheers BC, it'll be 11C there and 11A back. Looked on a map to try and work out where to get off as that isn't my neck of the woods. Hopefully i've got it sorted and won't end up at Villa Park!
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The Daily Mail have a nice write up on it which is surprising.
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I think I won't be able to get there in time due to work but keep us informed how it is getting on.
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I wish I could be there. Good luck all of you attending and someone please post some photos for those of us who can't attend.
Cheers.
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Is Doug going?
*polishes telescopic sight*
Are you going?
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Hope it all goes well for everyone involved,something to make us fans proud in a depressing time.
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(http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u149/HVLegion/HandV/McGregor%20grave/IMGP0202.jpg)
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(http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u149/HVLegion/HandV/McGregor%20grave/IMGP0201.jpg)
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(http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u149/HVLegion/HandV/McGregor%20grave/IMGP0199.jpg)
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(http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u149/HVLegion/HandV/McGregor%20grave/IMGP0203.jpg)
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Thanks for the pictures, Lee. Well done to all involved.
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More here (http://s167.photobucket.com/albums/u149/HVLegion/HandV/McGregor%20grave/?albumview=slideshow)
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Pictures came out well Leeg. Shame more didn't turn up to pay their respects.
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More here (http://s167.photobucket.com/albums/u149/HVLegion/HandV/McGregor%20grave/?albumview=slideshow)
And thanks for getting a shot of my back and bald head!
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It was covered on the Evening news here in Scotland.
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Haha I just saw myself on the TV during the Midlands Today report.
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Auntie (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-16247593)
Football League founder William McGregor's grave rededicated
The grave of the founder of the Football League and former chairman of Aston Villa has been rededicated.
William McGregor was born in Braco, Perthshire, in 1846 and became chairman of the Birmingham-based club in 1886 before founding the league in 1888.
The Aston Villa Supporters Trust has raised about £1,000 to clean up the gravestone.
Trust chairman, Peter Warrilow, described McGregor as "a towering figure in world football".
He said: "William McGregor was far more than a director and chairman, he was the promoter of the first football league in the world.
The trust also helped commission a statue of McGregor which was erected outside Villa Park in 2009.
Mr Warrilow described him as an "inspirational man" as he was the driving force behind the first organised sports league in the world.
He said: "Before McGregor there was no certainty for spectators - games would be cancelled whereas if there was a league and a proper structure teams couldn't pull out."
Peter Lupson, a football author and historian, brought the issue of the grave to the club's attention while writing Thank God For Football.
He said: "McGregor's one of the three most important men in the history of football.
"As father of the Football League he's effectively the father of all football leagues - the one he founded was the prototype.
"He ranks alongside Ebenezer Cob Morley who gave the world the name soccer as we know it and also Charles Alcock who created the FA Cup and launched international football - he's up there with those people."
Mr Lupson said it is important to remember the role Mr McGregor played in the modern game, along with other people involved in the early days of the football league.
He said: "He's been forgotten for the same reason that all the great pioneers have - people are so involved in the present day that there's no time to focus on the past.
"I made it my mission to rescue the names of some of these great men from obscurity."
Lord Brian Mawhinney, president of the Football League, and officials from all 12 of founding clubs attended the service at St Mary's church in Handsworth on Tuesday.
The gravestone also had the words "Founder of the football league and chairman of Aston Villa FC" added to it.
Aston Villa's archivist, Laura Brett, said: "It's a hugely important recognition, not just for Villa but for football in general across the world.
"It's important to ensure that's he's not forgotten."
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Pravda (http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/BlogsEntry/0,,10265~2553880,00.html) (Includes video footage)
We can only speculate what the great man would have made of it.
As Lord Brian Mawhinney mused, though, William McGregor would most likely have been "chuffed" that a service was being held in his honour a century after his death.
Exactly 100 years after McGregor's passing, we gathered in St Mary's Church, Handsworth, and later beside his refurbished grave, to pay tribute to the founder of the Football League.
It was very much a game of two halves, both of them dominated by the Villa legend.
As former chairman Doug Ellis pointed out in a television interview, McGregor is the most important figure in football history.
At Villa Park, we treasure his immense contribution to the club in various roles, including chairman, treasurer and vice-president, from 1877 until his death on December 20, 1911.
The wider football world, meanwhile, will forever be grateful to the man who, in 1888, launched a "fixity of fixtures" that evolved into the strongest league in the world.
The congregation - many of them sporting claret and blues scarves - were welcomed by Villa's chief executive Paul Faulkner.
Fittingly, the other 11 original Football League members were also represented, all of them no doubt reflecting on their gratitude to the man who set organised football in motion.
The speeches were passionate, too.
Peter Lupson, who spearheaded the project and is a leading authority on McGregor, eulogised for 20 minutes. Lord Mawhinney was on his feet for 15 minutes - and both spoke with an affection which almost suggested they had known the man known as the Father of the Football League.
Lupson described McGregor as someone who "radiated joy" and whose characteristic was the smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye - a man who never sought publicity or notoriety.
While they were saluting someone who has passed on, though, there was no funereal atmosphere about the proceedings.
As the service drew to a close, the Bishop of Aston, the Rt Rev Andrew Watson, amused us with his comment that the first half was drawing to a close and that the second half would take place outside in the graveyard.
McGregor's grave, situated more than a football pitch length away from the church, stands out proudly in sombre surroundings following its painstaking refurbishment.
The re-dedication was performed by Bishop Andrew before the representatives of the dozen founder member clubs lined up for a team photo behind the gravestone.
As the Rev Canon Brian Hall, rector of St. Mary's, observed it was "an unusual but very special occasion."
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Midlands Today on BBC i-Player (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b018j4yd/Midlands_Today_20_12_2011/)
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Congratulations to all those who made this very special event happen.
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Pictures came out well Leeg. Shame more didn't turn up to pay their respects.
Given that it's a few days before Christmas it was a very good attendance.
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Really sorry to have missed this.
Lots of family connections with the club and Handsworth area.
Spent a lovely afternoon having tests on my heart.
They eventually found this claret and blue thing, broken in several places!
Glad it went well.
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Peter Lupson told the story of how he went to everton last week,(he's a norwich fan) and was handed a copy of their fanzine.on the front cover, there was a picture of william mcgregor and stated that the next time everton go to villa, they should take time to visit his statue and whisper a thankyou in his ear because the other clubs didnt really want everton in the original 12, but mcgregor insisted they were involved, because at the time they had some of the best crowds in the country.Brian Mewhinney also gave a great tribute.Really proud he's one of ours!
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(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/6484/imag0187u.jpg)
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Felt good to have been a tiny part of this. Positive in a dark time.
Had spent some time with my lad at the statue on Sunday explaining why this funny old man with a stick was so important.
Kal has autism and learning difficulties but quickly grasped my reverence and has asked if we could go and see his grave in the holidays - when we watched the news tonight he recited all the info to his, somewhat, bewildered Mom.
Throat. Lump. Tear. Eye.
<sniff>
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It was amusing to see Doug being helped out of the church barely able to walk. Ten minutes later he was being interviewed on TV and skipped away down the churchyard path.
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Was a pleasure to be there and it went really well I thought. I'm sure it will be the usual hopeless task to get the photo's I took off my rubbish phone, but Legion and others have managed to paint the picture I think.
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Haven't looked at the footage but is that Faulkner in the background? Many other club reps in attendance?
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Peter Lupson told the story of how he went to everton last week,(he's a norwich fan) and was handed a copy of their fanzine.on the front cover, there was a picture of william mcgregor and stated that the next time everton go to villa, they should take time to visit his statue and whisper a thankyou in his ear because the other clubs didnt really want everton in the original 12, but mcgregor insisted they were involved, because at the time they had some of the best crowds in the country.Brian Mewhinney also gave a great tribute.Really proud he's one of ours!
Is 'Blue Kipper' the Everton fanzine he was talking about?
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Haven't looked at the footage but is that Faulkner in the background? Many other club reps in attendance?
He was there as, I believe, were reps from all 12 original member clubs plus several others.
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http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/BlogsEntry/0,,10265~2553880,00.html
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http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/BlogsEntry/0,,10265~2553880,00.html
That's a nice piece.
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A very big 'well done' to all involved in putting the event together, and arranging the restoration of the grave, from the five members of our family who attended. It was good to see the churchyard looking in a much better state than it has for a good while and many thanks to the working party from St. Mary's who tidied up in November.
For me, the highlight was the exceptional address by Peter Lupson - what a great speaker - and many thanks, Dave W., for introducing me to Simon Inglis.
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Peter Lupson told the story of how he went to everton last week,(he's a norwich fan) and was handed a copy of their fanzine.on the front cover, there was a picture of william mcgregor and stated that the next time everton go to villa, they should take time to visit his statue and whisper a thankyou in his ear because the other clubs didnt really want everton in the original 12, but mcgregor insisted they were involved, because at the time they had some of the best crowds in the country.Brian Mewhinney also gave a great tribute.Really proud he's one of ours!
Is 'Blue Kipper' the Everton fanzine he was talking about?
Yes, it was.
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No, it was some more historical-based magazine called Blueblood.
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No, it was some more historical-based magazine called Blueblood.
Well I knew it was Blue something! :)
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Thanks for the time you've taken Leeg to post photos and articles. It looked like a great turnout and everyone should be immensly proud of what the Supporters Trust have achieved here.
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Thanks to everyone involved in marking the contribution of this great and visionary Villa man. You all played a blinder.
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I got some pretty good photos by managing to sneak in the front under a tree! They are on my facebook but I have no idea how to link them to here without being friends with the whole of H&V. If anyone else from my current crop of imaginary friends is able to move them across to here, please feel free.
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Nice one. It makes me proud to be a Villa fan when things like this can be organised and implemented. Sorry not to have been a part of it on the day.
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I got some pretty good photos by managing to sneak in the front under a tree! They are on my facebook but I have no idea how to link them to here without being friends with the whole of H&V. If anyone else from my current crop of imaginary friends is able to move them across to here, please feel free.
Here you go Amfy:
(http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj123/coops1989/McG5.jpg)
(http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj123/coops1989/McG4.jpg)
(http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj123/coops1989/McG3.jpg)
(http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj123/coops1989/McG2.jpg)
(http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj123/coops1989/McG1.jpg)
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Nice to see something positive for a change, well done to all involved.
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Brilliant.
Well done to all involved and makes me proud to be a Villa fan.
When we played the plastic Mancs the other day, two 'mature' plastic mancs were walking past McGregor's wonderful statue and said "He must be the chairman or something".
As you may imagine I put them right with a few well-chosen words that left them in no doubt whatsoever who the great William McGregor was.
God bless.
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Were ssn there? Then again,in their eyes football was invented in 1992.
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Nice pics and well done to everyone who turned out.
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Nice pics and well done to everyone who turned out.
Hear, hear. A big fair play to all those involved.
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Very good piece here:
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-news/2011/12/22/special-feature-remembering-the-role-william-mcgregor-had-on-creating-the-football-world-we-know-today-97319-29996647/
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Were any family of McGregor in attendance?
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Were any family of McGregor in attendance?
They couldn't be traced. It's almost certain he has no direct descendants.
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Stupid question but I hope the Great Man's statue is suitably insured. The scrap thieves are stopping at nothing these days.
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I found a picture of the grave a few years back, so you can see what a good job they did:
Clicky (http://www.search.digitalhandsworth.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?txtKeywords=grave&lstContext=&lstResourceType=&lstExhibitionType=&chkPurchaseVisible=&txtDateFrom=&txtDateTo=&originator=%2Fengine%2Fsearch%2Fdefault%5Fhndlr%2Easp&page=&records=&direction=&pointer=3447&text=0&resource=3826)