Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Holte Enders in the Sky => Topic started by: waynejames on February 13, 2013, 12:32:15 PM
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My dad (Colin) passed away on the 9th of last month at Good hope hospital Sutton Coldfield. I've been telling everybody that i'm going to post on h and v because i wanted to let people know how much he meant to me.
Dad bless him, took me to my first ever football match around the 77/78 season when i was 6 or 7, trouble was it was down the bloody Blues!
My sister (who liked Jasper Carrot at the time) wanted to go to watch Blues vs Tamper Bay in a friendly. Now because we grew up in Alum Rock slap bang between Small heath and Aston we all decided to walk to and from that shi.... St Andrews (being polite) . It didn't take me long to figure out that my dad had no interest in the blues, he just wanted to keep my nagging sister happy for the night!
Anyway, i often reminded dad about what he forced upon me at such a young age! I forgive you for that dad!
When i caught the villa bug about a year after, dad would let me go down the villa with my mates and their dad who lived across the road. You see my dad was always working so he didn't have the time to watch football, at one point during the 80's he had three jobs on the go. I remember him once being so tired, he fell asleep whilst eating his dinner (most people would wait till they had finished!).
As i got older (13/14) dad wouldn't let me go the villa unless i was with an adult. I would tell him 'i was going up the road to play' and then hotfoot it up Aston Church Road to the game without him or mum knowing. I remember him being worried sick when i asked him if i could go to West Ham (midweek) with my mates in the Littlewoods Cup Q/F when i was 16. He knew how much the villa meant to me so he allowed me to go to my first away day, what a game to start with! I remember getting home and dad was waiting up (he had work in 5 hours) , he had been concerned after hearing that the pen we were crammed into that night had become so packed villa fans had spilled onto the pitch.
Dad didn't bother with football all that much, but it was always our first conversation piece when we were together. 'whats going on down the villa?' he would say. At home he had Radio WM a lot so he would have got used to all the moaning and groaning on the after match phone ins (Radio WM don't like us anyway, this never helped).
I did take dad down the villa once (that saddens me, only once) it was against Leeds in the FA cup when Carbone scored that screamer!. We went for a pint in the Villa Tavern before the game. We sat on the lower holte and cheered for the villa together, dad was singing Carbone's name with me when he scored, i'll never forget that for the rest of my days.
Anyway that was my Dad, a hero in my eyes and a wonderful, gentle but strong man.
I'm off for a cup of tea now dad, the tears are flowing as i write this. I only have happy memories with you.
Lets forget going down the blues!
Love you
Rest in peace dad
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Sorry for your loss, RIP.
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Lovely words, a fitting tribute to your dad.
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Sincere condolences to you and your family. Stay strong and cherish your memories.
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sorry to hear that my friend, I lost my Villa mad supporting Dad 3 years ago and I think of him every day.
the happy memories will keep you smiling when you miss him the most.
UTV
the Doc
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My sincere condolences Wayne.
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Sorry for your loss mate. xx
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Condolences to you
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Very moving post, Wayne.
Condolences to you and your family.
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Very nicely put Wayne.
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A lovely tribute, thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
I found time does help, I lost my dad in 2008, like a lot of us he is the reason I have the Villa in my DNA. I get by just thinking of him as only gone from sight and still chat to him.
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I'm not ashamed to admit I had a little tear in my eye reading that. I'm similar in that my Dad isn't a Villa fan either, so I didn't catch bug from him, but thankfully he's still with us and pointing on a regular basis how crap we are (he's a Baggies fan).
RIP.
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RIP Colin
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So sorry for your loss Wayne, very moving post.
RIP Colin.
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Sorry for your loss Wayne, it's bloody hard as I've found over the last three months since my Dad died. Writing stuff here and reading the comments from other posters is something that helped me, hope it helps you. It is lovely what you've said and the Holte Enders in the sky chant comes to mean all the more.
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I'm so sorry for you Wayne, you know, sometimes I think life is like a wonderful painting, its not until the last stroke, till its finished that you can see how fantastic it was
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Nicely summed up.
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Your memories will get you through, they did me. RIP.
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Sorry for your loss Wayne.
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Sorry for your loss Wayne, your father was obviously a large part of your life and has left a massive Dad sized hole in your life. The price you pay for having someone that special in your life is the pain you feel when they leave. I can assure you the pain will fade and the memories you made together will fill the void. There will be days when you feel the loss more than others and you may wonder if you will ever get over the loss, you will but the only healer in this case is time.
I can identify with you, I lost my Father a few years ago and can see in your post the same feelings I had. I and am here if you need to talk, drop me a PM if you want to talk about it...
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Sorry for your loss Wayne. Sounds like he was your best Dad Mate aswell, if you know what i mean.
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Sorry for your loss WJ. A sad loss.
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Very nicely put Wayne.
Very much so. I stood with my Dad on the Upper Holte a season or two ago and will never, ever forget how much that meant to me. So sorry to hear about your loss.
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What a quality post mate sorry for your sad loss