Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Tokyo Sexwhale on February 05, 2014, 10:17:01 AM
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Nice story from the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-26039380
Aston Villa is to visit a primary school in County Londonderry, after the entire school elected to start supporting the football club.
Staff at Ampertaine Primary in Upperlands wanted to use football to help educate the children.
So last week headmaster Garry McIlwaine organised a draw in assembly to pick a team to get behind.
Villa were selected - aptly enough as the school uniform is claret and blue, the Birmingham club's colours.
Villa facts and figures will now be used in literacy, maths and PE lessons.
Children will also study a subject called 'World Around Us' learning about all the Lions (supporters) clubs around the world and also the birthplaces of Villa's first-team stars.
Pupils from the school have written to club chiefs at Villa Park to wish them well for the rest of the season and show them their new-found knowledge of the club.
Villa's American goalkeeper Brad Guzan was so impressed with the support from the kids that he posed for a picture with their letters - a photo which will be used on the school's new 'Villa Noticeboard'.
This will be a super supporter area where children can show their ongoing allegiance to the team.
Year five/six teacher Jacqui Speers said the school will email the club on the eve of each game to wish the team good luck.
'Exciting future plans'
Villa marketing manager Dan Meredith said: "It's great to think that we have a whole school following our fortunes - that's kids and staff too.
"When we found out about their scheme, we were delighted to get involved. Not only do we have more fans now, but we're helping children develop their learning for the coming years.
"That's very fulfilling. We have some exciting future plans for the school. They don't know about them yet - so we're keeping them quiet for the moment."
Teacher Jacqui Speers added: "We felt that football's popularity to boys and girls alike could prove useful in connecting with the kids in their learning projects.
"So we selected a club and we're really pleased with hindsight that it's Villa.
"There's no question that Villa has a rich history and one of the greatest traditions in football, having been one of the founding members of the Football League.
"Having dealt with the staff at the club now, it's also a very friendly and warm club to be involved with. The kids are certainly enjoying the football-based education - and if we're honest, so are the staff."
An Aston Villa coach will take two coaching sessions with the children on Thursday, officials will present gifts to the children and the club's official mascot, Hercules the lion will also meet pupils.
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Great stuff!
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thats a great story....welcome !
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Brilliant - so how can we help the school to adopt H&V? ...
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Wonderful story and it's no surprise to see the club embrace the project. Class, as ever.
The PE lessons using Villa's facts and figures should be interesting.
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It's a shame for the poor little buggers.
So young, with a lives full of promise, wide-eyed wonder and opportunity. Only just embarking on the fantastic rich pageant that is life itself. Now condemned to a lifetime of misery, woe and unfulfilled promise (with only an occasional minor cup win).
Whoever it was that drew Villa out of the hat, should have put that ball back in and had another go.
Wont somebody please think about the children?
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It's a shame for the poor little buggers.
So young, with a lives full of promise, wide-eyed wonder and opportunity. Only just embarking on the fantastic rich pageant that is life itself. Now condemned to a lifetime of misery, woe and unfulfilled promise (with only an occasional minor cup win).
Whoever it was that drew Villa out of the hat, should have put that ball back in and had another go.
Wont somebody please think about the children?
It will be a good lesson in life for them, at the least.
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Glory hunters!!!
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Glory hunters!!!
They definitely, absolutely and categorically shouldn't be described as that.
Or if they are, their education to date has been very sadly lacking.
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Wonderful story and it's no surprise to see the club embrace the project. Class, as ever.
The PE lessons using Villa's facts and figures should be interesting.
And maths.
The Villa Park pitch is 105m long.
The goal keeper stands on the penalty spot.
The Belgian centre forward stands on the edge of the opposition's penalty area, ten yards to the right of the penalty spot.
The goalkeeper kicks the ball high and hopefully in the air towards the centre forward.
Q1. What is the distance across the ground between the goalkeeper when he kicks the ball, and the centre forward.
Q2. The goalkeeper does the above 60 times in the match. What is the total ground distance travelled by the ball?
Q3. How much fun is that to watch?
And Philosophy lessons.
Q1. Karim El Ahmadi. Why?
Etc etc etc
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Wonderful story and it's no surprise to see the club embrace the project. Class, as ever.
The PE lessons using Villa's facts and figures should be interesting.
And maths.
The Villa Park pitch is 105m long.
The goal keeper stands on the penalty spot.
The Belgian centre forward stands on the edge of the opposition's penalty area, ten yards to the right of the penalty spot.
The goalkeeper kicks the ball high and hopefully in the air towards the centre forward.
Q1. What is the distance across the ground between the goalkeeper when he kicks the ball, and the centre forward.
Q2. The goalkeeper does the above 60 times in the match. What is the total ground distance travelled by the ball?
Q3. How much fun is that to watch?
And Philosophy lessons.
Q1. Karim El Ahmadi. Why?
Etc etc etc
That last one is post-graduate level at the very least.
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I get the feeling the head teacher is a Villa fan and rigged the draw. In which case, good on him.
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Great story, plenty of potential on so many fronts.
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You just know that the club will do the right thing by the school. If they'd picked Chelsea or Man city they would be getting charged for use of the name or threatened with copyright infringement.
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I bet it's not that hard to find primary schools in Northern Ireland where all the pupils support either Rangers or Celtic...
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Thats another good feel factor story
If we ever get it right on the pitch, imagine how successful this club could be
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RE
Q1. Who apart from Jesus walked on water?
Q2. Which No. 5 was the father of Jesus?
Great story! Which borstal is linking up with Small Heath?
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Field Study
Year 6 pupils are required for a field Study located in the city of Birmingham with an emphasis on the basics of Geography. Pupils will be in groups of 4 to 6 without supervision and will be set a task of finding their way as a group from Sherlock Street to the city Town Hall.
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French lessons.
1. Quel est le nom de l'équipe de football qui porte le même nom que le célèbre groupe Astonvilla ?
2. Comment? Aston est un quartier de Birmingham ?
3 Où est Birmingham ?
4. Qui parmi les joueurs suivants était un vrai "Villan" : Six, Berson, Ginola ?
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Year 1
Sit on the carpet.
Look at the colours.
Blue, Claret.
Choose 2.
Tell your partner why you have chosen them.
Move to the table and glue the colours you have chosen onto the page in your book.
Move back to the carpet. Tell me the sentence you are going to write. You might choose, 'Claret and blue are the colours of The Villa.'
Etc
We could programme a generation!
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So kids, today's essay is 'If Martin O'Neill spends all the clubs money until he is told there is none left and then walks out three days before a new season. How much of a c*** is he?' Meanwhile, in Maths...'If Villa has 29% possession and only three shots on goal, what is the probability of them winning the match?'
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Wonderful story and it's no surprise to see the club embrace the project. Class, as ever.
The PE lessons using Villa's facts and figures should be interesting.
And this children is the correct technique to shin a ball off the post and into the net.
Ok, defensive drills, using only your head, I want you to cushion the ball into an area where you know you can stroll to collect it with the attackers getting no chance to get it before you.
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If Villa had 30% of the ball, how much did West Ham have?
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Year 1
Sit on the carpet.
Look at the colours.
Blue, Claret.
Choose 2.
Tell your partner why you have chosen them.
Move to the table and glue the colours you have chosen onto the page in your book.
Move back to the carpet. Tell me the sentence you are going to write. You might choose, 'Claret and blue are the colours of The Villa.'
Etc
We could programme a generation!
I'm working on it...
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If Villa had 30% of the ball, how much did West Ham have?
oh already done!
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They got any decent young, hungry and cheap midfielders in the school team?
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They got any decent young, hungry and cheap midfielders in the school team?
The Villa supporting headmaster of former Villa youngster and Northern Irish international, Steven Davis is probably checking them out as we speak. He contacted me once to tell me I share the same name as his son. Who'd have thought there were two Villa fans named after the one hit, American soul singer, Rudy Lambert.
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I bet it's not that hard to find primary schools in Northern Ireland where all the pupils support either Rangers or Celtic...
Well when I was growing up it was all English league clubs, Rangers & Celtic very rarely got a mention, (1963-1980). Infact Gaelic was more popular than Rangers/Celtic and that was in a mixed denomination school.
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Let's be fair to Martin O'Neill.
He walked out five days before the start of the season, not three.
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Let's be fair to Martin O'Neill.
No.
(And I do realise you were being sarcastic.)
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I don't remember us being adopted by Villa but here's my Primary School football team in 1979
http://www.sungreen.co.uk/Lydney-Glos/C-of-E-Football-team-1979.htm
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Now that, is a beard.
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And for your year long project, "why didn't Barry take the penalty?"
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I don't remember us being adopted by Villa but here's my Primary School football team in 1979
http://www.sungreen.co.uk/Lydney-Glos/C-of-E-Football-team-1979.htm
DLT doing a bit of coaching, I see.
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Poor kids. Just as I was starting to think that the next generation of children in Northern Ireland might have a chance of a better life than their predecessors, they get lumbered with supporting us.