Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Legion on March 09, 2020, 12:09:51 PM
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"Dear friends and supporters.
In an attempt to stop speculation and mis information about my health, I have decided to release the following statement. After a series of recent tests, I have been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease. Medication has been prescribed and with some life changes, which I intend to commit to fully, the prognosis is a good one. I will be out and about for many years yet and see this as just another of life's journeys. My match day duties with Aston Villa will remain an important part of my future and I will continue to perform these, in support of my beloved club, for as long as my health allows. With the love and support of family and close friends guaranteed, I am very optimistic and positive about the future.
With Love.
Gordon ( Sid ) Cowans x"
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Awful for him, such a lovely man. Hopefully the medication and changes can delay any serious onset.
One of my favourite ever players.
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Bad news, but he seems to have a positive attitude, which will be vital in his battle.
One of the true legends of our club. Best wished go to him and his family.
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I'm shocked I hope he's going to be OK I don't really know much about the Illness but I hope the medication will delay anything more serious I have had the pleasure of meeting Sid many times and he's a perfect gentleman.
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Awful news, so sad to hear.
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My father has the same illness - I hope that "Sid" is able to continue with his normal daily life for many years to come.
Without doubt my favorite Villa Player - World Class in my opinion.
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Not one of in my case, my absolute favourite footballer. It wasn't enough to be good at football, I wanted to do it with the style of Sid at the same time, he made a sliding tackle look balletic.
God bless him x
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Best wishes to a true legend and gentleman. Thinking of you and your family.
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Thought the news would be even worse when I saw this.
Much love to Sid. One of the legends of the club without a doubt. My uncle had a more severe form of Alzheimers and it's sad to see fully with it people degenerate over time.
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I feel for him and his family. A truly great Villa player. Any Villa team since would have been vastly improved with him in the team he was that good. Hopefully it won't be too deliberating for him.
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Undoubtedly one of the best players it has been my privilege to witness playing for the Villa. The closest I've seen to being the complete all-round footballer. Keep fighting Sid.
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Very sad news, I hope he's able to keep living a happy and normal life for a long time. My uncle has had something similar for a while and the stress and emotional pain it has placed on my Aunt is really tiring for her. I hope Sids family have a lot of support.
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All the very best to you Sid as you fight this cruel illness.
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I don't have many heroes but this man is one of them. Right behind you Sid.
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The word legend is used far too often but in Sid’s case he is. Hope he can carry on with as normal a life as possible for many years to come. A class act on and off the pitch.
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Love you Gordon Cowans. The best player ever to wear the glorious claret and blue shirt. I played with his brother Vince too at one stage. lovely people and I wish them nothing but the very, very best. A genuine, true legend of the Villa family.
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Sad news.
Bloody love Sid.
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My very best wishes to a True Villa Great.
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Love Sid. Am sorry to read this, good to see he's approaching it with a positive attitude though. He's a fighter and with the right medication hopefully will continue to thrive for a good while yet.
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We have had many great players down the villa, sid would be first name on any all-time teamsheet I was picking. All the very best sid to you and your family
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Very sad news. All the best sid.
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Tragic to read about this.
Best wishes to you and your family, Sid. X
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Us of a certain age should be grateful that we saw him play in his pomp - twice.
All the luck in the world Sid as you battle against this.
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Awful news.
Best wishes Sid and family x
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Awful news.
Best wishes Sid and family x
Terrible news but well done Sid for being positive. We are all rooting for you, legend.
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Skill full, clever, brave; Sid had it all.
Good luck as you face this latest battle, we are all behind you.
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Awful news but Sid, you have the whole Villa family rooting for you.
I’m in training to do the Great North Run this year (my first at 58). I have chosen to do it for the Alzheimer’s Society and this news will give me more motivation to raise as much as possible.
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Awful news, I hope he's right and the drugs etc can give him as much quality of life for as long as possible. A horrible disease.
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Early onset Alzheimer's took my dad at the age of 51. It's an absolute bastard of a disease.
Good luck Sid. We're all with you x
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My favourite player of all time.
Picking one memory.......the bullet header against Juve. Absolute class.
All the best Sid.
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Without doubt, one of our finest ever players & a personal favourite over the past 50 years. Makes you realise this illness is indiscriminate & without conscience. Hopefully with medication & medical advances we can stop this horrible illness.
All the best Sid.
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My father has the same illness - I hope that "Sid" is able to continue with his normal daily life for many years to come.
Without doubt my favorite Villa Player - World Class in my opinion.
Ditto. Plus he is my Dad's (and my) all time favourite Villa player.
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As you can see from my log in!!
My all time favourite. Keep up the fight, we're all behind you.
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Sad to see this news, Sid is a Villa legend and always will be. Hope he can continue to live a normal life for as long as possible and all the best to his family as well.
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What a player. Watching the Villa from pre-world war II years through to the 1990s Gordon Cowans was my dad's favourite ever Villa player.
Genuinely one of the proudest moments of my life was at university, in the pub after playing a game of football, when a team mate told me 'you looked like Gordon Cowans today.'
Best wishes Gordon.
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Five or six years back I was at a Halloween party in the Aston Social Club with my wife. We bought a strip of raffle tickets and one of the tickets was number ten and Sid was at the party so I got him to sign it. He along with Tony Morley was also good enough to make an appearance at the funeral wake of my cousin a couple of years back.
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Very sad news indeed. I had the privilege to watch Sid in all his glory years. Hope treatment and a positive attitude gives Sid many good years yet.
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On my first visit to Villa Park in 1980, i fell in love.
One reason was a speedy winger who was running rings around opposition defenders.
Another was this graceful player who ooozed class and could slow down, or dictate a game with his beautiful range of passing.
Best wishes Sid.
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Horrible news. Best of luck Sid.
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Sending Sid and his family lots of love.
A truly great player. Those pinpoint cross field balls were a thing of beauty.
I saw him play a few years back at Alvechurch in a Villa old stars game. He played carrying an inhaler in his hand and they might as well as given him his own ball. No one could get near him.
Stay strong Sid 👊
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Sad news ,I’m sure Sid will cope with it ,like the many who’ve received this type of news recently, one of the few living legends of the Villa.
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Incredible player and lovely man.
Knew his dad Walter well (dog trainer at Hall Green).
Hope it gives him an easier ride than most. Sad sad news.
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Sad news but as some have commented he seems to be taking a positive attitude to this awful illness. Sid is in my top 5 favourite Villa players, absolutely fabulous to watch and worth the entrance money alone to watch just brilliant
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One of the very few that truly deserves the title ‘professional footballer’. I never saw him tackle high, argue with a ref, feign injury, attempt to get an opponent booked or sent off, cheat or give anything less than 100%. An absolute class player who should have earned 100 caps for his country, yes he was that good.
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Sad news and thoughts go out to him and his family. An iconic Villa player and comfortably the best passer of a football I have seen during my time watching the club.
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He will always epitomise Aston Villa for me, he’s even more classy as a person than he was as a player and that’s saying something. A true Villa legend, second to none.
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One of the very few that truly deserves the title ‘professional footballer’. I never saw him tackle high, argue with a ref, feign injury, attempt to get an opponent booked or sent off, cheat or give anything less than 100%.
Ha! Let's just say his goal celebration was slightly understated. If somebody else scored he was climbing all over them. I will always love Sid.
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Such sad news. A great player and a great guy, always was and always will be Villa through and through. Some years ago (early Lerner period) Sid delivered the pre-ordered Villa shirt personally to the house as part of a new kit launch. I spoke to him for a while and he was such a decent and humble human being. My thoughts are with him and his family.
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We owe you so much Sid. Thank you and God bless you.
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This is such sad news. Sid was one of our greats. He always seemed to have time on the ball, his decision making and execution were sublime. A absolute pleasure to watch.
All the best.
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Very sad news without doubt one of the greatest players to wear the Villa shirt. My nephew met him a couple of years ago and said what a great bloke he was. Thoughts to him and his family.
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Both sad and shocking. Sad because he was a member of the greatest Villa team I am ever likely to see and shocking because of his relatively young age to be suffering from such a devastating disease. Best wishes to you Sid.
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A legend and the exception that proves the "never go back" rule.
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One of the best players ever to wear the shirt of Aston Villa Football Club.
He was a joy to watch, tough, skilful, hardworking and dedicated...a true professional.
From the bottom of my heart, all the best Sid.
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One of our greatest, if not one of *the* greatest. All the very best wishes Sid.
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An absolute legend - alongside Morley, Yorke and Grealish as our most aesthetically pleasing player in my time as a fan and possibly a better all rounder than any of those.
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Only just seen this.
Gordon Cowans is my favourite ever Villa player, such class.
Villa through and through, a real Villa legend.
Sid is the same age as me which is a bit of a worry in itself.
Let's hope he can manage this and be around for many more years.
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A true brick and a club legend.
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A legend and the exception that proves the "never go back" rule.
I only saw him play live during his return, he was still a bloody good player then. I would have loved to have seen him in his pomp.
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A legend and the exception that proves the "never go back" rule.
I only saw him play live during his return, he was still a bloody good player then. I would have loved to have seen him in his pomp.
Every bit as good as you've heard, even better.
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One of the very few that truly deserves the title ‘professional footballer’. I never saw him tackle high, argue with a ref, feign injury, attempt to get an opponent booked or sent off, cheat or give anything less than 100%.
Ha! Let's just say his goal celebration was slightly understated. If somebody else scored he was climbing all over them. I will always love Sid.
My favourite memory of Sid, among a wonderful collection of memories, is of him, Shaw and Withe hugging each other and collectively dragging themselves to the ground after the goal in Rotterdam.
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Sid is a man that should have been an England legend: that he wasn't was down to narrow-mindedness ("we can't possibly have two ball-players in the side, and we already have Glenn"). He and Hoddle together would have been awesome; sadly, it only happened a few times.
I think Cowans signalled his greatness to the world when - on a balmy August evening in North London, in 1978 - Spuds paraded their 2 new Argentinian midfielders to an expectant White Hart Lane. Ardiles and Ricky Villa had recently arrived after helping their country win the world cup. Aston Villa was their first home game.
We stuffed 'em 4-1 and Cowans was the architect of their destruction!
He was pure class: as Virgil Caine said above - the definition of 'professional'.
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Bumping this thread because I couldn’t stand it lying on page 2 beneath ones labelled ‘Scott Hogan’ and ‘Danny Drinkwater’.
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The best Villa player i've ever seen, ever met, and ever will.
For a kid to grow up idolising a midfielder rather than the amazing strikers or wingers we had at the same time tells it's own story. Just a wonderful footballer.
Thoughts with Sid and his family. Fight on.
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Nice bump, which reminds me that I saw him in Aldi Lichfield last week.
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Nice bump, which reminds me that I saw him in Aldi Lichfield last week.
I wonder how many modern footballers shop in Aldi.
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Bumping this thread because I couldn’t stand it lying on page 2 beneath ones labelled ‘Scott Hogan’ and ‘Danny Drinkwater’.
Quite right too.
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Sid talking about his diagnosis and more...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8994905/Aston-Villa-legend-Gordon-Cowans-opens-footballs-dementia-scandal.html
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Poor Sid, absolutely gutted to hear about this. My mom has Alzheimer’s and so did my Nan, it’s a fucking horrible thing.
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Five or six years back my wife and I went to a Halloween party at the Aston Social. One of the raffle tickets I bought was number ten. Sid was there and I got him to sign my raffle ticket. My wife asked what I would do if I won. I said I would rather forfeit the prize and keep the ticket. He and Tony Morley also showed their faces at my cousin 'Ginger's funeral wake a few years back. Also another cousin of mine used to go around training new recruits for the bank she worked for and one of her trainees was Sid's daughter. I wish him all the best in the world, he is a top bloke. The only better played than him I ever saw in a Villa shirt was Paul McGrath.
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Keep fighting Sid - in my opinion the best I saw wearing our shirt.
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Look forward to reading his memoir next year.
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A true villa legend. I didn't know Johnny Giles was his uncle.
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A true villa legend. I didn't know Johnny Giles was his uncle.
I think he's John Stiles' (son of Nobby) uncle, not Sid's.
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I have just seen a tweet from Dawn Astle, Jeff Astle's daughter to the effect that Alex Cropley has now also been diagnosed with dementia.
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Does anyone have an update on Sid’s book release? I know it was due for this year, but not sure when?
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Hope he's doing OK health-wise.
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What a truly wonderful player. Best I’ve ever seen in a Villa shirt. God bless Sid.
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Nice bump, which reminds me that I saw him in Aldi Lichfield last week.
I wonder how many modern footballers shop in Aldi.
(https://i.ibb.co/KWyBb0s/8937660-0-image-a-30-1548340287728.jpg) (https://ibb.co/KWyBb0s)
Fabric conditioner/softener is not usually any cheaper in Aldi than elsewhere.
Photographed pre-covid !
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What a truly wonderful player. Best I’ve ever seen in a Villa shirt. God bless Sid.
My favourite for sure.
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Sad news, read just now that he's apparently in a nursing home, his condition having worsened.
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He’s a part of many of our childhood’s and some of our fondest memories watching Villa. Even after he returned to the club he was just outstanding in Sir Graham’s side. Alzheimer’s is such a terrible condition. My very best to him through all this.
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Sad news. Best wishes Sid.
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Terrible news. We’ll be lucky to see a player like Sid again. Thoughts with Sid and his family at this tough time.
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What a truly wonderful player. Best I’ve ever seen in a Villa shirt. God bless Sid.
This. My favourite Villa player, his only real weakness was his goal celebrations and even that I loved.
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That’s really sad news. Thoughts with his family and friends. He’s up there with the very best to wear our shirt.
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I saw something earlier about his condition and thought it was an old report or something so this news is a bit if a shock. Thinking of him and his family.
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I saw something earlier about his condition and thought it was an old report or something so this news is a bit if a shock.
I heard it earlier but didn't want to mention it, due to a previous request by Dave W not to dwell too much on his condition. Sid and Morley spent quite a bit of time in the box my uncle was in after the Forest game, so I was surprised to hear today's news. A dreadful disease, and obviously wish him all the best.
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Brilliant football player. One of my all time favourites in my time watching the Villa. He tackled so fiercely yet he was built like a pipe cleaner.He could pick a pass as well. He was wonderful on the ball. He's up there with Mcgrath in my opinion. Met him a couple of times too. My fondest memory was at the 2008 league final. We were in that Club 2000 by the ground and I was in a massive queue for the bogs. Turned around and there he was quietly waiting behind me. I said "fuck me it's Sid let him through" He tried to say I'm happy to queue up but we were having none of it. Everyone just pushed him to the front of the queue! I wish him all the best and he will have the support of his family and the full might of the Aston Villa family.
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Horrible news. Horrible disease.
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My best mate at school was a Blackburn fan. When Sid helped them get promotion back to the top division my mate thought that Cowans was the best player he'd ever seen. This was was obviously pre Shearer et al.
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I still love you Sid. Even though this current bunch seem a good lot, you are and always will be my very favourite Villa player. Part of my childhood, part of my dreams and memories.
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Terrible news
My all time Villa player, & loves us as much as we love him
All the best Sid.
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Sad sad news, my user name says it all.
fabulous footballer and wonderful human being.
My hero.
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My favourite ever player too, I’m lucky to have met him a couple of times. I just hope he gets all the help he needs to fight this vile condition. God bless him.
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Very sad news about Sid.
Don't know what else to say really.
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Sad news.
A true Villa great.
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I grew up watching him in his second and third spells. Really treasured memories with my dad and grandad.
Walking up into the stadium, smelling the grass, feeling the atmosphere and anticipation and then some of those player including Sid were some of the best I’ve ever seen.
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If you are one of the lucky ones that saw Sid from when he first broke into the first team and followed his career after, just imagine him playing for us today on the pitches they have compared to what Sid and his generation had. Those long-range passes and through balls to team mates would be have us drooling.
all the best Sid, legend.
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My favourite Villa player ever, met Sid a few times at Old Star events and at Hospitality down Villa Park. What's always stood out for me is that his club mates love him as much (probably more , as they know him as a friend as well ) as the Villa supporters. I think they knew Sid was an exceptional talent and really appreciated his skill ,work rate ,pin point passes, goals, assists and as said before his crunching tackles despite his small slim frame.
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I think Stan C says it beautifully:
Sid, you're my hero, yesterday, today, tomorrow and for as long as I have breath in my body. You are the very best of the sport we love, the club you represented and still represent with so much grace, and the family and friends who will be by your side.
From me and mine, thank you for everything you gave a wide eyed 11 year old, thank you for the words as I lived a nightmare wrapped in a dream come true, and how you epitomise why Aston Villa Football Club is the special place that it is.
To Sid's family, sending you much love and wish you the greatest strength at this difficult time.
We're Aston Villa, a glorious name, a magnificent history and a bright future ahead. All made possible by men like Gordon Sidney Cowans.
"All of my heroes are Villans". Keep fighting, Sid.
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Thats a lovely tribute by stan
Very sad news
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Terrible news.
Best wishes to you & your family, Sid. XXX
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I know they had their flaws and periods of under-performance while they played for us but the way Collymore and Agbonlahor to a degree, frequently champion the Villa in public and show their love, Stan especially as in this case; really gladdens the heart.
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Gutted to hear this.
The best player I've ever been fortunate enough to see. Huge huge part of the Villa that I love.
Love you Sid.
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1:58 on this video .....
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As a kid I always remember watching Sid pre-game when the players came out before KO and warmed up , he'd be fizzing passes across the pitch inch perfect always and I found it mesmerising. Had the plaeasure of meeting him a few years ago, absolute gent.
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Along with Paul McGrath, Sid Cowans is the very best player I have ever seen play in the flesh. All the debate about Ollie v Toney over the past few days had me thinking back to the eighties and the gnashing of teeth seeing the likes of Hoddle, Brooking and various other midfielders steal the spotlight from our European Champion(s). I was thinking, it was the same back then as it is now: if you're not playing in the northwest or within the boundaries of the M25, you have to work ten times harder for the media and FA establishment to give you a chance. Gordon Cowans should have had, at the very least, fifty England caps - there was no finer passer, tackler or set piece deliver than Sid in his pomp - and he should have been one of the very first names on the England team sheet.
I read some tweet tonight asking why, for such a lauded player, did Sid have such a low-key testimonial (played against Stoke City, according to the Tweeter) ? I don't know the answer to that question but if it is true, maybe it's time for the Club to put that right and organise a proper testimonial game for an absolute, 110%, Aston Villa Football Club legend?
Thinking of Sid and the all the Cowans family at this time.
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My favourite as-it-were historical Villa player. You watch his stuff, he looks like a player from the future, he's always taking the ball perfectly in stride, generating power from no backlift, seeing things nobody else could like he's playing FIFA...
Basically, our Cruyff. Wishing every and any comfort for him and all who know him.
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If anyone can find footage of Platt’s hat-trick v Spurs in a 3-2 home win, that shows Sid’s talent as well as anything I’ve seen. I watched it the other day and now I can’t find it.