Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Legion on March 31, 2022, 02:28:45 PM
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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-john-deehan-dementia-23553107
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I met John in Tesco’s in Northampton one afternoon, he was just shopping having just finished a shift with the cobblers. I chatted to him for about 20 minutes about his time at the Villa and he was a really lovely guy and spoke really highly of his time at Aston Villa. Such a shame and I wish they could find a cure for this horrible condition. Best wishes John, a top bloke.
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One of the Terrific Trio with Brian Little and Andy Gray.
Probably overshadowed by having that pair as your strike partners, but, skilful in his own right, he certainly held his own, and I bet they were grateful for his graft.
Always felt he was under rated by many.
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One of my heroes growing up. The 76/77 season when Gray scored something ridiculous like 30 goals and Brian Little & John Deehan scored 20+ each. What a season that was! Sad times :(
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I can't put my sadness into words here. JD was part of the team when I first starting following the Villa, the side immediately preceding that which would go on to conquer Europe. Oh boy 😢
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best wishes to John and his family.
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If every Premier League player gave a week's wages to Alzheimer's research, a cure could be found a lot quicker.
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Very sad news.
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John Deehan scored in my first Villa game. Hope he'll be OK.
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2 goals against QPR in the 77 semi final. Great night at VP. Place packed to the rafters
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What an awful condition that is.
My Dad died from it a couple of years ago.
There are too many ex-footballers that have suffered from it.
Great memories of John who was excellent for us in a good Villa team at the time.
He is only a few months older than me too.
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Very sad news. Best of luck to John and his family.
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If every Premier League player gave a week's wages to Alzheimer's research, a cure could be found a lot quicker.
Totally agree Dave.
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That's such a shame. I've met him a couple of times and a decent bloke he is too.
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John Deehan scored in my first Villa game. Hope he'll be OK.
Mine too, 3-1 win against Leeds in 78.
All the best to him and his family.
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John Deehan was a very fine player. His 40 goals in 110 appearances for Villa was an excellent record, especially at such a young age, and in the then first division. It is often overlooked that some of our finest performances in that 1976-77 season were with a front three of Gray, Little and Deehan, and of course the greatest performance of all, the 5-1 win v Liverpool, included two goals from John. I was surprised and disappointed when he was sold, to West Brom of all clubs, where I don't think he did terribly well. However, he did then go on to do very well at Norwich - 62 goals in 162 games.
I wish him and his family all the very best.
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I can't put my sadness into words here. JD was part of the team when I first starting following the Villa, the side immediately preceding that which would go on to conquer Europe. Oh boy 😢
My period of starting to support too. All because aged 10, a Brummie friend in my class in RAF Bruggen, Germany, urged me it was the only team to support. It could have been so different!
He also used to do fake football commentary in an exaggerated brummie accent and got me believing that Brazil had a player called Penis.
I’m still easily led.
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I met him once years ago when he was manager of Wigan, nice chap. He also had the dubious honour of being sacked by an old schoolmate of mine at Kettering Town, the same idiot chairman who gave Paul Gascoigne the manager's job.
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How old was he when he broke into the team? Must have been pretty young as I remember him coming through in the team that always seemed to do well in the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup.
Edit: just checked, still a teenager when he was banging all those goals in for us in 76/77. Amazing.
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Made his debut in 75/76 and scored a few while Brian Little was out injured.
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Strange to think that he was only 21 when he left Villa. I'd always thought he was older, but when you're 10, 21 does seem old...
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Missed this when it was announced. Really sad news as he was a former classmate.