The men we couldn't do without - David Platt

[Olneythelonely]

He made me cry when I was 11 and he left. I loved him. Have hated him for leaving ever since. Watched the interview though and I’ve softened.

[ez]

One of the trendsetters of wearing cycling shorts under his football shorts.

[DB]

Who did we buy when he was sold? Not too shabby in the end

[LeeB]

Who did we buy when he was sold? Not too shabby in the end

Cyrille Regis, Dalian Atkinson, Kevin Richardson, Steve Staunton, Paul Mortimer, Shaun Teale and Les Sealy, off the top of my head.

[Sexual Ealing]

Who did we buy when he was sold? Not too shabby in the end

Cyrille Regis, Dalian Atkinson, Kevin Richardson, Steve Staunton, Paul Mortimer, Shaun Teale and Les Sealy, off the top of my head.

None of whom could speak a word of Esperanto between them. Great lads.

[RamboandBruno]

I was just shy of 14 when Platt signed and had already had a couple of years of watching a declining shambolic Villa. He was brilliant in the second half of that promotion season. Someone mentioned the goal against Bradford in May 88, there was 36,000 there and other than when we played Liverpool in the 3rd rd of the cup a few months earlier, it was the biggest crowd Od experienced at Villa at that time, electric.

He was in my view, a world class talent and before this current period with Tielemans, Ascencio etc, i would say along with Sid and God, the only world class players Ive seen at Villa Park.

Was gutted when he left and always nice to hear former players praise us, so shame about that, but doesn’t impact on my teenage memories of a really great player.

[LeonW]

I don’t think he could be begrudged going to Seria A. It was where the elite players played back then. It was truly an elite league and it’s understandable that players would want to test themselves against the best of the best. It’s not as though he was Villa through a through. He did well for us, we were great for him and he did reasonably well in Italy.

I never really liked the fact that he seemed to airbrush the Villa out of his history until this interview.

And he’ll never be forgiven for that Shoot magazine April fool’s stunt. 

[Chip Butty 111]

Always comes across as a bit of a strange guy, don't know why, and I wouldn't say I dislike him. A couple of years older than me and I was lucky enough to see him in his pomp, and I've got to say he was a deadly finisher, better than most of our strikers since, especially in the air.

[Matt C]

As a young kid just really starting to appreciate and understand the game growing up watching McGrath, Cowans and Platt was a joy. I thought Platt was the best player in the world. Of course, I grew up a bit and realized it was McGrath but still, he was pretty good.