First Villa Match

[John Deehan]

I am sure this has been done many times before, but there may be someone out there who hasn't posted this yet !

My first match was away to Arsenal in 1978, when I was 7, and we won 1-0 with an own goal by Malcolm McDonald I believe.

My main memories of it are seeing the pitch as I stepped into the ground, wondering why I couldn't hear Brian Moore commentating, and the fact it was so muddy that Villa came out in a clean shirts for the second half !

I am taking my six year old daughter to her first match tomorrow and like me it's at Arsenal, but unlike me, she wants to see Arsenal ! I made the mistake of letting her choose her own team and she didn't choose the Villa ! Her older brother is a Gooner too.

Am I allowed to post here again after these confessions ?!

[hollybobble]

my 16 month daughter will be a villain so it nearly evens it out. my 1st game was  villa v liverpool i think 1983  i was 8 years old and we lost 4 - 2 but it didnt matter because it was just fantastic to be there. i remember walking up the main steps of the old trinity and such a huge green pitch.
for the game i kept expecting someone from the back of the stand to be throwing darts at me because thats what i heard happened at games it didnt . mind you second game was villa v bluse at st andrews we lost 3 nil enough said

[Deano's Mullet]

Villa 2-2 Millwall 1988-89 opening day of the season.

[Meanwood Villa]

Villa 2-1 Reading 31 Oct 87. Apparently the winner was a screamer. I can't remember it.

[tony scott]

Sorry, Ive been meaning to do this for a long time . Villa v Cardiff City in season 1959/1960 I was nine and stood on the witton end. saw a villa win 2 0Hitchens got both big crowd top of the table clash div2 both sides promoted. I think both goals scored at Holte end difficult to see Foggy day.
Hooked

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

October 1966 we beat Leeds at home 3-0, immediately hooked and didnt miss a home game in about the next 15-20 years.

[Pete3206]

I'm sure I went to a couple of matches in 1976, but I don't remember them too well.

First game I remember was Villa 3 Port Vale 0 in (I think) 1977.

[pauliewalnuts]

My main memories of it are seeing the pitch as I stepped into the ground, wondering why I couldn't hear Brian Moore commentating, and the fact it was so muddy that Villa came out in a clean shirts for the second half !

I started going with my Dad in the mid 70s. We always used to sit in the Witton, and the one thing which sticks in my mind like it was yesterday, the image that really struck me, was getting to the top of the stairs and seeing the incredibly green pitch in front of me.

Those are the things you don't forget.

[Reuben]

Villa 2-1 Reading 31 Oct 87. Apparently the winner was a screamer. I can't remember it.

My first league game was around then, v Blackburn.  Don't remember much about it, think Aspinall scored and it was 1-1.

The second was better, a month later v Crystal Palace.  4-1 with a Walters hat trick, I think that was the result that made people raise their eyebrows (I base this on someone on the bus home who asked us the score) as our home form was poor up to then and Palace had beaten a certain dirty neighbour 6-0 at the Sty not long before!

[Villan For Life]

My main memories of it are seeing the pitch as I stepped into the ground, wondering why I couldn't hear Brian Moore commentating, and the fact it was so muddy that Villa came out in a clean shirts for the second half !

I started going with my Dad in the mid 70s. We always used to sit in the Witton, and the one thing which sticks in my mind like it was yesterday, the image that really struck me, was getting to the top of the stairs and seeing the incredibly green pitch in front of me.

Those are the things you don't forget.

I agree with you Paulie. My first glimpse of the pitch as I went up the steps underneath that white wall on the left side of the Holte always gave me a tingle of excitement. I still enjoy my first view of the pitch even now as a mid-40's curmudgeon!

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

I was 9 years old in 1966 and we started in the Witton Lane stand, the smell beneath the stand is what sticks in my memory. I think it was a mix of Bovril and nicotine.

[big 1st serve]

As previous posters have mentioned,the smell & sights on match day
have a real affect on you as a youngster,
 For me spending time looking at all the lapel badges,silk scarves
& the latest sew on Villa patches, that the bloke was selling out of his suitcase outside the Holte , & end up buying a claret & blue hankie for my crombie top pocket!
My 1st game , April 72, v Torquay , 5-1  , Brian Little hat trick,
 I thought , this is great, it must be like this every week, However..........

[The Man With A Stick]

2-1 win over Leicester in February 1988.  Allan Evans and Mark Lillis scored.  The goals are on YouTube but I can't seem to find them.

[MadJohnnyC]

Villa 2 Ipswich 0. Dwight Yorke diving header at the far post after lovely play by Staunton and Froggatt on the left. Then THAT goal from Deano !!

[Deano's Mullet]

Villa 2 Ipswich 0. Dwight Yorke diving header at the far post after lovely play by Staunton and Froggatt on the left. Then THAT goal from Deano !!

What a first match!