33 Years ago today

[philthebar]

Strange, that was during the era that I was still playing football, that day I was playing at Lucas’s ground College Road, I knew something had happened as I could hear the crowd from there.  Sad day.

[ktvillan]

Didn`t Stan Jones once do one of our players ? - John Woodward or am I dreaming it?

My old man (who told me to be a Villa fan) used to go on about how the Albion had crocked John Woodward and he'd never been the same since.  Used to love Cropley and I reckon Sid based his playing style a little bit on him.  I grew up in Smethwick so Albion games were always the big one for me and that one was the most intense of all.  I didn't hear the famous crack though from where I was in the Holte.

[E I Adio]

Didn`t Stan Jones once do one of our players ? - John Woodward or am I dreaming it?

I can't remember who it was who crocked Woodward. I remember that he'd been bought as the replacement for Tony Hateley and only played a couple of games before he was injured. He was out for what seemed like ages - about  a year I think and during that time we didn't have a recognised centre forward. I think it was around that time that we were playing Lew Chatterley at CF who was actually a good centre half. His return was eagerly awaited, but when he came back his performances were pretty poor and he was given a free to Walsall the following season having played just a handful of games for us. It was hard to know if the injury ruined his game or not, since he'd played so few games prior to his injury that there was no way a comparison could be made

[dave.woodhall]

They ruined Ray Graydon's career as well.

[john e]

Shouldn't laugh, I know, but just saw Frank Carrodus mentioned in the same breath as Cowans and Cropley.

Carrodus - like Des Bremner - was a very decent servant and ran his legs off for the Villa, but don't EVER compare them to Sid and Alex.

you are probably right,
but Frank Carrodus still remains my all time favourite Villa player

[burtonreferees]

Frankie Carrodus was my all time hero! No superstar, no gimmicks, just full of energy...nicknamed the roadrunner for his non-stop effort...he didn't like the name though !
Hence my quote ...carrodus runs and runs and runs...get the picture

Carrodus???

Another player that you didn't realise how good he was until he wasn't there.   

I seem to remember Cowans playing a fair bit when we won the League Cup the previous season, so hadn't he been playing for the best part of 12 months, all through 1977?

Mind, the memory ain't what it used to be, so I may have that wrong

[Brend'Watkins]

They ruined Ray Graydon's career as well.

They made several attempts that same day until they achieved their goal too.  The most barbaric display against a Villa team as I've ever seen. 

[villa `cross the mersey]

Shouldn't laugh, I know, but just saw Frank Carrodus mentioned in the same breath as Cowans and Cropley.

Carrodus - like Des Bremner - was a very decent servant and ran his legs off for the Villa, but don't EVER compare them to Sid and Alex.

you are probably right,
but Frank Carrodus still remains my all time favourite Villa player

Thats when you could buy a decent player from Citeh !

[barrysleftfoot]

   Alex Cropley..........my favourite Villa player of all time, noyt the best i've see, but always my favourite.


   If i remember correctly, Brown bottled it, and went in slightly late, whether intentional or not who knows, but Cropley was as hard a tackler as i have seen.

   Real shame as he never really got back to his high standards.

[hawkeye]

They ruined Ray Graydon's career as well.

Bloody hell, I had forgotten that, Albrighton is a thinner version of Graydon dont you think?

[hawkeye]

   Alex Cropley..........my favourite Villa player of all time, noyt the best i've see, but always my favourite.


   If i remember correctly, Brown bottled it, and went in slightly late, whether intentional or not who knows, but Cropley was as hard a tackler as i have seen.

   Real shame as he never really got back to his high standards.

It was one of those he could have pulled out,Brown went straight over the top, he knew what he was doing,

[Dave Cooper please]

, Albrighton is a thinner version of Graydon dont you think?

There's a certain Graydonesque flair to his football I must agree, with a touch of Morley in his crossing too I reckon.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

, Albrighton is a thinner version of Graydon dont you think?

There's a certain Graydonesque flair to his football I must agree, with a touch of Morley in his crossing too I reckon.

He reminds me of Merson in his Arsenal days.

[E I Adio]

Albrighton is a thinner version of Graydon dont you think?

Yes, but better I think. He's more skillful, tracks back and does his share of tackling, something that wasn't always thought of as a requirement for a winger in Ray's day.

[brian green]

I too regard the Ally Brown termination of Alex Cropley as a piece of Villa history which we should never ever forget whenever the two teams meet.

However a crumb of comfort may be found in a prequel to this incident which happened about seventy years earlier.   My mother's father never quite made it on to the books of his beloved Villa.   His joined at the hip friend Harry Hampton and his other mate Joe Bache made it big time but my grandfather had to be content with a career with Stourbridge and Bloxwich Strollers.

One of the few fragments of my grandfather's playing career which survived the fire at the Birmingham Works AFA headquarters is a treasured WBA programme which carries a report of a pre season game with Stourbridge.   In very victorian language it describes "foul play of the most dastardly kind" by Jones B (my grandfather) resulting in a broken leg for the West Bromwich captain.

Plus ca change and all that.