Dwight Yorke

[gervilla]

I was gutted when he left and hated him for it but he left to win trophies and he did just that.
Time is a healer and I cant blame him for leaving because what would he have won with us....fcuk all.
Could have done without him playing for the Blues though, that didn't help.
If all be told he was one of  best  players for us in my 30 ish years of following The Villa.

[OzVilla]

I thought Yorkie was one of the best players in the world at his peak I really did.

Newcastle away (we lost 4-3) was the most complete performance i've seen from a Villa player.

Don't blame him for leaving at all.  Wish he hadn't joined Blose (although sucking them dry of 25k a week and pissing off Sullivan in the process helped ease the pain) and some of the things he alledgedly said were out of order but so was the disgraceful barracking he recieved when he returned.

Great player, great memories.

[madirishvillain]

went to win trophies and did that at Man Utd

ended up playing for birmingham

dont hate him or love him, never give him a second thought, he played for us, then he left, then he ended up at our neighbours

everytime i see him on sky - i think, oh aye he used to play for us

same as watching the premier league years on sky - i see andy townsend and think oh aye he used to play for us, or i see mark draper and think oh aye he used to play for us


then i see Paul McGrath

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

If you want to pinpoint one moment when the gap between us and the others really widened it was the day Dwight Yorke left.
Maybe if he had stayed we could have pushed on forward, maybe qualified and got in the Champions league and won an FA Cup ? I would say that would have been quite possible but the fact is he finished up winning three league championship medals, a champions league and an FA Cup. He certainly wouldnt have done all that with us before his career finished so I cant really blame him. 

[Zhong Yi]

his goal agains Forest at home in the 1991/92 season was good! and if you watch the Villa video, the entire ground paused at the pint where he turned prior to lobbing the keeper!

one of my all time favourite Villa goals!

[Deano's Mullet]

10 great Yorke goals i remember
1 Overhead kick vs QPR in a 4-2 win. Also scored an overhead vs Derby.
2 Dribble and finish vs Wigan in the 5-0 Lamptey game.
3 Dribble and finish vs Spurs 1996
4 Header after 13 seconds vs Coventry 1995
5 Header vs Sheff Weds 1993
6 Two headers vs Liverpool to keep us up 1995
7 Two neat finishes vs Liverpool, last day of Holte 1994
8 Backheel goal vs Wimbledon in a 5-0 1996
9 Chipped penalty vs Sheff United 1996 (and again vs Arsenal 1994)
10 Fantastic volleyed goal vs Southampton 1998.

Ok points 6 and 7 actually featured two goals but what the hell.

[exiled on the wirral!]

Yorke was absolute class and is one of my fav all time players, and could understand why he left us in the end. I find it funny where players like Yorke and Platt seem to have little affection amongst some villa fans, who contributed so much to the villa whilst others like Mclnally, Merson, Dublin are seen as godlike. Thats not a critisism of them by the way, just an observation that 2 of my favourite villa players are not liked by too many villa fans.

[ez]

I like Yorkie. He gave us great service, 9 years i think, then left to win trophies while he was still good enough and we made a big profit on him.

[Holte L2]

Again, I don't understand why Yorke isn't held with great affection.  People can pinpoint the fact he played with Blues, but Saunders managed them and Withe went there. 

[Exeter 77]

Peter Withe had already there when we signed him but Dennis Mortimer, Tony Morley (admittedly on loan) and Des Bremner all played for Blues after they left Villa and I definitely don't think any less of them for doing so. Dwight annoyed people because he said he thought they were the biggest club in the city  - butthem he had just signed for a club whose ffans were not going to warm to him because of his Villa career.

[Holte L2]

We all knew that was rubbish. And Yorke had that horrific reception when he returned with Blackburn

[Damo70]

I had a night out with him years back. He was living next door to my cousin in Coleshill and she brought him over to our local because she knew me and my mates were big villa fans. The only thing I really remember is it was a couple of weeks before the first game of the 91-92 season when BFR was going back to Sheffield Wednesday, but when we asked him about it he didn't have a clue who we were playing in the first game! Oh, and I went to his 21st birthday party the following year  (he had it at Villa park)  because that same cousin had a row with her boyfriend the day before and took me instead.

[eamonn]

How does he explain the badge-kissing episode?

Being riled mercilessly by fans who used to worship you. He lashed out, understandably, if not very nice. Only human.

Dwight and McGrath were the two players who always made me proud to be a Villan whenever we went through bad times in the 90's. World-class, the pair of them.

[curiousorange]

My mum always says 'He left Villa and then never did anything after that'. It's with heavy heart I have to explain the European Cups, etc.

Still like Dwight. Fucks me off that he left but that's what most heroes end up doing anyway. It would have been nice if he'd never had to play against Villa but life's rarely perfect.

[Holte L2]

I'd like to get him on the pitch pre-match to give him the ovation he should have had.