Proud To Be A Villa Fan.

[LeeB]

Everything.

Amen.

[TopDeck113]

Along with my immediate family, the Villa is the one constant that has run through my life from my earliest school days to now - and will no doubt continue to be with me until the day I die.  The relationship has known great highs and lows, been stretched to breaking point by finance and geography, suffered more than one bout of indifference on my part and been the source of conflict within more than one relationship and, yet, when all is said and done, I know I that when I'm in some geriatric home for the terminally incontinent, the one thing I will want to know at 5 o'clock every Saturday teatime between mid August and mid May is how we've got on. 

[RunRickyRun]

"The door to the lavishly appointed Guest Room at Villa Park was open and out in the corridor the little boys, dodging the commissionaire, were calling for Brian Little and John Gidman. Quite rightly, they took no notice of myself and the elderly bald-headed man, bespectacled, stooping a little, who was quietly finishing his tea. He looked over at them for a moment, a whimsical look, and moved to the long window overlooking the now deserted playing pitch.
"Every time you com here it must bring back memories Pongo" I said. He stared out for a long while. I thought he'd forgotten I was there. "Aye", he said suddenly "aye, they're a great club...the greatest." I stood and looked with him, this old man whose goals had set the Villa crowds roaring so long ago. It was not quite dusk on that March afternoon and I saw them too...they were out again, the old ghosts...Jack Hughes, scorer just about one hundred years earlier of Aston Villa's first goal (perhaps to the very day)...George Ramsay...the Hunter brothers...Willie McGregor...Denny Hodgetts...legion upon legion of them on parade now, filling the field with claret and blue...the century with pride."

(Peter Morris)

[Percy McCarthy]

Well done Ricky, I was thinking of posting that. Never tire of reading it, and it always brings a lump to my throat. The introduction to that quite brilliant book (The First 100 Years) is pretty special too. I was already in love with the Villa when I got that book, but reading it made me fall that little bit deeper, and helped me realise just what a unique and truly great club Aston Villa is, was and always will be.
Did you know Pongo's father-in-law was Frank Barson? What a family!

[Darlo Dave]

Love it
Hope you do not mind have used the bottom paragraph as my signature
Will remove it if you want

No problem at all mate, it's quite flattering. Glad you can empathise with my words, and someone else goes through the same pain (and every now and then joy!).

[levico]

It's all been said really. We love Villa but right now we don't like them. I work in a national corporate environment where football is the common language but right now is painful and embarrassing and I can't see things improving in the short term. We're on a precipice I feel . Best to enjoy every PL match we're involved in, the party will be over soon.

[Witton Warrior]

Not sure if "pride" is the right word.

Get very emotional about the Villa usually in a pleasant warm way like the memory of an old friend you hope to see again one day; not ashamed to say I cried when I watched the "Proud History : Bright Future" freebie we sent out a few years ago.

I want my old friend back.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

And lets not forget that we flipped Hitler the bird when everyone else was kissing his arse. it's that which makes me most proud of our club. Oh... and the classy stadium... Proud history... Consistently high attendances... knowledgable and articulate fans.... William McGregor... Acorns... Paul McGrath... etc etc

I am proud to be a Villa fan.  I always will have a love for the club that will out live any player or manager or owner, the only reason I will ever stop going 'down the Villa' will be financial ones.  However shit the football, however low we slip in the leagues I will always be there.
Sadly I am falling out of love with the game but never the Villa.

These say it better than I can. Thanks.

Also: my uncle; his sons who also played for the Villa; my Grandma who provided digs for new players when they arrived at the club; my parents who let me go to any game I wanted to (including Cardiff away on the day my brother got married - I was 13, it was Saturday, Villa were playing!); all those wonderful feelings when we did wonderful things; I feel blessed I was born in Aston and with such a deeply embedded heritage to influence me. I couldn't be much prouder if I tried.

[kipeye]

In truth-I no longer feel this way. I can say it used to be a glorious thing as a youngster going to see the team-win or lose the emotional roller coaster was the equivalent to a day-ticket at Alton towers.
Even in my twenties-seeing us in the Third Division did not diminish my sense of awe about the place or my enthusiasm for the team.
I think I just got old....

[Colhint]

No matter how you feel, whether you have just had a bad day, or things ain't going so well with work or your missus. If you are working out how to pay the next bill, You have been dragged round the shops on a Saturday because you said you would. Its pissing down or freezing, or you are in a bar in Spain in august. You just cant get to the internet or TV or radio. and its 4:40. You still wonder, don't you.
 Or if you are in that bar in Spain, with your missus, and met some really nice couple from Plymouth or Nottingham and having a great time. Then  the bar tender flicks the channel and puts the scores on, or better still, you look up and see the last 5 minutes of a Villa game. And in that time Lochead, Little, Withe,Yorke or Gabby scores you are going to go "YEEEAAAAH" aren't you.  I know I have for longer than I care to admit
Then you can feel the warmth inside that no plastic supporter will ever feel

[littlevillain]

my passion for football in its modern form has diminished but not for the villa. Both sides of my family going back generations were born and bred in Aston, my parents were married  in the church outside the ground (Bells are ringing) and my grandad boxed for the villa. His picture was on the wall of the original Holte pub. So its not just the villa for me its the ground and the surrounding areas that I love regardless of how they change. I only make it back there once a year but once my kids are old enough to look after themselves i will be coming home to live out my retirement as a season ticket holder once again.

[hawkeye]

Those colours, Claret and Blue, everytime I see them on anything Villa related gives me a warm tingle. Meeting someone for the first time and finding out we are Villa.

[Chipsticks]

Despite what often occurs on the pitch, there's plenty that I'm proud of the Villa for; mostly in our frequent and sincere attempts to aid local charities and to make differences in the community. Also, our proud History of being the fourth most successful club in English Football, and being 1 of 4 clubs to win the European Cup stands as something that to this day continues to keep me both upbeat and preserves my fiery passion for the Villa.

Perhaps stepping away from 'pride' and more towards my love of the Villa in general, I think it all stems from my relationship with my Father. My parents divorced when I was 5, and since then I have seen little of my Father, often being once a week during my late childhood but that seems to be decreasing less and less, as during my late teenage years I'll see him about once or twice a month - often being only when we go down to the Villa. So obviously, I have the Villa to thank for as it gives me a reason to see my Father, but also as due to the limited time I spent with him as I grew up, it became the sole thing we have in common, and I can honestly go out on a limb and say that if you took every conversation we've ever had, about 75% will be to do with the Villa, as the base of our fragile yet somewhat resilient relationship.

The Villa is a huge part of my life, and as I've said, has become a key tie in my family. I know it's a cliche; but players come and go, as do managers, but us - the fans who live perilously through thick and thing, our passion and loyalty is forever. The Villa are not in the best shape right now, and while I am but at what a lot of you would consider the tender age of 17, it warms my heart to say that nothing fills me with more emotion and passion, than standing in the Holte singing on the team that I love.


Fuck 'em, we're Aston Villa.

[TaxDodger]

This is probably a strange one but I always love watching our away fans celebrate when we score infront of them, on the way home from St Andrews when Gabby scored the late 0-1 winner, all I could think was I can't wait to see the celebrations on MOTD, Mellbergs header at the Emirates and Gabbys winner at Upton Park last season were great too, we always seem to be amongst the better celebrators (if thats a word) in the country, makes me proud to see what our goals mean to us.

Spot on. Melee's in the away end are the best part of football. I love watching away ends go up.

[DeKuip]

Pride was the feeling I got as a kid whenever Godber mentioned "The Villa" in Porridge.
Pride was looking up at the A and V floodlights during a night game knowing that every Tom, Dick n Harry driving along the expressway or the M6 would see the famous initials telling the world who we were.
Pride was being 5-1 up at half-time against the mighty Liverpool.
Pride was the feeling when OUR David Platt scored that brilliant last minute winner for England against Belgium in the 1990 World Cup.
Pride was being in Rotterdam and savouring being champions of Europe.
I could go on and on but most of all pride is knowing that both parents, my kids, my brothers, my cousins, my uncles and my nephews are all Villa – and always will be.