Villa Debuts where you can say "I was there!"

[dave shelley]

Brian Little made his debut on this day in 1971 according to the OS. any H and V posters there?

Me

[andyh]

Dennis Mortimer, 4-1 West Ham. We were terrific, West Ham supine and I freely confess I thought he was no more than tidy and wondered what the fuss was about, as I'd known nothing of him at Coventry.

Boxing day 1975, a balloon fest on the Holte.

Ivor Linton in 1977 v Stoke - the first black player for the Villa (I believe?).

Bloody hell, that boxing day game was my first ever match. I didn't realise it was Mortimers debut.

[montague]

Ivor Linton in 1977 v Stoke - the first black player for the Villa (I believe?).

Stan Horne in the sixties played six games for us but sadly he's largely forgotten.

I was not aware of this. According to Wiki quite an improtant figure for 3 current Prem teams:
 
Stan Horne (born 17 December 1944) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Horne was the first black player in the history of his first three teams - Aston Villa, Manchester City and Fulham.

[montague]

Brian Little made his debut on this day in 1971 according to the OS. any H and V posters there?

"Little joined as an apprentice in 1969. He scored on his full debut in April 1972 as Villa hammered Torquay 5-1 at Villa Park on their way to the Third Division title."

Am I right in thinking this game was televised - very vaguely remember it on Star Soccer??

[Witton Warrior]

I do recall Mr Cowans full home debut in 1977 v Derby (I do believe) and a 4-0 win. He looked like a streak of piss but scored. He kept his place for the rest of the season in perhaps on one the finest front six we have ever paraded.

Cowans, Cropley. Mortimer, Deehan, Little and Gray.

All these played on the last game of the 1976-77 season when we stuffed the Baggies 4-0 at home. A lovely way to start the summer.

Wasn't that the game Andy Gray got his hat trick to win the Golden boot?
How we laughed...

[Flamingo Lane]

I do recall Mr Cowans full home debut in 1977 v Derby (I do believe) and a 4-0 win. He looked like a streak of piss but scored. He kept his place for the rest of the season in perhaps on one the finest front six we have ever paraded.

Cowans, Cropley. Mortimer, Deehan, Little and Gray.

All these played on the last game of the 1976-77 season when we stuffed the Baggies 4-0 at home. A lovely way to start the summer.

Wasn't that the game Andy Gray got his hat trick to win the Golden boot?
How we laughed...

I remember that game v West Brom very well.  We were brilliant, I think the game was played on a Friday night.

[Pat McMahon]

I do recall Mr Cowans full home debut in 1977 v Derby (I do believe) and a 4-0 win. He looked like a streak of piss but scored. He kept his place for the rest of the season in perhaps on one the finest front six we have ever paraded.

Cowans, Cropley. Mortimer, Deehan, Little and Gray.

All these played on the last game of the 1976-77 season when we stuffed the Baggies 4-0 at home. A lovely way to start the summer.

Wasn't that the game Andy Gray got his hat trick to win the Golden boot?
How we laughed...

I remember that game v West Brom very well.  We were brilliant, I think the game was played on a Friday night.

Ian,

In my head it was played on a Monday night. No idea which of us is correct but there was an unbelievable atmosphere and Andy Gray was stupendous that night. A fantastic way to end the season.

Longest ever version I have heard of "I do like to be beside the seaside" with the fuck off West Brom going on for ages.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

David Ginola, August 2000 against Benfica. It was Alpay's debut too.

ASTON VILLA - James; Stone, Alpay, Southgate and Wright; Boateng, Hendrie, Barry and Merson; Ginola and Dublin.

2-2 draw but we played them off the pitch. I really thought we were going on to great things after that game.
 

[garyshawsknee]

Kevin Phillips and Carlton Cole!!!

[Flamingo Lane]

I do recall Mr Cowans full home debut in 1977 v Derby (I do believe) and a 4-0 win. He looked like a streak of piss but scored. He kept his place for the rest of the season in perhaps on one the finest front six we have ever paraded.

Cowans, Cropley. Mortimer, Deehan, Little and Gray.

All these played on the last game of the 1976-77 season when we stuffed the Baggies 4-0 at home. A lovely way to start the summer.

Wasn't that the game Andy Gray got his hat trick to win the Golden boot?
How we laughed...

I remember that game v West Brom very well.  We were brilliant, I think the game was played on a Friday night.

Ian,

In my head it was played on a Monday night. No idea which of us is correct but there was an unbelievable atmosphere and Andy Gray was stupendous that night. A fantastic way to end the season.

Longest ever version I have heard of "I do like to be beside the seaside" with the fuck off West Brom going on for ages.

Pat, you're right, though I was on the right lines.  Due to a fixture pile up that resulted from our cup exploits that season, we ended uo playing 7 league games in May, the last three at home on Monday 16 Stoke (W 1-0), Friday 20 QPR (1-1) and Monday 23 West Brom (W 4-0).

One interesting stat from that season, Brian Little played in all 56 competitive games.

Re Gordon Cowans' debut - having dug out my old programmes I'm pretty sure his full debut for Villa was the FA Cup 4th round tie v West Ham, January 22, 1977 (W 3-0).  His first goal was scored a few weeks later v Derby at home (W 4-0).

Great days.

[Pat McMahon]

Cheers Ian. Nice to know some of the old brain cells are working.....

Do you recall if Sid scored v QPR on that Friday game? I seem to remember being in the Witton Lane stand on a Friday eve ( the eve of the cup final i think, as i recall those programmes were on sale in the kiosk and until maybe 1998 I did not venture back into that stand) ) with Sid scoring v QPR but I would have put that as 1976.

Age shall not wither them, eh?!

[Flamingo Lane]

Sid did indeed score v QPR, Pat, and that was 1977.

[gnrpoison]

Merson's against Wimbledon where he missed the penalty and got it on the rebound
The Fonz against Zilina (I think) in the Uefa
Zat Knight against Chelsea (sat in North Lower next to the divade where the Chelsea fans were still one of my fave ever games)
Beye's against Wigan opening day 09 10
Clark against Fulham 2009
Osbourne's against Fulham as a sub in 2006/07
Almost forgot was at Everton opening day this season for my first game since Baggies 2010 for Lambert's new signing. Took me brother for his birthday as he hadn't been since Brighton in the FA Cup, all excited for the new season and then it hit the 2 min mark.

[Pat McMahon]

Sid did indeed score v QPR, Pat, and that was 1977.

Ian, you are now my official go to person for Villa stats!

Funny, as I really thought the cup final programme on sale at Villa Park that night was for the Southampton v Man U final. Non Villa stuff really isn't my forte.....

[Flamingo Lane]

Sid did indeed score v QPR, Pat, and that was 1977.

Ian, you are now my official go to person for Villa stats!

Funny, as I really thought the cup final programme on sale at Villa Park that night was for the Southampton v Man U final. Non Villa stuff really isn't my forte.....

I dug out the match night programme for the QPR game last night, including Ron Saunders' column confidently predicting a United victory in the cup final.