A win at Chelsea and this will be like the Boxing Day fixture when Tommy Docherty was the manager.
In truth, the Cardiff game in 1968 was probably not very good but this was the beginning of the Docherty revolution, and, after months of falling attendances and boardroom upheaval, hopes revived and the crowds returned. Standing on the Holte, I could feel the excitement and tension. Dennis Shaw wrote in the “Evening Mail”: The deafening sound of Aston Villa fans beating out their message of hope with hands and feet made Boxing Day 1968 the historic occasion when pride returned to Villa Park.
