My Girls

[ktvillan]

I truly hope that the children of anyone who comes out with such complete bollocks as "If my kids dare to support anyone other than Villa then they are out of the door!" become utter little shits and decide to support West Brom or Small Heath just to annoy you.
 Obviously most people who say this sort of bullshit don't actually mean it, and anyone that does has lost all sense of perspective and should never be allowed to have kids in the first place.

If I still lived in the Midlands and my kids decided to support another of the local teams I'd be disappointed but, as long as they weren't doing it just to spite me,  would try and accept it on the basis they did it for the right reasons.  Yes even the Blues though God help them if they did.   I really admire Greenwich Villan's daughter for choosing her local team in Charlton.  That's a proper football fan whoever you support, and he should be proud of her.  There's a big difference between that and your sprog deciding to be a glory-hunter.

[Chris Smith]

All this let them support who they want stuff means that you miss out on the shared experience of following the same team. As my kids have got older and started living their own lives the Villa is the one thing that we always still do together, along with my brother and his kids.

It's inevitable as kids get older they do less with their parents and more with their mates, girlfriends etc. It's therefore, in my view, important to have things that you can do together. Of course, it doesn't have to be football but in our case it's just the way things have developed.

[Rip Van We Go Again]

All this let them support who they want stuff means that you miss out on the shared experience of following the same team. As my kids have got older and started living their own lives the Villa is the one thing that we always still do together, along with my brother and his kids.

Amen.
Despite the utter shittery of this season, i've enjoyed taking my Son down there and watching him get into it and cheer them on.

The one bright spot of a dismal campaign.

[MonsXI]

All this let them support who they want stuff means that you miss out on the shared experience of following the same team. As my kids have got older and started living their own lives the Villa is the one thing that we always still do together, along with my brother and his kids.

Amen.
Despite the utter shittery of this season, i've enjoyed taking my Son down there and watching him get into it and cheer them on.

The one bright spot of a dismal campaign.

Yep there's nothing better than celebrating a goal with son or singing away and turning and seeing your lad singing his heart out too.

 This season I've looked at him a few times and felt guilty, apparently I kept saying sorry to him on Tuesday night on the way home

[Rip Van We Go Again]

All this let them support who they want stuff means that you miss out on the shared experience of following the same team. As my kids have got older and started living their own lives the Villa is the one thing that we always still do together, along with my brother and his kids.

Amen.
Despite the utter shittery of this season, i've enjoyed taking my Son down there and watching him get into it and cheer them on.

The one bright spot of a dismal campaign.

Yep there's nothing better than celebrating a goal with son or singing away and turning and seeing your lad singing his heart out too.

 This season I've looked at him a few times and felt guilty, apparently I kept saying sorry to him on Tuesday night on the way home

Thing is MON, it's not so bad when they're really young, they enjoy the occasion more than anything.

[MonsXI]

All this let them support who they want stuff means that you miss out on the shared experience of following the same team. As my kids have got older and started living their own lives the Villa is the one thing that we always still do together, along with my brother and his kids.

Amen.
Despite the utter shittery of this season, i've enjoyed taking my Son down there and watching him get into it and cheer them on.

The one bright spot of a dismal campaign.

Yep there's nothing better than celebrating a goal with son or singing away and turning and seeing your lad singing his heart out too.

 This season I've looked at him a few times and felt guilty, apparently I kept saying sorry to him on Tuesday night on the way home

Thing is MON, it's not so bad when they're really young, they enjoy the occasion more than anything.

Yeah although I do remember taking my nephew to a game when he was 4 maybe 5 he enjoyed a burger and loved watching the mascot (this is before the 3 of them appeared) so much so he cried for 45 minutes till it reappeared for half time.

My boy is 13 now and very good player as well so its more to do with the football now but your right it's lovely when they are younger and just enjoying the drama of it all.

[Darlo Dave]

If I ever have kids, I'll never pressure them into following Villa, but I'll certainly make it hard for them to support anyone else. Living in the North East, I couldn't argue if they wanted to support a local team, assuming I still live here, if / when I have kids (that said I'd have great difficulty stomaching it, if they decided to follow Newcastle). I would however take them to Villa Park at the first opportunity, and make sure they understand that being a Villa fan is part of our family history. They'd learn that when they get together with my side of the family, the first topic of conversation will be, how the Villa are getting on. They'll learn that all their uncles and cousins go to the games all the time, and that if they wanted they could too.

I would also do anything possible to avoid them becoming 'Glory Hunters'. I'd really struggle buying them red shirts / merchandise, no matter how much they begged or cried for it too! It does sound childish to say that, and to be honest I hope I never get put in that situation, but it would be a real dilemma.   

[Chico Hamilton III]

One of the first things I did for my 2 was to get a paver with their names on it outside The Trinity, very close to where the McGregor statue is now.

Every time we go to Villa Park we spend half an hour trying to find their stone. They love the thought of their names being at Villa Park

[Chris Jameson]

One of the first things I did for my 2 was to get a paver with their names on it outside The Trinity, very close to where the McGregor statue is now.

Every time we go to Villa Park we spend half an hour trying to find their stone. They love the thought of their names being at Villa Park

I did that when my daughter was born and gave her the middle name Aston.

She asked ifa few years ago whether the paver can be removed and if her brother would like her middle name instead.

[Chris Stares]

I live in Sussex and have two boys 7 and 4. We are in the catchment area for Brighton (new Ground, cheap tickets, nearby, family friendly) and the glory fans go up to Chelsea (European Champions, top players, pernennial top 4). I have taken my 7 year old to (last season):
Fulham away (they score injury time equaliser)
QPR away (they score injury time equaliser with 10 men)
Arsenal away (we go 2-0 up and lose 3-2
and both boys to (this season):
Fulham away (abject late defeat)
Chelsea away (say no more but we stayed to the end)

Just one question, how the hell do i convince them to be Villa fans?

All three of my kids were born in Eastbourne and we lived in Sussex for several years before heading to Aus and NZ for 13 years.  We've now come back to the UK and are moving to Worcester so we've already got back into the swing of things and been to a number of games this season.  I even got myself a half-season ticket and, whilst the fare on offer is crushingly depressing at present, I still get a buzz every time I go to watch the Villa as do the kids.  That feeling has usually well-and-truly dissipated by the end of the game, but we pick ourselves up and go again!   

Despite our distance from B6 during my kids' formative years and our "patchiness" over the last 20-odd years (although admittedly we were a lot better when my kids were growing up than we are now!) there was never any question they would be Villa through-and-through.  They're now 22, 20 and 18 and if you cut them in half, they bleed claret-and-blue!

[damon loves JT]

I'm trying to shield my kids from the worst of it. The worst of it being the way I behave after we've had a bad result.

My littlest wore his Villa kit to bed last night. It made me feel happy and sad at the same time.

[N'ZMAV]

I blame my Dad for getting my involved with Villa, if he hadn't surely I wouldn't be as miserable and as pissed off as I am now. FFS. Thanks, Dad. Thanks for nothing.

[fbriai]

I'm trying to shield my kids from the worst of it. The worst of it being the way I behave after we've had a bad result.

My littlest wore his Villa kit to bed last night. It made me feel happy and sad at the same time.

I can empathise with that. My lad wearing his Villa hat to playschool elicits the same response.

[andrew08]

I've got to the point now where I'm beginning to think my 10 year old son goes to the match to indulge ME these days. He's either very thick skinned about it or he has just accepted that supporting Villa just inevitably means being disappointed in the end. I asked him yesterday morning if he was OK and he just said 'yeah why not' in an almost resigned kind of way.

I've subjected him to a life of misery!

We do have another common bond now though....the worst result in both our lifetimes.

[DaveK]

I bought my son his first season ticket when he was six years old and we haven't missed many games in the 12 years since - it's the one thing we've always done together. He's far more passionate about the club than I ever was, and if I'm honest, he's the only reason I've bothered renewing in recent years.

It's been a wonderful way to watch him grow up though. Watching him laugh when we won, and analyse and search for the reasons when we lost. I'd hate to calculate the number of hours we've passed discussing what went wrong on the way back from the game - me trying to keep his head up after yet another abject performance and so on....

But, I had a tear in my eye the other night at the final whistle when I turned to see him booing our players off the pitch. I thought son, you're a man now and you can bloody well suffer like the rest of us.