Tony Hateley

[pooligan]

I was really sad to hear of the death of Tony Hateley. Along with Harry Burrows he was the Villa player i wanted to emulate as a kid. He was the best header of a ball i have ever seen play for Villa. I can remember lots of fans calling him a carthorse and maybe he was a bit limited with his feet,but god he made up for it with his heading. There use to be lots of debate  at the time ,as to was the best header of the ball,Hateley or Astle of the Albion Both started at Notts County and both were brilliant in the air.

R.I.P Tony will never forget you

[Steve kirk]

I started going down the Villa the season after he left but heard a lot about him from my Dad, he almost kept us up singlehandedly with a very high goals to games ratio in the 3 years he was at our great club, always sad when a Villa hero passes away
God bless Tony

[Brend'Watkins]

I agree that the media bias against us is obvious -but then we compound this by doing it ourselves!!

Look at the obituary for Tony on the official website. The accompanying picture is of Big Tony -in a Liverpool top!!!

Absolutely unbelievable.

And if anyone is wondering, yes, my piss is boiling!

Indeed. The perpetrator should get a severe grilling. 

It's unbelievable really when you see how long he was with Liverpool and Chelsea more so not to mention the amount of goals he got for them in comparison to his time at County and ourselves.

[E I Adio]

I agree that the media bias against us is obvious -but then we compound this by doing it ourselves!!

Look at the obituary for Tony on the official website. The accompanying picture is of Big Tony -in a Liverpool top!!!

Absolutely unbelievable.

And if anyone is wondering, yes, my piss is boiling!

Indeed. The perpetrator should get a severe grilling. 

It's unbelievable really when you see how long he was with Liverpool and Chelsea more so not to mention the amount of goals he got for them in comparison to his time at County and ourselves.

Especially as he never really fitted in with either of their styles of play.

He was a formidable header of the ball, and the Villa had wingers supplying him, in fact I believe he is the best header of the ball I've ever seen, but he was far more limited with his feet. Also, neither Liverpool nor Chelsea had Phil Woosnam playing alongside him, supplying him with tap-ins.

[pooligan]

God do i feel old, just looked up Tony Hateley's debut for Villa. It was 24th August 1963 against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground We won 1-0 and Tony got the goal.I was there with my dad but only things i can remember about the day,was going on Stockland coaches and standing on the half way line and our big massive goalkeeper who was Nigel Sims.

[Ron Manager]

For some reason he was never truly appreciated by our fans. "If he scored two we'd complain he hadn't got three" was one comment.

This is true. He missed as many as he scored and got quite a lot of stick from the fans. I remember this particularly when we went out of the FA Cup to Aldershot in 1964. Didn't he miss a penalty in this tie? Yet his scoring record speaks for itself (86 in 148). His 4 goals in the remarkable 5-5 draw at WHL have already been mentioned, but I think my own favourite Hateley performance was the 2 goals in a comprehensive 4-0 defeat of Man U in 1963. We certainly missed him after he went to Chelsea, and we were relegated that season.
RIP, Tony.

The game v Man U game was one of my all time memories of 'big Tone'.....a chilly late November day capped by Denis Law getting sent off for kicking Alan Deakin. Law said after the game that he was fed up of being kicked throughout the game by him.........Alan Deakin i ask you!!! He wasn't nicknamed 'Doris' due to his hard man skills!!!

Mate of mine quite recently asked Law about that sending off - he basically kicked Alan Deakin in the head while Deakin was on the floor! Law admitted he'd been invited out that night to a big do in Manchester, and did something really stupid that he knew would get him sent off so he could leave early to get to the gig!
Whether that's the truth or not, it makes for an interesting reason/excuse!

Well I asked Law about this incident about ten years ago. He said 'I just lost it'  Seems more likely doesn't it.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

For some reason he was never truly appreciated by our fans. "If he scored two we'd complain he hadn't got three" was one comment.

This is true. He missed as many as he scored and got quite a lot of stick from the fans. I remember this particularly when we went out of the FA Cup to Aldershot in 1964. Didn't he miss a penalty in this tie? Yet his scoring record speaks for itself (86 in 148). His 4 goals in the remarkable 5-5 draw at WHL have already been mentioned, but I think my own favourite Hateley performance was the 2 goals in a comprehensive 4-0 defeat of Man U in 1963. We certainly missed him after he went to Chelsea, and we were relegated that season.
RIP, Tony.

The game v Man U game was one of my all time memories of 'big Tone'.....a chilly late November day capped by Denis Law getting sent off for kicking Alan Deakin. Law said after the game that he was fed up of being kicked throughout the game by him.........Alan Deakin i ask you!!! He wasn't nicknamed 'Doris' due to his hard man skills!!!

Mate of mine quite recently asked Law about that sending off - he basically kicked Alan Deakin in the head while Deakin was on the floor! Law admitted he'd been invited out that night to a big do in Manchester, and did something really stupid that he knew would get him sent off so he could leave early to get to the gig!
Whether that's the truth or not, it makes for an interesting reason/excuse!

Well I asked Law about this incident about ten years ago. He said 'I just lost it'  Seems more likely doesn't it.

It does Ron.
But never let the truth get in the way of a good story!

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Tony Hateley was my first Villa favourite. Saw him play three times for us then the old codgers board sold him for £100k and spent £30k on John Woodward as a replacement. (Woodward was almost immediately crocked for the season by dirty Smethwick).
I knew I was getting older when I heard a match report in which Tom Hateley his grandson was mentioned.
R.I.P.

[Martyn Smith]

The BBC website is describing him as an ex-Chelsea and Liverpool striker first and foremost. Never mind the fact that he played way more games for Villa and Notts Co than either of those two sides. The latter two are Midlands teams, who cares about them?

Mind the BBC is based in London, with its sports department in Manchester, so their London/NW naval gazing is only to be expected...

[Ron Manager]

Sorry to make yet another contribution to this thread but like you, I should imagine, I am wondering why Aston Villa FC do not appear to have made a statement to the press re Big Tone's passing. Liverpool have done him proud. I cannot find anything at all from our club.

If that is the case someone should be offering an apology to Mark Hateley and the rest of Tony's family.

Surely we haven't sunk that low...have we?

[SheffieldVillain]

Sorry to make yet another contribution to this thread but like you, I should imagine, I am wondering why Aston Villa FC do not appear to have made a statement to the press re Big Tone's passing. Liverpool have done him proud. I cannot find anything at all from our club.

If that is the case someone should be offering an apology to Mark Hateley and the rest of Tony's family.

Surely we haven't sunk that low...have we?

Here you go.
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3649608,00.html

[Ron Manager]

Sorry to make yet another contribution to this thread but like you, I should imagine, I am wondering why Aston Villa FC do not appear to have made a statement to the press re Big Tone's passing. Liverpool have done him proud. I cannot find anything at all from our club.

If that is the case someone should be offering an apology to Mark Hateley and the rest of Tony's family.

Surely we haven't sunk that low...have we?

Here you go.
http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~3649608,00.html

Very good.....except on the club's official web site it shows our top scorer of the 1960s wearing......a Liverpool shirt!!

and that is really pathetic.

[Hillbilly]

The Liverpool angle I get as they were really gearing up then and I think had recently won two championship. But to mention pissant no-mark Chelsea who'd won one championship up to that point really sticks in the craw.

[Holte132]

I've only just got around to watching Saturday's MOTD and at the end of the Villa game Lineker mentioned Tony Hateley's death, referring to him as a former Villa player. He mentioned other teams but only in passing. Sorry if this has already been posted on here.

[flybo]

RIP. Tony Holte Ender in the sky