12 years ago today:
Second city clubs count cost of night of shame - Football.
By David McVay.
5 March 2003
The Times
LIKE a sleeping passenger on a foundering liner, Aston Villa awoke from their worst nightmare yesterday to discover the water rising dramatically around their necks. They had not been dreaming after all and that sinking feeling was conspicuously apparent on the faces of the crew.
Villa had called a press conference at their Bodymoor Heath training ground to discuss the shameful events during the second-city derby with Birmingham City on Monday night. But even as Dion Dublin was apologising for his momentary aberration, a butt on Robbie Savage, the Birmingham midfield player, the club was bracing itself for an investigation by the FA and possibly the police regarding the behaviour of their players and their fans before, during and after the game.
The FA also said that it would be looking into an incident involving Christophe Dugarry, the Birmingham forward, who was caught on camera spitting at Joey Gudjonsson, the Villa midfield player later sent off. Dugarry faces a three match ban.
The police have already indicated that they will scrutinise video tapes of Dublin's offence that brought about his dismissal in the 51st minute and further criminal charges could be forthcoming.
"You wonder if it is all worthwhile," Graham Taylor, the Villa manager, said. "It can't all be about this, can it? Football is not worth this and people have got to be strong enough to say so."
The deflated resignation that led one of football's most venerable managerial statesmen to question his own participation in the national game was the most poignant and eloquent appraisal of the Barclaycard Premiership contest that saw Birmingham prevail 2-0.
Equally worrying for Taylor is the prospect of his team being dragged into the relegation fight. With a difficult run-in, Taylor is aware that the period of transition that he is trying to supervise may be ambushed.
"We had a superb result against Blackburn but we have been complacent since and lost three matches," Taylor said. "We have Manchester United and Arsenal in our next two home games, with Southampton in between. Birmingham are three points behind us and we are now looking over our shoulders."
Ominously, a trio of expensive misfits that Taylor is hoping to move on, Juan Pablo Angel, Alpay and Bosko Balaban, did not play on Monday night. Acquired for a collective £20 million by John Gregory, his predecessor, their absence epitomises the problems that Taylor has inherited since he took charge just over a year ago.
During their finale, which includes games with Chelsea, Everton, Newcastle United and West Ham United, Villa will also be without Dublin, their leading scorer, for at least three games, possibly four should the FA decide to punish his transgression beyond the statutory penalty.
"I am ashamed of what I have done. I've let the players, the manager and staff down - and, most importantly, I have let myself down," Dublin said. "I called a meeting of my team-mates this morning and said sorry to them. I wanted to say sorry to their faces. I have never done anything like that in my career before.
Where it came from, I just don't know. But I can clear up the fact there was no racial element at all to this incident."
Dublin's contrition will not deter the FA from reaching its own conclusions and, as many expect, meting out a hefty fine. A handful of Villa supporters invaded the pitch after the second goal, with one of them confronting Savage, who was replaced shortly afterwards for his own safety. There were similar scenes when the teams met at St Andrew's in September and Birmingham were fined £25,000 and warned about their future conduct.
"Obviously, we are taking what happened very seriously," Adrian Bevington, an FA spokesman, said. "Our crowd safety adviser will be talking to the police and both clubs to ascertain further details."
A volatile contest also saw Gudjonsson dismissed for a terrible two-footed tackle on Matthew Upson. Outside the ground, the animosity continued between opposing factions, with more than 40 arrests made on the night.
"The two sending-offs clearly raised the tension inside the stadium and had some bearing on what happened afterwards," Chief Inspector Stephen Glover, of West Midlands Police, said. "That in no way excuses the behaviour of those people who were intent on causing damage and causing violence."
