Damon's article in the Graun

[tomd2103]

I don't have any offspring but if I did, they would have no choice but to support Villa. I wonder if it would be the same if I supported a Plymouth or Hartlepool though. At least with Villa there's still the hope, if not expectation, that at some point the good times will come back. I don't know if I would do the same if I supported someone where that wasn't the case.

I'm a bit torn on that one, for if I lived in another part of the country and had kids who grew up there, I'm not sure if I would encourage them to support their local team no matter what league they were in. 

[peter w]

I didn't; couldn't. Villa are far too important to me to countenance my children not being Villa fans. It hadn't even crossed my minds. Now, regular readers may remember my concerns regarding my eldest one's alliegances given that for most of his life he's lived overseas, and when in the U.K. we're in Crystal Palace territory but with friends supporting the usual suspects. But, he's fully committed to my enormous relief. As is my youngest who has little real interest but loves Aston Villa and hates The Shit (obviously he doesn't know them by that name. Yet.

[Deano's Mullet]

My son is only 17 months old and may not get into football at all but just in case I've already set the ball in motion by buying him a baby kit back in October and getting him in the match programme vs Norwich. I would despair if he chose to support one of the usual suspects, I mean if he wants to actually physically go to a football match then he'd have to be  coming to Villa with me. No way would he probably be able to get tickets for any of those tosser clubs and I sure wouldn't be going with him. My mother in law who is a casual Brighton fan and knows absolutely nothing whatsoever about football  reckons I shouldn't be trying to force a club on him and I defend my self with the reasons I've given above. Doesn't stop her hinting he should be a Brighton fan every so often though. Funny huh?  Luckily i have converted his mom so thats both parents trying to steer him in the right direction. I tell ya.........

[Neil Hawkes]

A grand read, thanks for posting. When my son was 10 he declared he wanted to follow Liverpool, as all his friends did; no problem said I, but I'll go and pack your bags as you are leaving home. He's 20 now, follows the Villa and has as much to cheer about as the rest of us.

[Mister E]

I don't have any offspring but if I did, they would have no choice but to support Villa. I wonder if it would be the same if I supported a Plymouth or Hartlepool though. At least with Villa there's still the hope, if not expectation, that at some point the good times will come back. I don't know if I would do the same if I supported someone where that wasn't the case.

I'm a bit torn on that one, for if I lived in another part of the country and had kids who grew up there, I'm not sure if I would encourage them to support their local team no matter what league they were in. 

My son was born, brought up and still lives in North Yorks. He's a Villa fan, through and through, despite pressure from Leeds and ManUre fans.

[robbo1874]

Me and my daughter live in Brisbane in Australia. She is 6 now. Ive never forced her to support Villa, but she does. Just taught her songs from the age of 2 and shown her stuff on YouTube.

When I would take her swimming lessons on Saturday morning, the bloke who runs the coffee van outside the swimming pool is a Cov fan and a good lad- she would run up to him and shout (very loudly) hello Steve - up the Villa! and blow him a raspberry!

She also gives my old man shit for supporting MU.

No idea if she will continue to support them when she gets older. I'll never try to force it, just reinforce it. It's a bond we've got and I hope it continues. Her head is getting turned a bit by the AFL a bit- she likes Brisbane Lions, but they've been shite for a while now, so I reckon Villa have got at least an evens chance of retaining her support.

[cdward]

Living in Ireland, means being surrounded by glory hunters, often defined by what age groups they are. 50s Leeds United, 40's-30's Liverpool, 30's Man U, 20's mix of Man U and Arsenal, under 20's Man City, Chelsea, which is understandable.

My 2 kids 16 and 13 are Villa, brought them both to their first games when they were around 5, and try and get to at least 2 or 3 games a season, they have always had the kits.
Whenever they got any stick at school about being Villa, i taught them to ask their friends how many games they had been to, knowing that our trips to VP were always more. A lot of the  glory hunters have been to only one or two games in their lives, including some of the older ones.
This year i took them to their first away game Fulham, they loved it. This season i plan on bringing them to their first Villa Blues derby.
They love wearing their Villa tops to be different, they get excited to see another Villa top in Ireland, they even taught themselves the words to Shit on the City "as Gaeilge".
I would love to take them to Wembley one day to see us win a trophy.
You owe it to your kids, don't let them grow up as glory hunters, we did not choose we were chosen. They will thank you for it later.

[Hopadop]

It feels funny reading it as on my Dads side of the family there is absolutely no history of football supporting at all, so I'm the first in my family. I have passed it onto my son though and despite living miles away he still watches out for the scores even if he doesn't come that often these days. Hopefully one day he'll have kids of his own and do the same.

On my Mums side my Grandad was a massive Hearts fan so I follow them as my Scottish team but haven't been to see them play. They are very much the Scottish Villa as well, double the agony!!

I'm in a similar boat - Dad was from the Rhondda and had no interest in football. He liked rugby but we failed to bond over that or much else, except a shared mistrust and loathing of my sister's boyfriends.

Mom was born and bred Erdington but neither she nor my granddad ever spoke much about the football. I know it was cheap to go but I don't think they'd ever spend any money going out there or anywhere else. He'd spend all of his free time on his allotment. I've got wonderful memories and stories from him, but nothing about the Villa. Closest to it is seeing players on the 107 occasionally and living next door but one to Vic Potts (wartime player and lovely man) on the College Road.

So I don't have much of a tradition to pass on, but I'm still trying to do it.

And yes, it's a great article.

[ktvillan]

Great piece of writing and it resounded with me as a third generation Brummie and Villa fan who started going with my Dad and Grandparents in the mid 60s.  I've regretfully made only token efforts to interest my son or daughter in Villa, not because of the frustrations of being a Villa fan but more because of the way football has gone.  As anyone can see, it's now all about, and just about, the money.  When I started supporting Villa we were a rubbish division 1 team who quickly sank to the the third.   Nevertheless, no matter how bleak things got, there was always a way back.  There was always hope,  that if we just got our shit together we could take our place as one of the top clubs.  And of course we did.   And that same path was open to many clubs not just the bigger city ones - e.g. Derby, Ipswich, Forest.  The problem now is, Leicester's freak seasons aside, the top 6 or 7 is more a less a closed shop, as are the last 8 or so in the so-called Champions League.   Despite being from the second biggest city in the UK and having a fairly large fan base we still struggled to compete and I can't see much hope for that ever changing unless we get taken over by a sugar daddy of Abramovich / Sheikh Mansour wealth.   Even then the rich elite have closed the trapdoor with FFP rules, and so will no doubt remain the rich elite unless something drastic happens.  So I do wonder what the point is of getting my kids too attached to a a team that has, in all likelihood, had the hope that sustained me through my early supporting years, effectively removed. 

[Brend'Watkins]

Yes a very good article that.  I'm kind of envious in that I didn't have generations of my family force feeding me the club from an early age, I had to find it for myself or, it found me.

There was the day when he showed me the house where he was born, empty and due for demolition. I remember thinking, even as an eight-year-old, that it seemed a very small place for a family of six to live. And I remember wondering what exactly he was searching for with his eyes as he stood quietly in the street for ages, looking up at that blue-slated roof

That bit made me smile. Searching his mind no doubt for the numerous memories about his time there the one that stands out is that the rattling slate was never fixed and never would be.

[Nelly]

Just something that made very proud from this article (great read, by the way, thank you!).


Someone posted this: "Blimey, I can remember being jealous of successful clubs like Villa, and I'm a Chelsea fan of some vintage."

To which a few others posted these:

"Following villa isn't one of football's greatest challenges. You get to visit a ground every couple of weeks which is still one of the greatest sights in british football. I accept that what passes for football once inside is currently an issue. Lovethe ground despite nearly being filled in by villa fans outside the witton lane end once !"

"I know I'm biased, but it is, right? Villa Park just oozes class and football history - right through to the very early beginnings of the game."

"Villa park is a fucking beautiful stadium!"

[Chris Jameson]

It's a great read but liked it when it was first on an Indie label (WSC).

My daughter has the middle name of Aston, came home from the hospital in a Villa baby grow and has a paver in her name with her birthdate on at Villa Park. Of course she's a Hull City supporter. Didn't take my eye off the ball where my son is concerned.

[garyshawsknee]

It's an interesting piece. I was a glory hunter as I fell in love with Villa and Gary Shaw at a young age through Shoot magazines. Then 5 years later I was being teased at school by my Luton supporting friends when we got relegated and regularly beaten by them. Though I guess in the long run I dodged a bullet by not supporting my local team.

[villa `cross the mersey]

VCTM jnr was born on Merseyside sixteen years ago - he is now very much his own person and I wouldn't dream of leaning on him as he now towers above me at 6`2".
His mates from Formby, Crosby and North Liverpool are mostly Everton or Liverpool but respect him for daring to be different and proud to be a Villan. The semi final against Liverpool raised his credibility a fair bit - that was the proudest I have seen him before, during and after the game. The roar that surged from the Villa fans towards the end of the game still makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
The game against the Baggies comes a close for atmosphere and for getting on the pitch to "celebrate" in front of the Baggies fans.
I started taking him down to B6 when he was about 3 or 4 years of age - which is what my dad used to do - jnr must now be 5th generation Villa as my great granddad used to go the games.
Very few things put a smile on my face these days but seeing Jnr punch the air when we score, seeing him looking at Villa stuff on the net , and wearing his Villa training top makes me extremely proud.
One of the greatest and proudest moments was when the final whistle went at Wembley after beating Liverpool - we had the biggest dad and lad / man hug possible whilst jumping up and down shouting "Get the ****in there !!" 
Happy memories between son, dad and Villa .....is there anything better ??

[CT]

Yes a very good article that.  I'm kind of envious in that I didn't have generations of my family force feeding me the club from an early age, I had to find it for myself or, it found me.

Same here. I'm just grateful that by chance, it did find me and through my boy it's going into a second generation. I just hope it continues.

I've told him I want my name on one of those bricks outside VP when I snuff it too!