Gordon Cowans

[itmustbe_it is!]

1:58 on this video .....

[VillaTim]

As a kid I always remember watching Sid pre-game when the players came out before KO and warmed up , he'd be fizzing passes across the pitch inch perfect always and I found it mesmerising. Had the plaeasure of meeting him a few years ago, absolute gent.

[Billy Walker]

Along with Paul McGrath, Sid Cowans is the very best player I have ever seen play in the flesh.  All the debate about Ollie v Toney over the past few days had me thinking back to the eighties and the gnashing of teeth seeing the likes of Hoddle, Brooking and various other midfielders steal the spotlight from our European Champion(s). I was thinking, it was the same back then as it is now: if you're not playing in the northwest or within the boundaries of the M25, you have to work ten times harder for the media and FA establishment to give you a chance.  Gordon Cowans should have had, at the very least, fifty England caps - there was no finer passer, tackler or set piece deliver than Sid in his pomp - and he should have been one of the very first names on the England team sheet.

I read some tweet tonight asking why, for such a lauded player, did Sid have such a low-key testimonial (played against Stoke City, according to the Tweeter) ?  I don't know the answer to that question but if it is true, maybe it's time for the Club to put that right and organise a proper testimonial game for an absolute, 110%, Aston Villa Football Club legend?

Thinking of Sid and the all the Cowans family at this time.

[Monty]

My favourite as-it-were historical Villa player. You watch his stuff, he looks like a player from the future, he's always taking the ball perfectly in stride, generating power from no backlift, seeing things nobody else could like he's playing FIFA...

Basically, our Cruyff. Wishing every and any comfort for him and all who know him.

[Percy McCarthy]

If anyone can find footage of Platt’s hat-trick v Spurs in a 3-2 home win, that shows Sid’s talent as well as anything I’ve seen. I watched it the other day and now I can’t find it.

[tomd2103]

If anyone can find footage of Platt’s hat-trick v Spurs in a 3-2 home win, that shows Sid’s talent as well as anything I’ve seen. I watched it the other day and now I can’t find it.

One of the biggest compliments I can give Douglas Luiz is that some of the turns he has done on the ball and some of the intricate 'clips' into the box this season have been reminiscent of Sid. 

Very sad news to hear about the deterioration in his health.

[The Left Side]

I like many wanted to be him in the playground, nobody could pass a ball like Sid.

[Percy McCarthy]

Funny:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lYFBGR9erBg&pp=ygUUR2F0ZWNyYXNoIHNpZCBjb3dhbnM%3D

[JD]

Fantastic player and a fantastic person. Very sad to hear this news.

[CT Villan]

Very sad to hear this. Legend is thrown about far too freely today and there are few that are truly deserving of such an honour. Sid is one of the few that completely and utterly deserve the distinction. Growing up, I was always Sid when kicking the ball around the King Edward's fields behind my house and it was thrilling to watch him in person - most especially that night at VP when we crushed the dirty Barcelona hacks to win the Super Cup.

[Villan For Life]

Sid. One of the 14

Only legends are known by their nickname and I can’t think of many others.

Keep battling Sid, all of the Villa family are with you.

[Clive W]

Didn’t Platt once say:-

“My ambition is to make a run that Sid doesn’t spot”

Wonderful player

[algy]

Sad news, thoughts are with Sid & his family.

Didn't see him in his first spell, but did see him in his 2nd & 3rd. Absolutely loved him as a player, but it's only really watching videos now that I realise just what a brilliant player he was.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

A Villa legend on and off the pitch.
Loved our chat in The Adventurers some years ago!
Keep battling Sid! UTV!

[Gareth]

So sad, great great player…as I’ve always said he’s the player Hoddle could have been if he could have tackled.  Should have had 50+ caps if the England team hadn’t been picked by the lazy hacks of Fleet St