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Author Topic: What makes a "club legend"?  (Read 5210 times)

Offline Lucky Eddie

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #30 on: August 19, 2021, 07:13:10 AM »
What constitutes acquiring legend status is nuanced but what definitely precludes anyone from legendary status is someone who abandons, demeans or just plain shits on us. I'm thinking Platt. I'm thinking Yorke.  There must be someone more recent who fits that criteria  ::)

Staunton.

Offline Chris Harte

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #31 on: August 20, 2021, 11:54:25 PM »
A legend to me is someone who has played 80%+ of their total senior career for Villa, while exceeding a high arbitrary number of games (it'd be easy to say 100 minimum) in the process.

For me, only Charlie Aitken and Nigel Spink qualify.

Offline cdbearsfan

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #32 on: August 21, 2021, 02:15:01 AM »
1. Winning things.
2. Not buggering off.
3. Exceptional ability.
4. Loving our club.

Not sure if 1 is compulsory because on that basis Matt Le Tissier wouldn't be eligible to be a Southampton legend whereas any of their Second Division jobbers who won the cup would be.

Admittedly Southampton have different standards to us, but still. If Villa had lost the 1994 and 1996 League Cup Finals, I'd still class Paul McGrath as a legend. Also, I think Pongo Waring won sod all at Villa. I reckon he's a legend.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2021, 02:17:05 AM by cdbullyweefan »

Offline Rico

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #33 on: August 21, 2021, 07:46:19 AM »
Gary Shaw. Local boy, who was deadly in front of goal, highly skilful and won honours at the very highest level.  Villa fan too. Definitely one for the hall of fame!

Offline Lastfootstamper

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #34 on: August 21, 2021, 08:59:33 AM »
I feel like there's a need on here to keep any list of legends to a bare minimum. Why? We invented football, were the first global superclub, up until 1978 were England's most successful, and still hold some records despite the relative famine of the last 25 years. We can and should have a list as long as my arm, and I've got long arms.

Online dave shelley

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #35 on: August 21, 2021, 09:27:15 AM »
A legend to me is someone who has played 80%+ of their total senior career for Villa, while exceeding a high arbitrary number of games (it'd be easy to say 100 minimum) in the process.

For me, only Charlie Aitken and Nigel Spink qualify.

Johnny Dixon, surely.

Offline Chris Harte

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #36 on: August 21, 2021, 11:21:03 AM »
A legend to me is someone who has played 80%+ of their total senior career for Villa, while exceeding a high arbitrary number of games (it'd be easy to say 100 minimum) in the process.

For me, only Charlie Aitken and Nigel Spink qualify.

Johnny Dixon, surely.
To be fair, I'd forgot about him. From the criteria I gave, he would qualify too.

Offline dcdavecollett

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #37 on: August 23, 2021, 11:45:07 PM »
For some reason, I've always stuck with those players who appeared in more than 300 games for us.

It takes over six years to achieve that, most likely the bulk of a footballer's career.

So all hail, Charlie, Vic, Spinky, Sid and all the others who qualify. I think Dennis does?

Having said that, I completely agree with the recent poster who put Gary Shaw's name forward. It's not his fault he had such rotten luck with injuries.

Offline Border villan

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #38 on: August 24, 2021, 08:48:11 AM »
Careful, that last paragraph could let Ivo Stas join the list.

Offline algy

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #39 on: August 25, 2021, 10:11:01 AM »
The benchmark seems to be Ian Taylor. i'd say cult hero definitely, but not a legend. Legends are what people talk about two generations after they retire.
Yeah, for me this is the stuff of legends as it were.  There's all sorts of players who we all know, the stories are stuff of legend, but they don't fit in to neat little categories.  Two obvious ones are

Pongo Waring - played just over 200 games, didn't win a trophy .. but is anyone going to say he isn't a Villa legend?
Frank Barson - played less than 100 games, "only" won the 1920 FA Cup, played for plenty of teams other than Villa, ... but he's still pretty well known amongst Villa supporters (almost) 100 years after he left the club, and people will probably still be telling stories about his contract negotiation technique 100 years on from now.

I think the thing with club legends is that it's very hard to say that someone's a legend if you've seen them play.  The only player I think we can probably say for certain will be is God.

Offline Lastfootstamper

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #40 on: August 25, 2021, 10:18:07 AM »
Waring scoring close to 50 goals as we set a top division scoring record that's yet to be surpassed almost a century later cements his place on my Legends list.

Offline KevinGage

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #41 on: August 29, 2021, 02:24:27 PM »
Pongo Waring
Billy Walker
Gary Penrice

Offline martin o`who??

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #42 on: August 30, 2021, 12:58:54 PM »
Several hundred appearances, never causing any grief, consistent level of performance and being associated with the club as a source of pride.
Very often beginning with A and ending in N and consisting of six letters.

Offline martin o`who??

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #43 on: August 30, 2021, 01:04:51 PM »
Gary Shaw. Local boy, who was deadly in front of goal, highly skilful and won honours at the very highest level.  Villa fan too. Definitely one for the hall of fame!
One thousand percent.

Offline Dick Edwards

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Re: What makes a "club legend"?
« Reply #44 on: September 09, 2021, 04:34:51 PM »
You have to be careful when it comes to promoting potential legends as having too many of them dilutes the status. We've had plenty of great players or/and cult heroes. Olof Mellberg and Dwight Yorke spring immediately to mind, and most recently Jack Grealish.

When you've only won one league title in the last hundred years I think it's reasonable that pretty much all of that team (and manager) could be considered for legendary status. Then you can safely add Tony Barton and Nigel Spink to that bunch after their colossal contributions to us winning the European Cup a year later.

In addition, and in my lifetime I'd class Charlie Aitken, Brian Little, Paul McGrath and Sir Graham Taylor as genuine club legends.

 


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