Question for more mature Villans re: 1982

[simboy]

I was 17 at the time we won the league, and about to f*ck up my mock A levels. 

I always felt winning the league was harder than winning the European Cup. As others have said the side of 76/77 was a fantastic side to watch, it was a great team. We just ran out of steam. As others have said there were other good sides down the division. Clough took a ragtag of a Forest side with Kenny b*stard Burns at centre half and won the league in 78. They had been promoted the year before. Liverpool were very good but there were plenty of other sides which were pretty good.

Gray and Gidman going in 79 with Little retiring just felt like the end of an era, a time to re-build. Glad I was wrong. That 80/81 season was ... well, far better described above. I think Albion, Wolves, Blues and Cov were all in the First division, so there were derbies galore but i don't recall us losing one [I haven't checked] That team of 14 were as hard as nails, knew how to win. They were a reflection of their manager. 

The European Cup by contrast, just felt as if it was something you won after winning the league. The games against Anderlecht were a struggle but i never really thought we would lose. The final was one of those strange games. Danny Murphy would have said we were lucky, by contrast I never thought we would lose.   

Oh, the arrogance of youth!


 

[dave shelley]

How full was the ground at Rotterdam? It always looks quite sparse from the footage, but anyone I've spoken to that was there says we were packed in.

Many people did what me and my mates did.  We had seating tickets but decided that was not where we wanted to be so went behind the goal  where the majority had gathered.  I would suggest that is what the Bayern fans did too so that when you see the footage of the game of the side opposite the cameras it looks virtually empty.

[Simon Page]

I always felt winning the league was harder than winning the European Cup.

It's a good point. Also worth mentioning the FA Cup was seen as a bigger event. There were lots of mentions for the Spurs/QPR replay (if memory serves) during coverage of the European Cup Final. I think England was still in an era tainted by our refusal to demean ourselves by taking part in the early European Cups. Of course we beat Johnny Foreigner, that's what we do. But the FA Cup was the greatest accolade of all, closely followed by the League title. Oh how times change.

I still think it was harder to win when it was only knockout between the champions. Now there are half a dozen collections of mercenaries that can and will win it. Then, for all the Nordic no-marks there were the Communist collectives and Belgian bribers who made it a right bugger in some ties. I'd love to see today's mardyarse managers suddenly find they're playing in Crimea, not Kiev.

[Exeter 77]

Slightly off topic but Rotterdam 1982 led to this 40 years ago today.
https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1618528795195052032?t=6JP3y04Pjq1NvlpnF4sIBw&s=19

[LeeB]

Slightly off topic but Rotterdam 1982 led to this 40 years ago today.
https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1618528795195052032?t=6JP3y04Pjq1NvlpnF4sIBw&s=19

This was good

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jan/22/golden-goal-ken-mcnaught-for-aston-villa-v-barcelona-1983-super-cup

[Flamingo Lane]

The season we won the league, 80-81, there was Albion, Birmingham, Wolves, Coventry, Leicester, Forest and Stoke also in the division, and no, I don't think we lost a game against any of them.

[Villa Lew]

Ipswich players from then, are always saying they should have won the league, but 80-81 was the last season that is was 2 points for a win, so if it had been 3 points for a win, we would have finished on 86 points and Ipswich 79, I rest my case.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Slightly off topic but Rotterdam 1982 led to this 40 years ago today.
https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1618528795195052032?t=6JP3y04Pjq1NvlpnF4sIBw&s=19

This was good

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jan/22/golden-goal-ken-mcnaught-for-aston-villa-v-barcelona-1983-super-cup

Fantastic read, Lee. It all comes flooding back. It really was a mental game and the first time I've heard of the conversation between Big Ken and Withey. He didn't hang around did he.

[Simon Page]

Ipswich players from then, are always saying they should have won the league, but 80-81 was the last season that is was 2 points for a win, so if it had been 3 points for a win, we would have finished on 86 points and Ipswich 79, I rest my case.

Moral victors - best of both worlds. Can claim greatness while never having to buy a cabinet or a can of Brasso.

I envy them.

[rob_bridge]

Ipswich players from then, are always saying they should have won the league, but 80-81 was the last season that is was 2 points for a win, so if it had been 3 points for a win, we would have finished on 86 points and Ipswich 79, I rest my case.

Moral victors - best of both worlds. Can claim greatness while never having to buy a cabinet or a can of Brasso.

I envy them.

Ipswich were the better team for 36 games in the same way we were in 1992-3. The league title is (or was) decided over 42 games.
The best team win it. Cups aren't like that necessarily

[Pat McMahon]

Slightly off topic but Rotterdam 1982 led to this 40 years ago today.
https://twitter.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1618528795195052032?t=6JP3y04Pjq1NvlpnF4sIBw&s=19

This was good

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jan/22/golden-goal-ken-mcnaught-for-aston-villa-v-barcelona-1983-super-cup

Fantastic read, Lee. It all comes flooding back. It really was a mental game and the first time I've heard of the conversation between Big Ken and Withey. He didn't hang around did he.

I agree Mark. I read this years ago and have always found it to be a brilliantly constructed and informative article. I find something new that makes me laugh every time I read it.

[dcdavecollett]

I think we played 14 midlands derbies in 80/81 and didn't lose a single one!

[Exeter 77]

I think we played 14 midlands derbies in 80/81 and didn't lose a single one!

Yes. Stoke, Wolves, Small Heath, Smethwick, Coventry, Forest and Leicester I think.

[eamonn]

While Ipswich only had to worry about Norwich in terms of derbies. And as they're "a great leveller", it's a point worth making that all those midland teams would invariably have tried harder against us than other opponents.

[TopDeck113]

The frequency of derbies was sometimes cited as one of the reasons why there was relatively few London clubs that won the league.  Good coaching (Wenger) and unlimited funds (Abramovich) has changed that in the Premier League era - but I guess for Spurs it's a straw to continue to cling to.