Villa Park 1981

[phil31]

I was in the Holte end that day as an 8 year old. Me, my dad and my cousin travelled down in a purple ford orion i think. I remember being stuck in traffic on the m6 somewhere with the windows down and a car load of Ipswich fans pulling up alongside us and my dad telling me to give them some stick!!!
I sat on the bar the whole game and remember flying off it when we scored!!
I also remember the waving to the city fans at the other end of the ground. Bring the good times back, weve waited long enough!!

 

[jimharri]

I was in the Holte end that day as an 8 year old. Me, my dad and my cousin travelled down in a purple ford orion i think. I remember being stuck in traffic on the m6 somewhere with the windows down and a car load of Ipswich fans pulling up alongside us and my dad telling me to give them some stick!!!
I sat on the bar the whole game and remember flying off it when we scored!!
I also remember the waving to the city fans at the other end of the ground. Bring the good times back, weve waited long enough!!

Villa Park was at least three quarters blue that day. As you pointed out we had the opposite end as well as half the Holte end. We had (IIRC) the stand to the right as you looked out from the Holte and there were loads of blues in the other stand as well. Great day!

 

[M18CTID]

I was there too that day ....... right at the fuckin' back of that stand ..... i almost lost me trousers too as that goal went in , as the bloke next to me jumped up in the air in delight and landed on the bottom of my trailing jeans leg , he then proceeded to give me a big kiss!

Fantastic day that was ..... definetely in my top five days of supporting City since the late sixties!

And it has to be said what a fantastic side Ipswich were too at that time ..... they were argueably the best side in the country in the late seventies/early eighties.

Cracking photo of the crowd.

I was 10 at the time and only started attending games on a regular basis in the late 1980's but I remember this match vividly as one that I would've loved to have been at more than almost any other. Even at that young age I recognised the threat that Ipswich posed at the time - for me they were the best team in the league throughout that season and should've won the title, but they were hampered by a fixture pile-up at the back end of the season which was brought on by their FA Cup and UEFA Cup run. To only come away with the UEFA Cup (a magnificent achievement in itself) was a travesty IMO. Even with our much improved form under John Bond, I didn't think we had a prayer in the semi-final as Ipswich were rightly hot favourites to progress. I remember watching Grandstand and they said the game had gone into extra time, and couldn't believe it when they announced Power had put us ahead.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I was in the Holte end that day as an 8 year old. Me, my dad and my cousin travelled down in a purple ford orion i think. I remember being stuck in traffic on the m6 somewhere with the windows down and a car load of Ipswich fans pulling up alongside us and my dad telling me to give them some stick!!!
I sat on the bar the whole game and remember flying off it when we scored!!
I also remember the waving to the city fans at the other end of the ground. Bring the good times back, weve waited long enough!!

Villa Park was at least three quarters blue that day. As you pointed out we had the opposite end as well as half the Holte end. We had (IIRC) the stand to the right as you looked out from the Holte and there were loads of blues in the other stand as well. Great day!

I remember the waving, we had the paddock behind the goal where the away fans went in those days. I was in the stand to the right as you look from the Holte end. It was a wooden stand and I was near the back. That side was all blue.

The opposite stand down the side of the pitch, I actually remember seeing blues on the telly celbrating in there but I think it was Ipswich.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Was six at the time, that FA Cup run was one of my earliest memories, not just of supporting City.

Remember listening to the radio as City beat Norwich 6-0 I think?

I was drinking water at the time and spat it out in shock, right over the gas fire, which had a glass window, mum went mental at me!

Listened to the radio for the semi-final, dad wouldn't let me go with him.

Remember Power scoring and running outside in to the street to celebrate, when the final whistle went, playing Wembley Knockout with my pals across the road - which just happened to be the Maine Road croft!

 

[LongsightM13]

As a side note, why isn't Paul Power's goal shown on the Go Let It Out montage video shown on the big screens before the game? An unforgettable goal for a great many blues

 

[phil31]

As an 8 year old i had the choice of going to the semi or listening to it on the radio and going to the final if we got through. Hence, i chose the semi and my dad couldnt afford to take me to the final with all his mates on the piss for 2 days!!!

 

[Eddie Hitler]

I remember listening to the semi final draw on the radio,gutted when we got Ipswich,they were the best team in the league and going for the double.
The match itself was pretty poor and a nervy affair,remember the free kick and people around me groaning because Power was stood over the ball.
The scenes after the goal were amazing.City scarves and flags all around Villa Park,the noise echoing all around the ground.
Now i think back,Paul Power took an awful lot of stick from City fans,but his importance shown once he was sold to everton,we never really replaced him.naturally left sided,could play full back or midfield and i think everton won the league when he joined them.

 

[Mike N]

I too am somewhere in that picture, up near the back.

The picture does seem to show Ipswich had more fans in their end than ours but the stand behind the other goal was completly full of blues. We must have had around 30,000 in there that day.

Great day and will always remember the walk down the stairs at the back of the Holte End, feet didnt touch the ground once!

Oh and Ipswich fans were great afterwards, they wished us well in the final.

 

[Gary James]

There's a better crowd shot of that day in Gary James's latest book. It's a real close up.

The photo's in "The Big Book Of City" page 164-165 and this facebook page shows it:

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3805157&id=266700661882" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3 ... 6700661882</a>