It's Tuesday 15th September 1998 and there's European action at Villa Park.
When the draw had thrown up a first round tie against Strømsgodset most of us had shrugged our shoulders and gone off to look it up on the map. We couldn't look it up in the internet in those days because most of us hadn't got it and we'd never even heard of “Google”.
The papers - our primary source of football information unless you count the radio and CEEFAX – inform us that our less than illustrious opponents are a bunch of part-timers from the fishing port of Drammen, and should be no match for a John Gregory led outfit that has got off to a flying start in the Premiership.
Fair play, we may have had a fairly easy start as far as the fixtures go, but after an opening nil-nil with Everton at Goodison, we've won four on the bounce, confidence is high and over twenty eight thousand people turn up expecting to see Villa demolish a side the vast majority of us have never even heard of and we are told have the worst defensive record in Norway.
This is a tournament we fancy having a proper tilt at, because you can't beat a European night at Villa Park if you pull a plum tie against European royalty. There is still frustration that we crashed out of the previous season's tournament at the quarter final stage to Atlético Madrid and even then only on the away goals nonsense. We're up for this.
Well some of us are.
John Gregory doesn't seem so keen.
Our early league success has been based on a rock solid defence with Ugo Ehigou at its heart. He's dropped. Or rested. Seems a daft decision to me. Paul Merson - a recent capture from Middlesbrough - isn't eligible yet as he wasn't signed in time.
Initally, it's fairly easy to shrug off these omissions, because we spend most of the first twenty minutes camped in their half. Even if we are firing blanks. Alan Thompson manages to pick up an early doors yellow with a “robust” challenge on Hans Erik Odegaard, so robust in fact that Odegaard has to be substituted, while Darren Byfield manages to bring a spectacular save out of Glenn Arne Hansen with his 20 yarder, but we've nothing to show for our early dominance when all of a sudden, the wheels fall off.
The papers - our primary source of football information unless you count the radio and CEEFAX – inform us that our less than illustrious opponents are a bunch of part-timers from the fishing port of Drammen, and should be no match for a John Gregory led outfit that has got off to a flying start in the Premiership.
Fair play, we may have had a fairly easy start as far as the fixtures go, but after an opening nil-nil with Everton at Goodison, we've won four on the bounce, confidence is high and over twenty eight thousand people turn up expecting to see Villa demolish a side the vast majority of us have never even heard of and we are told have the worst defensive record in Norway.
This is a tournament we fancy having a proper tilt at, because you can't beat a European night at Villa Park if you pull a plum tie against European royalty. There is still frustration that we crashed out of the previous season's tournament at the quarter final stage to Atlético Madrid and even then only on the away goals nonsense. We're up for this.
Well some of us are.
John Gregory doesn't seem so keen.
Our early league success has been based on a rock solid defence with Ugo Ehigou at its heart. He's dropped. Or rested. Seems a daft decision to me. Paul Merson - a recent capture from Middlesbrough - isn't eligible yet as he wasn't signed in time.
Initally, it's fairly easy to shrug off these omissions, because we spend most of the first twenty minutes camped in their half. Even if we are firing blanks. Alan Thompson manages to pick up an early doors yellow with a “robust” challenge on Hans Erik Odegaard, so robust in fact that Odegaard has to be substituted, while Darren Byfield manages to bring a spectacular save out of Glenn Arne Hansen with his 20 yarder, but we've nothing to show for our early dominance when all of a sudden, the wheels fall off.
Basically, skipper Gareth Southgate is caught napping, makeshift striker Anders Michelsen goes past him like he isn't there and while Bozzie does well to parry his shot, the Norwegian makes no mistake with rebound.
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| The Norwegians going in hard on Lee Hendrie |
John Gregory is still barking his annoyance at the defending of the first goal as the second one goes in. Christer George - only on the pitch as a replacement for the Thompson flattened Odegaard and completely unmarked – steers the ball wide of Bosnich after Rune Hagen has drifted past Gareth Barry and provided a delightful cut-back. Well, delightful if you're Norwegian. The Holte End is far from pleased.
The angry atmosphere is ramped up by Strømsgodset's vigorous efforts to thwart any sort of Villa comeback, with feet flying in all over the place. However the German referee doesn't seem half as vexed by the Norwegians full blooded challenges as John Gregory does, Villa's furious boss even prods the fourth official in the chest as his rage boils over.
Villa find more width in the second half and provide Darren Byfield with opportunities to test Hansen while Bosnich is required to pull off a point blank save to stop Michelsen killing the tie off in a rare counter-attack.
Eventually the ref remembers where his cards are and produces a red one to Kenneth Karlsen's for fouling substitute Riccardo Scimeca, and things turn our way at last. Alan Thompson - our most creative player on the night – finds Gary Charles with his cross and the full back manages to put the ball away.
Then, suddenly, a new Holte End hero emerges.
Darius Vassell, only just on for the luckless Byfield, completely changes the mood and the tie.
A ball from Alan Wright is headed back across goal by Scimeca and Lee Hendrie miscue which spills to Darius who makes no mistake.
2-2. That'll have to do then. Tough second leg then.
Hang on though because we're not finished yet.
The tireless Alan Thompson has a hopeful shot, their keeper can only parry and there he is. That man again. Darius Vassell.
3-2
The Holte End goes barmy.
A star is born.
A couple of weeks later, one Stanley Victor Collymore will get himself back into John Gregory's good books with a hat-trick as Villa run out easy winners, the first Villa Euro-Hat-Trick since Gary Shaw hit three against Dynamo Bucharest in the European Cup in 1983, but nothing can take away from the drama of the night at Villa Park when Darius Vassell announced himself to the world.
Aston Villa 3 Strømsgodset 2
Competition: UEFA Cup 1st round 1st leg
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 28,893
Referee: H Strampe (Germany)
Aston Villa (3-5-2): Bosnich; Grayson (Taylor, 37), Southgate, Barry; Charles, Hendrie, Draper (Scimeca, 67), Thompson, Wright; Joachim, Byfield (Vassell, 80). Subsitutes not used: Ferraresi, Hughes, Jaszczun, Oakes (gk).
Strømsgodset (4-5-1): Hansen; Granas, Karlsen, Waehler, Skistad; Nyan, H Odegaard (George, 10; Strom, 71), Solberg, Kihle, Hagen; Michelsen (Olsen, 88). Subsitutes not used: Horsrud, Johnsen, Sannerholt, T Odegaard (gk).
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 28,893
Referee: H Strampe (Germany)
Aston Villa (3-5-2): Bosnich; Grayson (Taylor, 37), Southgate, Barry; Charles, Hendrie, Draper (Scimeca, 67), Thompson, Wright; Joachim, Byfield (Vassell, 80). Subsitutes not used: Ferraresi, Hughes, Jaszczun, Oakes (gk).
Strømsgodset (4-5-1): Hansen; Granas, Karlsen, Waehler, Skistad; Nyan, H Odegaard (George, 10; Strom, 71), Solberg, Kihle, Hagen; Michelsen (Olsen, 88). Subsitutes not used: Horsrud, Johnsen, Sannerholt, T Odegaard (gk).
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