Ghosts of Christmas Past 1998: OH MY GOD! WE'VE KILLED FATHER CHRISTMAS!

Dek Hogan recalls a stunning Villa comeback and a very bad day for Santa Claus.

It's Sunday 13th December 1998 and in the words of Noddy Holder "IT'S CHRISTMAS!".

Lee Dixon cries on Gareth Southgate's shoulder

Well technically it's still Advent but some of us have already started on the Mince Pies and the songs about landlords filling flowing bowls until they doth run over.

Why not celebrate? We're in the bloody title race for goodness sake. Things are going rather well for John Gregory and his boys. As a consequence, the visit of Arsenal to Villa Park has proved irresistible to the Sky Sports boys and we're playing on a Sunday afternoon, which means that some of the lads are still recovering from being dragged round the jam-packed shops on the Saturday.

There's even talk of parachutists dropping in at half time. This doesn't generate much excitement. We've grown blasé about this sort of thing over the years. If you're in the wrong spot - as the Holte End often proves to be - you very often can't spot the bloke until his boots appear over the roof of the stand and him drifting in to land on a cross in the centre circle is not my idea of excitement.

No sign of anything dropping from the sky before kick-off, so this must be a half time extravaganza. A pint seems like a more attractive proposition.

We get off to a sluggish start with Arsenal looking sharp and up for it. Despite this, the first real chance of the game falls to us, Lee Hendrie winning a free kick at the expense of Lee Dixon. Alan Thompson lines up from 25 yards out and promptly wastes it. 

Arsenal are bossing it though and it's no massive surprise when they take the lead. A David Seaman hoof is headed on by Ljungberg and Anelka to Dennis Bergkamp who launches an unstoppable past the diving Oakes for one-nil.

Ljungberg and Anelka both have efforts just inches over the bar as Wenger's lads really put us on the rack, Patrick Viera and Marc Overmars running us ragged. There's some respite as Lee Hendrie forces Seaman into a save and the well manacled Dion Dublin finally breaks free to head wide from six yards, but it's clearly been Arsenal's half.

This is confirmed in first half injury time. Nic Anelka's shows remarkable speed to catch up with what looks like an overhit Bergkamp's pass, he bamboozles Ugo Ehiogu and turns the ball from the bye-line to find Bergkamp who slides a  left-foot effort inside  Oakes and the near post from 12 yards. 

Arsenal two-nil up at half-time and cruising.

Then the parachutists turn up and they are dressed as Santa Claus. Something is wrong though. 

One of the Santas is getting dangerously near to the advertising hoardings on the edge of the extended Trinity Road Stand roof. Suddenly he clips it and appears to be stuck there and his parachute dangles uselessly beneath him. Before there's time to even finish the thought "How is he going to get down from there?" we find out. He drops to the ground like a stone.

There's a gasp, then an eerie silence, then the piercing cry of a Brummie accent exclaiming "Oh My God! We've killed Father Christmas!". It soon becomes apparent though jokes about how they'll be no presents for the kiddies this year are entirely inappropriate. This bloke is in real trouble.

Soon, they are erecting tarpaulins around him (it transpires they used his actual parachute as a screen) as the medics and Villa physio Jim Walker attempt to stabilise him. That's the sort of thing we are used to seeing at racecourses when horses are in distress. This is is obviously not good. The second half is delayed by something like a quarter of an hour while the the stricken Santa is attended to. He receives a massive roar of goodwill as he is stretchered away.

However, the show must go on.

Arsenal seem to have lost their joie de vivre as the delayed second half gets underway.

Suddenly, it all starts going our way. The arrival of Stan "the Man" Collymore as a 54th minute replacement for Gareth Barry proves to be the catalyst. Switching from 5-3-2 to 4-3-3, Villa are absolutely all over the North London outfit, scoring from the first attack after the rejig; Collymore feedsLee Hendrie, whose short pass meets the outside of Julian Joachim's boot for the wee man's fourth goal in four games.

Ray Parlour

We get a massive slice of luck for the equaliser. Dublin's first attempt is blocked. Thompson mishits the follow-up shot and the ball falls into Dublin's lap and he blasts it home. There are many sharp intakes of breath among the cheering because he looks certainly looks offside. No flag so we carry on celebrating.

Arsenal aren't dead yet though and nearly bite back with a lovely move which sees Anelka teeing up Ray Parlour, but the Charlie Dimmock lookalike (from the neck up) drags his shot wide of the right-hand upright. Oakes then produces a magnificent save from from  Bergkamp's 20-yard free kick.

Villa keep up the pressure though and Martin Keown is left looking like a pillock as an Alan Thompson corner evades him and Dion Dublin volleys home from close range.

We win 3-2.

"I believe in my team, but this is a huge disappointment for us. I have to be realistic, and at the moment we are not title contenders." - Arsene Wenger

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing in the first half. We were simply awful. They were players I didn't recognise. Then, in the second half, it was like a dream, schoolboy hero stuff. We gave the reigning champions and FA Cup winners a two-goal lead and beat them." - John Gregory.

It's been a great comeback and Aston Villa sit proudly at the top of the Premier League. The only drawback, how is Santa?

Santa turns out to be in a very bad way indeed. His legs, hips, pelvis and ribs are broken and he will require a staggering 177 units of blood - almost the entire stock of Birmingham's blood bank. Some months after the event, Flight Sgt Nigel Rogoff will lose a leg as a result of the incident. He will make an astonishing recovery after the accident and fall in love with and marry his nurse, Sarah Collins.

Score: Aston Villa 3-2 Arsenal

Competition: Premier League

Venue: Villa Park

Attendance: 39,217

Aston Villa: Oakes, Wright, Southgate, Ehiogu, Watson, Taylor, Thompson, Joachim, Dublin, Barry, Hendrie. Subs: Charles, Collymore, Grayson, Vassell, Ghent.

Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Vieira, Bould, Vivas, Ljungberg, Anelka, Bergkamp, Overmars, Keown, Parlour. Subs: Wreh, Grimandi, Upson, Boa Morte, Manninger.

Referee: S Lodge (Barnsley)