It's a Wednesday night in October. While I'd normally attend games down Villa Park with my schoolmates, on this particular occasion, I've gone with my dad. This does have bonuses: a) Dad'll drive down so no bus fare to pay, b) Dad'll pay for us to get in, saving a few more paper round pennies, c) Dad'll buy the pies and the Bovril. The drawbacks? a) Because Dad's there, it'll be Bovril and not a cheeky Mickey Mouse b) I'll have to buy my own programme.
Dad's parking place of choice is Electric Avenue, and there's something magical about walking up towards Villa Park for an evening kick-off.
All the talk before the game is about former Holte End hero Andy Gray. For Villa fans, this will be the first chance to see Andy back at Villa Park since he buggered off to Wolves for a bumper (in those days) £1.5 million transfer fee. Ron Saunders has invested the money from Gray and some of the other flair players from the exciting mid-seventies side so successfully that we have managed to win the actual league.
Things are not going so well for John Barnwell's financially strapped Wolves and Barnwell has been under such pressure to cash in on Andy that for days before the game, it hasn't at all been certain that the Scottish centre forward would still be in the gold and black by kick off.
Andy Gray himself is not best pleased at the situation, "I will not be railroaded into going anywhere - it's my career that is at stake" he protests as Arsenal and Leeds are reported to be tussling over his signature, "I'm like a rag doll being tugged about and it is a situation I don't enjoy.
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| Withe and Ormsby in the thick of it |
League Cup Second Round First Leg encounter. Tony Morley is recalled in place of Andy Blair meaning that - bar for the injured Ken McNaught for whom Brendan Ormsby deputises - this is pretty much the side that took us to League glory. We need a lift though, since winning the title, opposition teams have raised their game against us and we've struggled at Villa Park.
As the first half gets underway, Wolves have a really good go at removing any joy from the game with what can be best described as smothering tactics, designed more to stifle our creativity than employ any of their own. Thus we get what some would call typical derby day football for half an hour, bogged down in the middle of the park with little to no goal mouth action to report.
Not that the lack of exciting football stops us enjoying ourselves as we exchange banter and songs with the Wolves fans at the other end. My dad is more fascinated by the barbs and and witticisms coming from the regulars at the back of the left side than he is the actual match.
Andy Gray is of course getting particular attention from a lively Holte End.
He responds.
On 32 minutes, Alan Birch finds room and goes on a run before finding Gray who turns deftly and slots a left foot shot past the despairing Jimmy Rimmer. One-nil to Wolves.
Bugger. Nothing daunted though, we've still looked the better side, we'll get back into it. What can possibly go wrong? Go wrong it does, when Peter Withe goes up with the hard-grafting Joe Gallagher to challenge for a ball and comes down injured. Double Bugger. He's replaced by Andy Blair and Villa have to re-jig.
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| Andy Gray red-carded |
Andy Gray makes a rash dangerous looking lunge at Dennis Mortimer. He's got to pick up a yellow for that surely....hang on...IT'S RED!!!!!!!
There may only be 26,000-odd in the crowd but the stadium explodes with noise, Villa fans celebrating like we'd scored a last minute winner (actually louder than that) and Dingles exploding with rage. Absolute turmoil. Just what you go to football for.
The Holte goes ape-shit!
We're still bouncing up and down with unfettered joy four minutes later when we're brought down to Earth with a bump as Wolves score again. Jimmy Rimmer goes to collect a Birch cross and - under pressure from John Richards - somehow manages to drop it into the path of Joe Gallagher who delights in putting it away.
Two-nil Wolves. This was NOT in the brochure!
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| Des Bremner gets Villa's first |
Swiftly, better quality football leads to goals. And Blair plays a lovely through ball to Gary Shaw who unselfishly finds Des Bremner who slots the ball forcefully past the advancing Paul Bradshaw and in off the far upright.
Two-one to them but we're on the way.
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| Andy Blair hits home a 20 yard equaliser |
Now Villa turn the screw as it becomes one way traffic. Wolves struggle to clear a Tony Morley and the ball falls invitingly for substitute Andy Blair who scores from 20 yards out.
Two-two and Villa dominating but time is running out. Okay, there's a second leg to come at their place, but this a local derby and we want the win on the night. There's pride at stake!
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| Last gasp winner from Tony Morley |
3-2 to the Villa.
Nicely set up for the second leg, now just the spectacle of watching Dad attempt to avoid paying the "look after yer car mister" lads...
Postscript:
- Three days before the 2nd leg we beat Wolves 3-0 in the league at their place.
- We won the second leg at Molineux 2-1 thanks to two goals from Gordon Cowans on his birthday.
- Andy Gray was banned for four matches.
- Despite the pre-match speculation, Andy Gray remained at Wolves until November 1983.
Score Aston Villa 3-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Competition Milk Cup 2nd round 1st leg
Venue Villa Park
Attendance 26,358
Aston Villa: Rimmer, Swain, Gibson, Evans, Ormsby, Mortimer, Bremner, Shaw, Withe (sub Blair), Cowans, Morley
Wolves: Bradshaw, Palmer, Parkin, Atkinson, Gallagher, Villazan, Hibbitt, Bitch, Gray, Richards, Matthews
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