Wednesday, December 1, 2021

VILLAINS AND NICE GUYS

Season 1992-93, 18th April 1993, Vila Park, Birmingham. 

Aston Villa away, a different way.

After recent events between the two sides, when City's on-off purchase of Fabian Delph ended in the "on" position, a League Cup final brought unnecessary edge to the rivalry from some quarters and the record-breaking transfer of club icon Jack Grealish appeared to bring a communal breakdown upon the Aston Villa faithful, it is perhaps apt to cast our minds back almost exactly 30 years to the inaugural Premier League title race.

With just 4 games to go, challengers Blackburn and Norwich (yes, I know) had fallen by the wayside and only Villa stood between Manchester United and their first title in 26 years. The laughing had long stopped and Manchester was gripped with anxiety that the whole thing might end in tears and United might actually make it over the finishing line first.

As luck would have it 9th-placed City were set to travel to Villa Park for a match that would be essential if the home side wanted to keep pushing United for the title.

Some of the travelling City fans left the locals in no doubt where their loyalties lay.



It is not clear whether the banner made it through the match or whether the notorious West Midlands constabulary had it removed for inciting a riot (they had some strange ideas about policing the football in the 80s and 90s. You could be arrested there for pointing at Tony Daley's hair), but the message was clear: go out and do it for us all.

Villa duly won this game 3-1, despite Niall Quinn not reading the script and putting City ahead, but the title was United's, in the end by an unnecessarily wide margin of 10 points as Villa fell away.

When the Villa fans roll out their expletives for Grealish and their inevitably irony-free songs of "where were you when you were shit", cast your minds back to the beautiful détente of 1993.
 
Niall Quinn makes things unnecessarily complicated, putting City ahead before half-time.
















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