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January 22nd, 2015, 9:30 AM
#1
Discuss your single greatest MOMENT as a supporter...
Everyone here (bar Cappy, but Andy will cover him) has a football team they support. Over a beer last night the topic was what the single greatest, most exciting moment we ever had as a fan of a club/country.
One stands out in particular to me as a Villa fan. Had some highs believe it or not (going to Wembley twice, smashing United and stopping them from the treble in 94 and battering Leeds with a wonderful team in 96) and also condemning Coventry to relegation with a 3-2 victory after being 2-0 down was fantastic. And the 5-1 vs Birmingham was a joyous 90 minutes.
But there was one moment in 1998 that has never pulled such a reaction out of me and Villa Park as a whole - quarter finals of the UEFA Cup (back when it fucking meant something) and we were playing Atletico Madrid in the second leg at Villa Park. We were going well in the League. John Gregory (a Villa man) had got us at the top for half the season and now we had to turn round a 1-0 loss in the first game. We went 1-0 down so had to score three goals to go through. Around 70 minutes after the crowd had been relentless in its support, Ian Taylor (another Villa man through and through, still sits in the Holte End as a fan to this day as he did as a kid) scores a goal to give some hope and the genuine feeling that we could do it. And then just two minutes later, the ball comes to the man we'd put all our hopes on to be the player that took us to that next level that we'd been aching for, yet another Villa man who'd supported them as a club and our record signing, Stan Collymore.
Skip to 2:50 in this video. A player coming up through the Villa ranks, Lee Hendrie, fighting for the ball and runnig his heart out all game is the man to pass it to Stan, and then the reaction from what happens next was just beyond cheers, it was just a huge, sentimental belief that this might be it, this could be our ascent into greatness, this could be Villa, with a Villa man as manager, a Villa fan scoring the first and the Villa fan that could give us that push to that top level scoring like this, and finally seemingly showing the confidence and screaming with the crowd like the fan he was growing up...
Believe it or not, it's been 20 years for me now going to Villa games and nothing has come close to that moment. As a 15 year old in the Holte End, all I remember was jumping in a mass of adults going crazy, arms around each other, full of hope and excitement. I somehow moved four rows in the mass of people, and didn't give a fuck about my bag/wallet because this genuinely became in everyone's head the most important 20 minutes of my life.
Nothing has ever touched that for the absolute high of a moment that it created. Everything fell into place perfectly, and even though we couldn't go on to score the third despite camping in their half for 20 minutes, it was a truly amazing moment that just transcended general football fan stuff. We were so close we could almost taste it. But then Stan had to go mental and beat Ulrika and Yorke left for United so yeah.
What's your best MOMENT as a fan?
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January 22nd, 2015, 9:31 AM
#2
Fuck me I get goosebumps to this day watching that and the reaction to his goal. Real shivers. This is why I get so fucking angry at the dull fucking bollocks of the modern day shite. Hate it. 11 in 22 fuck off.
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January 22nd, 2015, 9:51 AM
#3
Lennon's goal to make it 4-0 in the League Cup semi against Arsenal. I'm sure some people will laugh at that relatively minor moment being the pinnacle of my life as a Spurs fan, and I've had some fantastic moments as a Spurs fan - winning the League Cup a couple of times, a handful of moments during the late run to qualifying for the CL a few years back (Rose's screamer against Arsenal and the Crouch goal against City to ensure we qualified), Bale's hat trick against Inter and Crouch's winner at San Siro...but for pure, delerious happiness, it would have to be this one.
Around that time we were still very 'Spurs-y' - IIRC we had let slip a two goal lead in the first leg - and despite scoring in the first minute and enjoying a bit of luck with a Bendtner own goal, I remember at half-time just reliving all the times we'd fucked up from winning positions, convinced we'd somehow conspire to mess it up. Then Keane scored early in the second half, and those feelings were both quelled and exacerbated - we were less likely to cock it up, but if we did it would be even more embarrassing. Then it hit the hour mark without any worries, and I started to believe...and then Lennon scored a great goal, and all those fears vanished - not only were we not going to mess it up, not only were we going to Wembley, but we were making our arch enemies look like a right bunch of cunts while we were at it.
Sadly in the video above the crowd reaction is difficult to hear, but it backs up everything I've just said - it's not a 'normal' celebration of a goal, even an important one like that. When Jenas scored after 30 seconds there was excitement that we might just do it, and when the second and third went in the crowd were buzzing...but that crowd reaction is just mayhem. Unadulterated, almost disbelieving joy at what was going on. It was utterly incredible and I'll never forget it. As I say, you can HEAR the difference in the crowd - there's a WHOOSH of excitement and joy as Lennon buries the chance, and it goes on for ages. It's like nothing I've ever heard, including more important and dramatic goals.
I have to admit that in the following minutes, once the moment had passed, and I did still manage to convince myself we'd fuck it up, not least when Arsenal pulled one back - and it was only in injury time, at 4-1 up, that I began to relax. But that Lennon goal and the next 60 seconds or so - that was total, joyous happiness, the sort you rarely get to feel. It's at 3m25 in this video.
For a more obvious one, Beckham's free kick against Greece. Just impossibly, beautifully dramatic. It's a cliche to say it, but it really was like a film. The hero coming up against impossible odds almost single-handedly and getting closer and closer to his goal (he had earlier free kicks, each closer to the target than the last), the incredible importance of that single moment, not just the last minute of the match but of the entire qualification, the perfect technique to send it towards goal, the goalkeeper playing his part in accentuating the drama as he simply stands and watches, unable to do anything. Perfect football drama.
Last edited by Simon; January 22nd, 2015 at 9:55 AM.
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January 22nd, 2015, 10:18 AM
#4
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