Retro Football.
I’ve told the story before and I’m gonna tell it again - this time with more candid colour. I was in the terraces at Villa Park, the Holte End to be exact. Named after the landowner of Aston Hall gardens where that side of the stadium sits, Thomas Holte. This terrace of the stadium welcomes the most ardent of Villains and is home to many hooligan firms. It made for an entertaining 90 minutes, not to mention 10 minutes at half-time watching glassy-eyed middle-aged men sink pint after pint of John Smith’s lager to further enrage themselves into spitting harsher vitriol towards the opposition for the latter 45.
The opposition on the day was Leeds United. A side that I truly admired and home to some of the countries best players at the time. David Batty, the midfield warrior that would tackle his own mother if she was wearing opposition colors. Gordan Strachan, the Scottish wizard who resembled the roadrunner and was as quick as him too and finally, the French magician, Eric Cantona - a player so arrogantly brilliant that he starched his collar so it stood upright for an entire 90 minutes. It was truly magical getting to watch a club that had a massive cult following and such brilliant footballing prowess. With that said, the Villa had their fair share of brilliance on display that autumn evening. Andy Townsend was a phenomenal striker in his time but for me, the most electric footballer in the early 90’s was Tony Daley. The man was absolutely electric. Once he had a defender on the back foot it was lights out as the fright of his pace would make the defenders knees tremble eventually causing him to crumble into submission.
As I sat on the beam to get a glimpse of the action, the absolutely fanatical Holte End started chanting towards none other than King Eric. Rather than the traditional, egotistical chant of ‘oooh aaaah Cantona, I say Ooh ah Cantona!’ it was translated to the home teams chant of ‘F'*** off Cantona, we say F*** off Cantona!’ — absolutely brilliant improvisation.
The match ended 1-0 Villa on a goal by none other than Andy Townsend and we all went home happy. Looking back, the retro Lilywhytes kit and the beautifully crafted maroon kit of the Villa still etch a vivid memory in my mind, some to be found at The Terrace Store which has everything retro about football. The style and substance of the supporters sporting their Reebok Classic terrace wear and long trench coats is unforgettable and left an indelible on me and one that I’ve carried into my character and fashion sense to this day. Old time football encapsulates uncaged character traits of brilliantly improvisational players with a backdrop of supporter style and substance that may never be seen again.
