Aston Villa fans reveal their favourite player of all time
Last week on our Aston Villa forum we asked the fans to tell us who was their favourite Villa player past or present and why.
Here's what they said, thanks for the comments guys:
LeeHolteK6: Peter Withe
Scored the winning goal in the European Cup Final in Rotterdam against Bayern Munich, and him and his wife Cathy are friends of the family.
Rickmeister: Paul McGrath for me. Playing on dodgy knees and in spite of his inner demons he was one of the very, very few players of the 35-40 years that I have been following Villa that everyone would call world class.
Canzy77: Paul McGrath for me too.
I'll never forget seeing him in the street when I was doing my paper round. Shouting 'Paul' and him looking back and giving me the thumbs up! Made me feel like a million dollars.
He was a hero before then, and moreso now. Easily the best player I have seen in our colours at Villa Park, and it makes you wonder how good he could've been if he could've had more control of the alcoholism.
Sidssocks: Paul McGrath the best.
The worst?
I'm going to say Bosko Balaban, because he cost us £6 million quid and ended up, though not his fault, bankrupting us (if Deadly is to believed).
And he played what, 1 game?!!!
Chris AVFC: Favourite has to be Mcgrath because he was just awsome. We could do with him right now.
Least favourite is 100% Heskey. He has been a total waste of money and time. He does nothing when he plays and we play with 10 men every time he is on the pitch. Roll on January when he is sold. If there are no buyers I will have him, he can make the tea.
Sundial2: Played against Villa All Stars some years ago. Johnny Dixon nutmegged me. He was nearly 70 at the time!!! I had a drink with a few of the old players after and believe it or not Neil Rioch (another top man) said that some teams they played against used to try and kick Johnny. However I think Neil was a minder and you really wouldnt have messed with him. Anyway it was a genuine pleasure to be on the same pitch as those guys. They might have been older but pure class shone through. Johnny D was a very unassuming man and really friendly. I was genuinely saddened to hear of his death. r.i p Johnny. Lovely man.
Ex-Midlander2: Its a tough one from the list below:
McGrath - Need say no more
Gary Shaw - Master of deft touches, telepathic understanding with Withe, boyish good looks and charm. Will never forget the song "When he hits the ball hes bound to score", those were the days.
David Platt - The bigger the game the better Platty played, couldn't tackle but his eye for a goal and ghosting in at the right moment are legendary.
D.Yorke - Probably the most talented player I have seen at Villa, but only came good under the management of B.Little.
Allan Evans - No nonsense leader, great centre back who came up with the occasional decisive goal.
D.Mortimer - Captain fantastic, we could do with his surging runs right now.
B.Little - great player and a true gentleman.
Dalian Atkinson - despite being hated by loads of fans I thought he was top class and the goal at Wimbledon was probably the best I have seen.
G.Cowans - Could spot a perfect pass instantly, telepathically could find Platty on one of his runs.
My vote goes to Gordon Cowans, not just for proving himself in all of his three playing spells but his excellence in helping produce some gems off the youth set up production line. Hes absolutely priceless.
Most disliked player has to be Cascarino closely followed by Milosevic for his spitting incident and Alpay for his attitude.
Forevavillain1: Got to be Oh Ah Paul McGrath the guy was just immense and you could count on him 100% every game.
Didn't need to be fast or agile as he read the game like no other CB that I have ever seen.
BubbleheadMK2: Bruce Rioch. Andy Lockhead. Ray Graydon. Brian Little.Jonny Gidman. Andy Gray. Withe. Cowans. Morley.God. Platty. Yorkie.Merse.The Great Dane.
Special mention for Birchy and Alan McInally.
But there's only one God.
Paul: Paul McGrath - again dont need to say more or if you want the modern version of him Martin Laursen
Graydon1: RAY GRAYDON! then Paul Mgrath,Tony morley,Dwight yorke,peter withe,SID,Laursen, BOUMA,latest Hero GABBY!!
Ken1: Back in the days when footballers were paid a pittance, how about Pongo Waring (centre-forward) and winger Eric Houghton, who was said to be the hardest kicker of a dead ball of the time. I think there was a also a wily winger named Cunliffe. Those were the days, when if a player scored a goal he did not tear off his shirt and slide on his knees towards the fans as if he had performed a miracle, but merely trotted back to the centre circle for the kick-off. And they did not put on an act if they happened to be tackled hard just to get a foul call. It ain't the game it used to be, but a business venture peopled with prima donnas who are paid far too much money and are treated by the fans as gods.
Wembley57er: Peter McParland, used to score loads of goals and as a 9 year old I thought he was fantastic and he won us the Cup. He used to let us kids walk with him to the bus stop after the match and he signed my cap peak!
I also rated Nigel Sims, Stan, Andy Gray and, with Shrek, Brian Little. All the rest mentioned above are cant argue with any of them.
IanVilla4eva: Alex Cropley, imo, one of the best and hardest tackling midfielders ever seen in a Villa shirt.
On the same level no one has mentioned Dessie Bremner, without whom Sid and Dennis Mortimer could not have performed to their best, sort of let himself down with his spell on the darkside mind!
But again I could not argue that perhaps the best player ever in claret and blue, even with them kness has got to be God, Mr Mcgrath, with sir Laursen running him a very close second.
Martinthemagnificent: Mark Bosnich for me.
It's not every year that you have a player in your squad that is one of the best in his position, in the World and I truly believe that Bozzy at that time was only bettered by the amazing Peter Schmichael between the sticks.
How many penalties did he save in the 1993/94 season, when we beat Man Utd to win the Coca-Cola cup?
He came off the bench in the local derby, at St. Andrews, in the cup and saved one and in that season. I also remember him saving two against Spurs, in one match and many others.
However the three against Tranmere in the Coca-Cola cup, semi-final, shoot-out were my favourites. We were one penalty away from losing to Tranmere, when Bozzie stepped up to the plate and single handedly took us to Wembley.
I can quite honestlty say that, that has to be my favourite Villa game of all time. Shame what happened to Bozzie, he would have deffinately gone on to be the best keeper in the World if he hadn't made some stupid choices in my opinion.
Oh well, thanks for the memories Bozzie!
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