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I can still remember when it all began. On that Saturday morning many years ago I had played for my local club Churches United. As a young boy I had been enjoying this football thing and thought it might be something I could get interested in.
Then, on the TV, I happened to see the highlights of a match involving Aston Villa and asked my parents why they were showing the game my team had just played in on TV.
I was informed that despite the colours of the uniform being the same as my team (sky blue and claret), this team was a different one to mine and was directed to the fact that the players were men, the crowd substantially larger and the canteen at the ground probably did not sell Redskins or Spearmints.
From that day I was hooked.
It wasn’t like Nick Hornby described, in his book Fever Pitch, about his love for Arsenal “I fell in love with football as I was later to fall in love with women: suddenly, inexplicitly, uncritically, giving no thought to the pain or disruption it would bring with it” (in my opinion, one of the best lines ever written about football).
Ours was a slower courtship.
In the early years I followed Villa simply because of the connection with my childhood club’s colours. But as I grew up, the reasons for my allegiance to the club also matured.
I learnt about the feeling behind the derby with City. I learnt about the great Villa dynasties of the past. I grew to understand the importance of Villa not only to Birmingham but also to football in Britain.
After a sufficiently long courtship, we made it official, a lifelong commitment. By this stage we knew each other well enough to know what we were getting ourselves into.
We knew that there would be plenty of up and downs. Villa’s little quirks would frustrate the hell out of me over the years, but all would be forgiven because that is what you needed to do to make a relationship work.
I was prepared for the love affair to be one conducted from afar. I knew it would be a rare occasion where we would see each other in person, but with more efficient communication methods developing, the distance could be made smaller.
Despite this, there would be many a late night/early morning sacrificed to make sure that at least the big moments were celebrated.
All was going swimmingly for a number of years.
My head wasn’t turned by the titles being won by Man Utd. I didn’t have any time for the revolution happening at Arsenal. I wasn’t the least bit attracted to the “My Fair Lady” scenario at Chelsea backed by Abramovich’s billions.
I had been aware of the game next door, but the old NSL had never held any real appeal to me. I didn’t live in an area that had had a local team to support, so I had focussed on the game at the national level.
The Socceroos were like my mates, the people I would hang out with when I needed some space from Villa. The Socceroos and I might not have seen each other every week and it might have been months between times when we caught up, but when we did it was epic.
The last couple of times in Germany and South Africa were massive.
But one day, I ran into the game next door. It had grown up and it certainly looked better then I remembered it. It was more open and friendly. It seemed to care less about where my family was from and more about reconnecting with people.
And with it, it bought some new friends I hadn’t met before: the A-League clubs.
They offered something fresh and exciting. The potential to start something was there, but could I leave my beloved Villa for one of these new young things; the bling of Sydney, the passion of Melbourne or the whimsical over-enthusiasm of the Central Coast?
I thought about it for a long time. Just because I had books on the shelf at home, did that mean I couldn’t go to the library?
Yesterday I had my most recent in-depth catch-up with the A-League clubs. If I had thought they looked promising before, then the display from the Roar and the Mariners last night made them look even better.
But I still haven’t felt that feeling for any of them that I felt when I first laid eyes on Aston Villa. There still isn’t an A-League club for the city I live in and so I remain unable to dive in the deep end to start from scratch again with a new club.
I have invested a hell of a lot in the Villans. I’ve seen Yorke, Bosnich, Southgate, Dublin, Angel, Hendrie, Mellberg, Barry, Laursen and Milner all come and go.
And I’ve seen the kids like Delph, Albrighton and the young Australian defender Lowry come through the ranks.
So you see, I can’t leave Villa. We have to stay together for the sake of the kids.
But I might ask them how they feel about an open relationship.
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