Aston Villa’s European Cup-winning captain Dennis Mortimer is on a mission to reclaim iconic kit when Bayern Munich come to town
Sitting on a small wooden chair in a small wooden hut in the grounds of a garden centre in Staffordshire is one of a select group of special footballing men. To his side — gleaming a little as the light filters through the door — is proof of his membership. Dennis Mortimer and the European Cup. Forty-two years after Aston Villa shocked Bayern Munich in the final in
Rotterdam, they still look quite at home together.
Mortimer is 72 now, a little grey. He was Villa’s captain back then, back when they did what nobody thought possible. When he lifted the trophy that night in 1982, he was only the fourth Englishman to do so, after Bobby Charlton, Emlyn Hughes and Phil Thompson. Others have followed. Not many, as far as we know, have paid to have a full-size replica of the trophy made for their home.
‘When we won it, the club had some little versions made by Royal Worcester and offered them to us,’ Mortimer says. ‘They charged us £150 each!
‘I bought one but it’s not the same as this, is it? I still think it’s absolutely beautiful.’
Aston Villa are set to play Bayern Munich for the first time since the 1982 European Cup final
Dennis Mortimer (right) captained Villa to glory against Bayern and now wants to find his shirt
Bayern will be in Birmingham on Wednesday night. Villa are in Europe’s premier competition for the first time since Mortimer and his gang fell to Juventus in the last eight trying to defend their trophy in 1982-83. This year’s draw has been kind, a little romantic even, and Unai Emery’s team will host the German club in their first Champions League home game.
The class of 1982 will be there; a dinner is planned. For Mortimer it’s an opportunity to see his mates and, he hopes, swap a few memories with men like Bayern board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who played in the Rotterdam final.
Equally, this week represents an opportunity for the former Villa midfielder to continue on a quest that he suspects will not have a happy ending.
In the dressing room that night in Holland, Mortimer and his team-mates were asked to leave their strips on the floor so that they could be exchanged with Bayern shirts from next door. Mortimer obliged and has regretted it ever since. Quite simply, he would like his shirt back.
‘Some of the lads exchanged shirts straight away on the field, but I wanted to collect the trophy wearing my Villa shirt,’ Mortimer says.
‘In the dressing room the kit man Jim Paul asked us for shirts to take in to Bayern. I wasn’t particularly bothered. Rummenigge’s had already gone. Paul Breitner’s had gone. Dieter Hoeness had gone. Peter Withe had got Klaus Augenthaler. And he got his back. He went to Bayern and did a swap.
‘So the big names had gone and I actually thought at the time, “Do Bayern really want our shirts anyway? I mean, who are we?”
‘Jim came back with the Bayern ones. I picked one up, the No3. I put it in my bag and off we went.’
Mortimer’s search for his shirt has already been publicised in Germany. Bayern have done what they can. This appeal, he feels, may well be his last shot.
‘What happened that night is all hypothetical. Did their captain Breitner go in and look for the Villa captain’s shirt? Did my opposite number take it? Did they take any of them? We weren’t Juventus or Liverpool or Manchester United. Had we been, then they all would have wanted one.
‘I just want to get my shirt back for my family. I am actually hoping that Hoeness and Rummenigge will be at the game and I can ask them if they remember what happened. I hope their English is good, because I don’t speak any German…’
Mortimer played for Villa between 1975 and 1985, making more than 300 league appearances
He also played for Coventry City, Sheffield United, Brighton, Birmingham City and England B
Villa’s triumph in Europe came at a time of remarkable English dominance. Liverpool in 1977 and 1978. Nottingham Forest in 1979 and 1980. Liverpool again in 1981.
Nobody really saw Villa coming, though. The year before they won the First Division title in 1981, they finished seventh but under Ron Saunders, using only 14 players, Villa held off Ipswich to win the league next time round. Mortimer played every second of the 42-game season.
‘You never complained,’ he says.
‘Nobody ever asked how we were. Especially not the manager. You didn’t want him to. We all wanted to play.’
Villa’s team was bolstered by the goals of the powerful Withe and his young apprentice Gary Shaw. Solihull-born, Shaw was only 19 at the start of the title season. By the end of the next, he was a European Cup winner. Tragically, aged 63, Shaw died earlier this month.
‘He was one of our champions and this is just too soon,’ Mortimer says. ‘Gary had everything. I once told a magazine he would be the next Kenny Dalglish. I thought he would be that good. He had that subtlety.
‘He would rarely use force to score. It would be a subtle side-foot or curl or bend. Had it not been for his injury, he would have played for England many times. He won’t be there with us next week and I still can’t quite get my head round that.’
Villa’s journey through Europe was typical of the time. Valur of Iceland were dispatched comfortably in Round 1, but it got harder from that point, as Villa had to beat Dynamo Berlin and Dynamo Kiev before winning a semi-final against Anderlecht.
Mortimer spoke to Mail Sport ahead of Villa’s UEFA Champions League clash with Bayern
The former midfielder recalled tales of Villa’s remarkable European campaign of 1981-82
Gordon Cowans, Villa’s beautifully cultured midfielder, has talked of cockroaches in the bread rolls before the game against Kiev.
Mortimer says: ‘I didn’t see cockroaches but I saw the bedrooms. Army service beds.
‘But we weren’t there on a leisure trip. For me it was a chance to see behind the Iron Curtain. I had seen enough spy films on TV to be curious and thought it looked a bit of a dull place. Then you get there and realise you are exactly right.
‘There was literally no colour. Everyone wore black. You didn’t see a red car or a blue car. The people seemed to have a heavy burden on their shoulders.
‘But I wanted to find out about these places. It was about life experience.’
Incredibly, before the last eight, Villa lost their manager. Saunders resigned after a falling-out with the board. His assistant Tony Barton took over.
After only a few minutes of the final, Villa lost goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer. Nigel Spink, with one first-team game to his name, replaced him.
The winning goal remains a thing of strange and memorable wonder. A cross from Tony Morley and a finish from Withe crashed in off the post from a matter of yards. The truth is, he nearly missed it.
‘Tony always tells him it came off his shin. He wants people to know what a great pass it was.
‘The goal is all that matters but it will always bug Peter. We don’t let him forget it, but if it was me I would love that because it would mean that people were still talking about me. If you score goals, people remember you.’
For Mortimer, a Liverpudlian sold to Villa by Jimmy Hill’s Coventry in 1975, it was all about the trophy. In many ways, it still is.
‘It was our turn to try and keep that trophy in Britain,’ he says.
‘Whenever I used to see a captain lifting a trophy, I would think about how much I wanted to do it.
‘Not just for me but for the team and fans. Even now when I watch the Champions League, it’s great to see the captain pick it up and recall the fact that I have done that. To get my hands on it was all that I ever wanted. It’s what football is all about, isn’t it?’
WHERE ARE ASTON VILLA’S HEROES OF 1982 NOW?
GK JIMMY RIMMER
Two stints as Swansea caretaker manager in the 1995-96 season following retirement. Spent 11 days in a coma after a heart attack while living in Vancouver, now lives back in Swansea.
RB KENNY SWAIN
Managed at Wigan and Grimsby after his playing career before managing England under-16s for a decade between 2004 and 2014.
CB KEN MCNAUGHT
After his career, he managed golf resorts, fed Australian gold miners and lived with Peter Withe in Perth. Now back in the UK and works with Villa’s former player association.
CB ALLAN EVANS
Returned to Villa as assistant manager in 1995 before taking charge of West Brom. Moved to Plymouth where he forged a career as a driving instructor.
LB GARY WILLIAMS
Went on to play for Leeds, Watford and Bradford. After hanging up his boots, went into the computer industry.
CM DENNIS MORTIMER (captain)
Played for Brighton and rivals Birmingham City after leaving Villa. Commentated for BBC local radio and was named on Villa’s Honorary Anniversary Board ahead of the club’s 150th anniversary.
CM GORDON COWANS
Went on to be capped 10 times for England before coaching at Burnley and then back at Villa. The beloved Cowans now resides in a care home as he battles Alzheimer’s.
CM DES BREMNER
Left to join Birmingham in 1984 under Ron Saunders. After retirement, he worked for the PFA and went on to be managing director of their financial division.
RW PETER WITHE
Villa’s match-winner also went into management, notably in south-east Asia, taking charge of the Thailand and Indonesia national teams.
CF GARY SHAW
Worked as a statistical analyst after retirement and was a club ambassador at Villa Park. Died last week at the age of 63 after a fall.
LW TONY MORLEY
Continued his playing career in Hong Kong and the Netherlands and now provides expert analysis for the club’s VillaTV.
Mortimer is proud of his roots on Merseyside. Halfway through our conversation, he throws out a quiz question.
‘Name two players who both lifted the European Cup and played for the same school,’ he says. ‘Myself and Phil Thompson.
‘Try and find something like that anywhere in Europe.’
Mortimer has retired happily in the Midlands. Not encumbered by the bitterness or envy that consumes some former pros, we are talking inside the football memorabilia store owned by two friends in a Lichfield garden centre.
‘I like having these conversations,’ he smiles. ‘I like coming here and meeting fans or doing Q&A sessions. It keeps my mind ticking over.’
For a while, the team of 1982 did not feel particularly welcome at Villa Park. Mortimer blames the late chairman Doug Ellis and is happy to report it’s different now.
‘A certain guy didn’t like the idea of paying for ex-players to do corporate hospitality,’ Mortimer says.
‘I don’t have a problem with the money the players get now, only the theatrics. Jack Grealish used to turn me off because he kept diving and I thought it was disrespectful.
‘We didn’t do it. Nobody feigned injury. If you weren’t hurt you would get up.
‘But it’s a great football club and I am very proud of it. The important thing we have left behind for Aston Villa is the history.
‘At the moment, we are the greatest post-war Villa team. It doesn’t make you feel smug but it’s a great feeling.
‘It’s great to see what’s happening now. The game against Bayern should be special and it will be nice to see some of their guys.
‘Our contract in 1982 had a £1,200 bonus clause in it to win the European Cup. We were told Bayern were on £15,000 a man to win it.
‘It was only a rumour, though. I can ask them next week, can’t I?’
