Aston Villa. A club which has seen over 1,000 individuals pull on the distinctive claret and blue shirt. A club which has seen countless players create unforgettable moments which will be cherished forever.
As part of our 150th anniversary celebrations, we are catching up with a host of former Villans, and asking them to recall their favourite moment from their time at Villa Park.
It could be a goal, a match, or the moment they signed. Whichever memory stands out to them, while they were representing our famous club.
Our series begins with towering frontman Ian Ormondroyd (Legacy Number: 660).
Nicknamed ‘Stix’, owing to his long legs and 6ft 5ins frame, the forward held cult hero status at Villa Park, with his goal threat and obvious aerial prowess making him a nightmare for defenders.
But it was on the floor, at White Hart Lane, where Ormondroyd’s most cherished Villa memory was born. The date was February 21, 1990, and Graham Taylor’s side made the trip to North London flying high in the First Division.
After a goalless opening period, Stix needed just six minutes after the restart to put his side ahead, in devastating fashion. A free-kick was hacked clear to the edge of the box, and in he charged to thrash a sweet half-volley into the back of the net, sending the travelling Villans behind the goal into raptures.
David Platt struck from close range 15 minutes later to tie up a 2-0 triumph on the road for the league leaders, though they would eventually fall short of Champions Liverpool by nine points, finishing second and securing qualification for the UEFA Cup the following year.
Now Community Foundation Chief Executive Officer at his hometown club Bradford City, Ormondroyd talks us through the strike – which he regards the best goal of his playing career – and what was a memorable afternoon and campaign for the club.
Here is My Villa Moment, in Ian Ormondroyd’s own words…
The best memory of my Villa career was when we played Tottenham away, in the league. I scored a half-volley. I’ll just always remember it.
We won 2-0, and it took us top of the league. We were flying at the time, and I just remember that time, and having a really good season.
Going top of the league was a big thing for us at the time, and they are great memories.
I remember a free-kick into the box. It was a bit of a scramble, they headed it clear and it landed around the penalty spot. It just landed perfectly for me.
Normally, I’d try get it onto my left foot. I was very, very left sided! But I was running onto it, and it just fell perfectly on the half-volley onto my right foot.
I just hit it really clean. The ‘keeper didn’t really see it either. It didn’t go right in the top corner, but it just flew in past him. I never hit a better ball with my right foot in my life.
It was one of them goals that was a bit of a shock to me as much as anyone else, but it was just a great goal. Goals wise, probably the best of my career.
Villa wise, my favourite goal, my favourite season, and my favourite team, was this. The biggest achievement of my career was that time at Villa. They were fantastic times.
We finished second in the league. It was just such a shame we didn’t get anything for that. Not that I was bothered about a medal or anything, but we finished second in the old First Division, and to get into Europe the following season was massive as well.
It was a really, really good time. Probably the best time in my career.
We were just in a really good space. We were playing well, a really good group of lads all pulling in the same direction.
We had no real superstars at that time. A few became superstars around that time or after. David Platt got in the England team and scored goals, that wondergoal everyone remembers, the overhead kick against Belgium at the World Cup. Paul McGrath was the best player I played with, ever, in my life.
But it wasn’t a team full of superstars. We were playing against teams who had superstars. Spurs at the time had Gascoigne and Lineker. They were a really good team at the time, playing well.
To go there and do that was a massive lift for everybody, to go top of the league. It was great.
There were so many good things about the team, but a lot of the players were just workmanlike lads who had played in the lower leagues and got to the First Division. We just all joined together as a team, and they were great times.
“It was a really, really good time. Probably the best time in my career.” – null
There were a lot of lads still making their way as well, a little bit. Tony Daley was still quite a young lad at the time and he ended up playing for England.
There were lads in the team who were workmanlike, like Kevin Gage and Stuart Gray, who’s on the staff at Fulham now.
Nigel Spink was a fantastic goalkeeper. He never really got loads of credit, but he was a class goalkeeper as well.
He was so good with his feet. He’d be able to play today, Nigel. He would ping the ball absolutely anywhere. He was superb.
Gordon Cowans, what a player he was. I know he’s a Villa legend, but he was such a good player, and so brave.
Today, he’d be a superstar, because of the way they play nowadays. He was so good on the ball and so good at passing the ball.
It wasn’t so much about the players who became superstars, but maybe the ones who didn’t.
The whole scenario under Graham Taylor that year was a fantastic experience. It was just a really good vibe from everybody, and superb to be able to play for Villa at that time.
Graham was a fantastic manager, the best manager I had in my career. Sadly gone now, but a great bloke. Very tough, regimented at times. You didn’t dare knock on his door often – he was old school. But you knew where you were with him. Very organised, you knew where you stood, and he really worked on players individually as well as a team to get the best out of everybody, and he did that with me as well.
I went to Villa, and we had a mixture of ages in the squad, but they were all really good players and hungry players, keen as mustard to do well and push on. In Graham, we had a manager who got the best out of everybody in that team.
He squeezed every last little drop out of all of us. That was certainly a superb time in my career. They were great times, and I have great memories from that season.
I’d come through non-league football, not through the apprenticeship scheme. I went into Bradford at 20 or 21, and had to work my way through and get past Bobby Campbell, a Bradford City legend who had started at Villa, into the first team. To go to Villa was a big decision at the time, but it was a big step in my career moving forward, so it was a decision that was a no-brainer in the end. I had to do it.
I had two or three years there where it was superb. Obviously, Graham left for England, and things changed a little bit. I was surplus to requirements a bit, but I ended up having a decent career after, so I enjoyed it.
Certainly, Villa was the highlight of my career in terms of the team I played in. Just a great club. You got the aura of the club, and it’s even bigger now than when I was there.
“Certainly, Villa was the highlight of my career in terms of the team I played in. Just a great club, you got the aura of the club.” – null
