Ron Saunders Ron Saunders led Villa to the League Championship title in 1980-81, having earlier won 2 League Cups. He was known to be a tough disciplinarian who would stand for no nonsense. The year after Villa won the League, he resigned in mid season after a bitter argument with the board over funds for players. His successor, Tony Barton, took Villa on with Saunders' team to win the European Cup. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Oh the early 80's. What a time to be a Villa fan. I was only 16 in 1981 and Villa were marching towards the League title. Having already disposed of the threat of Liverpool by stuffing them at Villa Park, only Ipswich stood in our way, and how sweet it was going to be to beat the media darlings. But it didn't go to plan, Ipswich won 2-1 in the "title decider" at Villa Park and suddenly everyone thought we had blown it...everyone that is except one man....Ron Saunders. I was as down as anyone the next day until the great man appeared on the evening news. He was being interviewed and the general line of questioning was "Well, you've probably lost the title, how do you feel". Ron, as dour as ever immediately lifted my spirits with just seven little words: "Do you want to bet against us?" I knew then that we were going to be champions after all, Ron had said so and so it will be. The rest is history. David Cooper ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I remember singing 'We're on the march with Saunders' army, we're all going to Rotterdam' on the Witton End during the European Cup Quarter Final against Dinamo Kiev and the mighty Oleg Blokhin. Of course, by then Ron had left, but we'd been 'Saunders' Army' all my Villa supporting life and it wasn't until after this game that we became Barton's Army. Why the Witton End? The abscence of Kiev fans (apart from two 'fans' dressed rather aptly in black furs above us at the front of the North Stand) meant that Villa opened this area of terracing to home supporters and we wanted to see what it was like. Like Dave Cooper, I loved his dour style. He made Peter Reid look jovial but his deadpan style was always superb. Peter Bosworth Discuss  Home  About  Searching  Villa Park  Who's Who  Club Records  Hall of Fame  Paul McGrath  Andy Lockhead  Ron Saunders  Jimmy Rimmer  History  Honours  The Players  Managers  2003/2004  2002/2003  2001/2002  2000/2001  1999/2000  1998/1999  1997/1998  1996/1997  Kits  Bean Counting Forthcoming Matches 20th Dec: Blackburn (A) H&V's Mystic Prediction (by Paulo) Recent Matches Carling Cup: 17th Dec: Chelsea (H) 2-1 Goal Pics Full Fixture List BACK: Scum of the Month After a 2 year sabatical the infamous 'Scum of the Month' is back. Vote for the Scum now! NEW: H&V's Mystic Predictions Our light-hearted astrological look at the Villa World. Courtesy of Paulo NEW: GoalPics H&V have adopted Jay's Goalpics. You might recognise the style if you've got one of the Trust's New T-shirts NEW: RefWatch Almost new is H&V's look at the inconsistencies of refereeing. Join and post the gaff you spotted. BACK: Hall Of Fame Another one back after an absence. Vote for your favourite players of all time. BACK: Away Guide We All follow the Villa.... back from oblivion. The section not the place.
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