Graham Taylor - A Great Loss To AVFC And Football | Page 3 | Vital Football

Graham Taylor - A Great Loss To AVFC And Football

Like everyone else I am absolutely shocked and sadenned by this news.

Being born in 1979 I started to really get into football and the Villa at the age of 6 or 7 just when Graham Taylor was starting his first stint as manager.

It was some of my happiest days supporting us. Daley, Platt, McInally, Spink, Birch, Aspinall (rubbish but a personal hero of mine), Walters, Cowans, Nielsen, Mountfield and obviously Yorkie towards the end... the list of qulaity players we had was endless. Great time to get your first taste of the Villa, under such a wonderful and well respected boss.

RIP Graham
 
My favourite Graham Taylor quote, talking about Doug Ellis -

"We have a love hate relationship - He loves me"


:19:
 
DeanoVilla - 12/1/2017 15:54

Like everyone else I am absolutely shocked and sadenned by this news.

Being born in 1979 I started to really get into football and the Villa at the age of 6 or 7 just when Graham Taylor was starting his first stint as manager.

It was some of my happiest days supporting us. Daley, Platt, McInally, Spink, Birch, Aspinall (rubbish but a personal hero of mine), Walters, Cowans, Nielsen, Mountfield and obviously Yorkie towards the end... the list of qulaity players we had was endless. Great time to get your first taste of the Villa, under such a wonderful and well respected boss.

RIP Graham
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Lol, I loved Warren Aspinall!! The very definition of 'limited' but I'll always remember him scoring against Spurs in the League Cup when we were in Div 2 (same day as the October storms of 1987 if I remember rightly).

Some other greats in there too Deano, and GT immortalised for bringing Paul McGrath to Villa.

:94:
 
Very sad news to hear of Graham's passing. A thoroughly decent man who I met as one of the winners of a competition in 2002-3 to visit Bodymoor Heath and and watch the players train etc. ( The Fear was also in attendance!)

I remember talking one to one with Graham on the touchline as we watched the players training and it was so obvious the man was in love with football and he made me feel so important like I was the only person there.

Thanks for saving and turning Aston Villa around Graham and thanks for the marvellous memories you have left us.

My thoughts of condolence go out to his family and many friends.

Rest In Peace Graham.



 

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Anyone see Doug being interviewed on SSN?!? Poor bugger finally lost his marbles I think.

"Ooh I can see and here myself on TV"

Yes Doug. It's called a magic picture box.
 
A Villa legend joins the hole Ender's in the sky, a real football man, a true gentleman who always had time for a chat, a sad day, I shall raise a glass later in his memory, RIP GT


 
Gutted. Even in his second spell where Ellis pulled the plug and he was operating on a shoestring he had successes - Hitz, Barry etc. How many other managers were responsible for bringing in 4 legends which would grace most fans top XI - Platt, Cowans, McGrath, Yorke, not to mention McInally who probably would have become another had we not cashed in. Even when the Dr purchased the club from Lerner I was hoping he'd end up back at the club in some advisory capacity, that's how highly he was regarded by pretty much all of us. Absolutely loved the bloke.
 
What that man did for Aston Villa in turning us from a complete car crash into a force again was absolutely incredible. In terms of managers will always be second only to Ron Saunders. This one hits really hard; few people in the game I admire as much as Graham Taylor. RIP
 
I can only echo what others have said. Some brilliant times standing in the upper Holte in the late 80's watching Graham Taylors team. A true gent and so very close to getting us another Division 1 title. RIP Graham.
 
So sad.
Thankyou GT. Great memories. Particularly that 89-90 season. 6-2 win against Everton. Beating the then champions Arsenal and then Man United at home around xmas time to name just a few. Runners up in that season. Imagine what could have happened had he stayed instead of going to England?

Not many had the measure of Deadly. He did. I wish he never came back as manager, these things never seem to work out. But it doesn't matter, as a lad in his early teens his time in the 80's at villa will always be a up there with the best.

Rest in peace. :94:
 
Loved reading some of your memories of Graham Taylor. I wasn't even born for his first spell as Villa manager but my brother has been telling me how fantastic he was. His second spell was difficult but then the club was on the downward spiral under Ellis. He was a great man, very knowledgeable. You always seemed to agree with what he was saying and he genuinely seemed to love Aston Villa. Called us 'we' rather than 'they' all the time. A truly great man and how lovely it has been to see all the tributes pour in today. How fitting its Wolves vs Villa on Saturday, a great way to celebrate the life of a great great man who loved football and loved this club. Your one of us, Graham. Holte Ender in the sky!
 
Sad, sad day a true gent of English football.

Like Simon, I don't have the memories of GT in the 80's however one of my favourite games of all time was beating Chelsea 2-1 with a Marcus Allback brace. We were struggling at the time then I believe we found some for pm beating Sunderland too. We could've been a 2nd tier team thirteen years earlier however GT came back if I re,ember correctly and did the job.
 
A nice article from Sid Cowans giving us an insight into Graham the manager and man.

His sad death has certainly hit a lot of people including me.


Gordon Cowans: Graham Taylor was someone we all wanted to play for
The former Aston Villa midfielder pays tribute to a ‘kind, generous, good man’ whose success was rooted in his honesty, coaching ability and man management


Article: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/12/graham-taylor-gordon-cowans
 
Lovely tribute by Sid.
Graham new he had a special talent in David Platt, and he knew he needed a pass master genius to bring it out. So he got Sid , and Sid made him into an England player.
That was Graham , always a step ahead in the game.
 
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