never a villain

Playing for Aston Villa has not prevented many players from winning the highest honours in the game. International caps, winners medals for the League Cup, championship, European Cup and, if you are of at least pensionable age, the FA Cup are legacies for some of those who have plied their trade at Villa Park since the Second World War. However, there is one award that has eluded every Villa player; the Football Writers Footballer of the Year. There has not even been the reflected glory of seeing former players win the trophy with their clubs on a regular basis. The only player who came into this category was Danny Blanchflower, winner in 1957-58 and 1960-61 while with Spurs, who he had joined after a short time with the Villa.

So why are we still waiting for the hacks to honour one of our favourites? More often than not, the earliest winners were dawn from a team that had reached the FA Cup Final. This may explain why such famous names as Harry Johnson (BIackpool) in 1951, Syd Owen (Luton Town) in 1959 and Bill Slater (Wolves) in 1960 were successful.. Former German prisoner of war Bert Trautmann got most votes in 1956, the season that he played in goal for Manchester City in the Cup Final. Knowing how much the national press love us, it was hardly surprising that they should overlook the winners of the following year's final.

In fairness, it was not until the late seventies that there were Villa players who could be considered serious contenders for their award. Having said this, Alan Mullery was the surprise winner in 1975, Although undoubtedly a great player in his prime, he was playing out his career at Fulham, then a mediocre second division side, when he lead them to that season's FA Cup Final. Because of who they beat in the semi, I am sure there would have been few Villa supporters begrudging Mullery his award, although an even more popular winner would have been John Mitchell. When your team has just won the double of promotion and the League Cup it is easy to be magnanimous. But if the press wanted to reward someone in a lower division team, why didn't they give it to a Villa player? Somehow I don't think that a veteran like Charlie Aitken would have had the sentimental pull with the London journalists that a former player from Bloody Spurs had.

Mullery's Sky Sports colleague, Andy Gray was mysteriously overlooked in 1977,

After winning both the PFA Player and Young Player of the Year awards, You would have thought that he would have been a unanimous choice amongst the likes of Brian Glanville. Steve Curry and Jeff Powell. But no, they picked Emily 'Crazy Horse' Hughes. This was as much an insult to his superior colleagues in that wonderful Liverpool team as it was to Gray. Midlands sportswriters then compounded this felony by electing Trevor Francis as their Player of the Year. Although they chose Peter Withe in 1981, there was absolutely no chance that their Fleet Street counterparts would be so daring as to elect a player from the champions in waiting. After backing Ipswich's inevitably abortive title challenge so strongly, it was only natural that they should go for Frans Thijssen, with Mick Mills and John Wark in second and third places respectively.

The following season saw them reverting to type when selecting Steve Perryman, captain of Spurs 1982 FA Cup Final side. In the unlikely event of a London team reaching the European Cup final, you get the impression that the tabloids would conduct a concerted campaign for their captain to be knighted.

For services to Aston Villa, Gordon Cowans and Paul McGrath should receive this honour. Although an integral part of the league and European Cup winning teams, Sid probably produced his best form in 1989-90. The main beneficiary of his outstanding ability and vision was David Platt, winner of the 1990 FA award. Paul McGrath was to win this award three years later. Politics may have prevented him winning the less prestigious writers award, as I wonder how many hacks, particularly those based in Manchester, were dissuaded from voting for the mercurial Irishman by the fear of embarrassing Alex Ferguson, the man who tried to put him on the football scrapheap.

Forget the likes of Bryan Robson, Erie Cantona, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, McGrath is the only truly world class player to have played for Manchester United since another teetotaller from across the Irish Sea by the name of George Best. This particular genius won the Football Writers award in 1968. I think Villa will win the FA Cup again before one of our players wins this award. But then the former is a very slim possibility and the latter an impossibility.

Andy Wainwright.