Aston Villa Football Club - California Supporters: March 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Heart-wrenching News

Speaking for all members of AVFC California, we are all shocked from hearing the news today of Stiliyan Pretov's Acute Leukaemia diagnosis. Stiliyan is the heart of the team and Villa supporters around the world are behind him and his family all the way.

We pray for his treatments and hope for a speedy recovery and also for his family. From over 8,400 km away, we send you and your family our best thoughts and support.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

2012-2013 Pre-Season U.S. Tour Announced!

AVFC California members - be sure to check your email for more information.

http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2696527,00.html

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Finally...a win at Villa Park!

After last week's struggle vs. Blackburn... I certainly was not confident going into this morning's home match vs Fulham. But after getting substituted in late in the 2nd half, Andreas Weimann knocked in the winning goal in extra time and Villa won 1-nil. These 3 points were needed to keep out of the relegation zone. I thought it was great having Albrighton, Gardner, Bannan, and Weimann in there. They brought so much more energy to the pitch.

Here is the call by Jack Woodward ("The Voice of the Villa")

object data="http://abfiles.s3.amazonaws.com/swf/fullsize_player.swf" height="129" id="boo_embed_706260" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400">
Villa winner against Fulham (mp3)

How Did You Become a Villa Supporter?

"I wonder how many fans are actually originally from Birmingham or surrounding area. I am and I'm always interested if someone isn't from near Villa Park, why did they pick Villa as the team to follow." .............................................................................................. "I like Rick's story, he picked Villa as they were 'sponsored' by Acorns Children's Hospice at the time, a cause close to Rick's heart."..................................................................................................................... "I was born in Solihull (12 miles south of Villa Park) and my older bro turned me into a Villa supporter"................................................................................................................ "I am originally from Vauxhall (Birmingham B7) and have followed the Villa since my dad took me to see a game at Villa Park on my 4th birthday. I was a season ticket holder at VP from 1968 until I moved over here twelve years ago."........................................................................................................................"I am from Halesowen which is right next to the black country. Which is tesco carrier bag territory. However my dad is from the city and he always took me and my brother to villa games. I was a season ticket holder in the holte untill 2007 when I moved out here."......................................................................................................................."So why do I support Villa if I've never been to Birmingham? That's a very good question that I've asked myself many times over the years. When I started following the league almost everyone was a Liverpool fan for the same reason almost everyone now is a United, City, or Chelsea fan. Not being someone who follows the crowd I wanted to support a team that was unique and different. When I was a kid, Andy Gray was one of my favorite players and I used to read his columns in Shoot magazine about playing for Villa and thought a lot of the things about the team were unique: the team name, colors, and specially the history."..................................................................................................................."Born just a couple of miles from Villa park, with my father, mother, grandparents and more than half of my extended family with claret and blue blood (you can work out who the rest of that motley crew supported SOTC) it was written in the stars that I was going to be Villa through and through."...................................................................................................................I was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. Played the game for 30 some odd years and have been a Villa fan all my life. I have seen 2 live games(both losses, but a great atmosphere none the less). My grandfather was a steward at Villa Park for many years. My father and brother are members of the Canadian Villa fan club in Toronto. I'm here in the central valley, and know of couple of villa fans here in Fresno................................................................................................................