Aston Villa Football Club - California Supporters: April 2012

Sunday, April 29, 2012

To Owe Great Thanks

Villa boys held on for a draw versus West Brom on Saturday. Several thank you's are in order:

(1) Shay Given - great save to maintain the clean sheet
(2) Chelsea - for beating QPR 6-1
(3) Tottenham - for beating Blackburn

How it stands at the moment:

Remaining games to play that matter to Villa:

Aston Villa: Tottenham, Norwich City
Wigan: Blackburn, Wolverhampton
QPR: Stoke, Man City
Bolton: Tottenham, West Brom, Stoke (Bolton's game in hand may become very important)
Blackburn: Wigan, Chelsea

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Releg.........no, I won't say it.

It has come to the final 3 games. It's put up or shut up. That is all that is between remaining in the Barclays Premier League or tumbling to the nPower Championship.

http://blogs.soccernet.com/astonvilla/archives/2012/04/villas_relegation_threat_is_re.php

This ESPN columnist has touched upon something that I have seen within Villa at least the past 2 seasons. Critical games are looked at as "Can't Lose Games" versus "Must Win Games". Playing not to lose is not the way to play this game.

Don't get me wrong - I am still hoping for a miracle of some kind. I'll be supporting the Villa no matter where they end up, but right now the entire world of Villa supporters are frustrated and angry for good reason. Time to focus on only one thing - beating West Brom on Saturday.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Hot off the Press!

Just received our first Acorns/AVFC California t-shirts and they turned out great! (modeled by Hope)

You can order your own and other items at AVFC California's store: http://www.cafepress.com/avfccalifornia

100% of the net proceeds are being donated directly to Acorns Children's Hospice, the official charity partner of Aston VIlla Football Club.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I can't believe it. So we score first (Warnock) and before we can feel good about the lead, Bolton scores twice in less than 3 minutes following Villa's score. The equalizer stunned the Villa and the second Bolton goal was the upper cut to end the battle.

Villa played strong in the first half and had several chances. It was amazing when we scored to take the lead - but the environment changed very quickly shortly after that. I was listening to the commentary by Jack Woodward and it sounded like Villa players were completely stunned after the Bolton equalizer (Jack even used the term "drunk" to describe the teams deomeanor.

What a horrible loss. This relegation battle is not over by a long shot.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Yawn.

Villa draws with Sunderland nil-nil. Actually each team had their chances, but the shots that were attempted by Villa were really off the mark. Weimann showed a lot of hustle all day. Man of the Match? The linesman that called offsides on Sunderland's Bendtner's second half header that landed in the back of the net. Whew. Again - 1 point is better none.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Acorns-AVFC California Products

AVFC California is selliing t-shirts, mugs, and drink glasses with all net proceeds being donated to Acorn's Children's Hospice - the Official Charity Partner of Aston Villa Football Club.

Support Acorns by purchasing AVFC California supporter club products!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Not Pretty

Villa tumbled to Man Utd this morning 4-nil. The wheels didn't fall off of the bus until the second half and the United goals came in a flurry. None of this was unexpected, but it is still painful to watch. We at the Mad Dog in the Fog hung in there until the bitter end though. The boys did fight hard, especially in the first half, but falling behind will knock the winds out of you sails eventually.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Heads Up Portland...the California Lions are Coming to Town!

AVFC California will have a contingent of 40+ in Portland for Villa's summer friendly with the Portland Timbers (Major League Soccer) on 24 July. Sec 223 is designated as the Villa supporters section (last section - closest to the rooftop tennis courts in the image)

UP THE VILLA!

Jeld-Wen Field

"Virtual" view from Sec. 223

Monday, April 9, 2012

Another Draw - Villa 1 -1 Stoke

One of our young guns sparked a Villa lead, but Villa could only hold on for a draw versus Stoke City today at Villa Park. One point is better than none. Keep the faith Villans!

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................................................................................................................