On behalf of the non-knuckle dragging cohort of our fan base (trust me, we do exist!) I want to apologise for the whole embarrassing ‘Sob on the Tyne’ fiasco.
Seeing a small section of fans display that petty banner on that day back in the 08/09 season where you got relegated definitely didn’t fill me with pride about my club.
It made me cringe like I’d never cringed before. And what made it worse was up until this point there had been no bad blood between two clubs who were (and still are) one of the main pillars of English football.
It just happened because some unwashed ‘members’ of our fan base wanted to revel in another club’s misfortune.
We know all too well about the pain it causes when an owner mismanages and neglects your club to the point of ruin (we too, were perilously close to the brink under a certain ‘Dr’ Tony Xia a few years back).
And so I wanted to write this article, with our huge tie this weekend looming, to let you know that the vast majority of Villa fans were never behind such a crass and pointless emblem of what was a very ‘small club mentality kind of move, you know, the sort of thing a Mackem would do.
In fact, what has filled me with pride recently is seeing a lot of Villa and Toon fans on social media both praising each other’s clubs for the excellent seasons they’ve had. Another thing we both have in common (other than being exposed to the Cabbage’s inept football), is knowing the feeling of watching on as the Sky ‘big six’ get all the silverware and plaudits, so for sleeping giants (that are awaking) clubs like ours to disrupt this season that can only be a good thing for the game.
You guys look like more and more like a top four side with each passing game and for us, we looked down and out just before the World Cup before our Lord and saviour Unai Emery came along and completely revitalised the club. What a time to be a Villa or a Toon fan!
So, as we welcome you to Villa Park on Saturday afternoon I wanted to wish the Toon all the best and hope you accept this olive branch no matter what the score is at full time.
