Aston Villa: Some memories... and the reality!

Aston Villa's relegation from the Premier League for the first time, and from the English top flight after 28 years, leaves Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com with a tinge of regret.

27 May, 2005.

It was a huge assignment for a fledgling media professional.

Aston Villa was a big club.

Seven-time winners of the domestic title in England, European champions in 1982 and boasting the fifth highest total of major honours (21) won by an English club.

Here was I at the Indian Habitat Centre, giving finishing touches to a documentary on the endeavours of the club, for a British channel. Not that I was given any time to prepare for the same.

It was an impromptu affair and, back then, I was nervous.

In hindsight, I believe that was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of rehearsed words and phrases, the documentary had ad hoc interactions.

The club officials were impressed.

I was proud, probably as much as Pavitar Singh Randhawa -- a British boy of Indian origin who a few weeks ago had won a six-week trial with Aston Villa's youth academy.

The above is partly true, and partly exaggeration. Get the drift...

Since then I have kept track of the club's programmes and results. There were subsequent professional interactions with club officials, mostly via the phone and e-mail.

Then football took a back seat, rather it was cricket that served my professional interests better.

In 2011, it was cricket that took me to Birmingham, where Aston Villa is based.

The third Test during that India tour of England was scheduled at Edgbaston. I was going to be based in the West Midlands for nine days and a visit to Villa Park was among the various things planned.

There was a setback, though. The race riots, which started in London, had spread to other cities.

For the uninitiated, Birmingham might be the second largest city in England, but as you move outside the city centre, you get the feeling of a Bulandshahr or Rawalpindi.

So prominent is the impact of South Asian migrants that Cafe Noor, Manzil Restaurant, Shahnaaz Sarees and similar hoardings are what you are likely to see as you move further.

Even as I reported on the riots, the local police kept briefing me on a list of do's and don'ts at regular intervals. Witton was one of the suburbs I was asked not to visit.

There was a status quo for a few days. Then normalcy was restored.

After completing my professional requirements, I was left with a day to do what was on my agenda to begin with -- a visit to Villa Park.

I reached in quick time only to be told that the club premises were closed that day. Thankfully, the caretaker was a gentleman of Pakistani origin. A bit of pleading, and a brief conversation in Urdu, did the trick.

And here I was, inside the stadium.

All alone, looking at the water sprinklers on the ground, the empty stands, the many photographs that adorned the walls and learning about the exploits of Peter Withe -- whose solitary goal won the club its lone European Cup (precursor to the Champions League) at the expense of Bayern Munich.

It was a moment to cherish. Still is.

And it is these memories that fill me with a tinge of sadness when I see the reality that Aston Villa has been relegated from the Premier League for the first time and from the English top flight after 28 years.

(Till the creation of the Premier League ahead of the 1992-1993 season, the First Division was the main tournament in English football.)

To be honest, I was never a Villa fan. I am also aware that the club flirted with relegation for the past five seasons.

It is sad that the club will end up at the bottom, having collected just 16 points from 34 games so far this season.

Also true is the fact that only vestiges remain of a club that has spent 104 seasons in the top tier of English football -- second only to Everton (112 seasons).

What went wrong? I can't, and should not, judge.

However, also true is the fact that my first major assignment was related to the club.

It is these memories that leave me with a tinge of regret.

Here's hoping to see Aston Villa back in the Premier League soon.