"Put it this way," said Ian Taylor, when asked if he was likely to renew his contract after nine years at Villa Park. "It wouldn't cost a fortune for Villa to keep me on."

I dare say a whip round on the Holte End each week would have sufficed.

I'd also be willing to bet the fans would have been happy to give more than just spare change. There have been times I would have remortgaged my house to have Taylor back in his prime and wearing claret and blue.

By the...

It's an odd quirk that, while even the very best of British have failed to make their mark in Italy, the players of one particular club have always settled well in the land of the scudetto.

David Platt impressed at Bari, Sampdoria and Juventus, establishing himself as England's captain and most consistent performer in the early nineties.

Gordon Cowans suffered relegation with Bari but, ever the honest professional, spent a further two seasons in Serie B, applying his...

It's March 24, 1996, and Savo Milosevic has just curled the ball into the top corner of the Leeds United goal from 30 yards. Wembley explodes.

Roars from the Aston Villa fans are matched by groans from their counterparts. Only one man stays quiet.

He gives a big smile, and raises his hands in the air, but he is still utterly calm and composed. And why not? Brian Little has been here before, after all.

21 years earlier the competition had provided the Aston Villa...

Paul McGrath will always hold a place in my claret and blue heart for one simple reason.

Watching him effortlessly intercept a through-ball one Saturday afternoon at the start of the 1990s, I genuinely believed, for the only time in my life, that I was sitting in the Holte End watching the world's best player in his position play for Aston Villa.

Not nearly the best. Not one of the best. The best.

It's an idea that must be utterly incomprehensible to the...

In the week before this article was written, Gareth Barry took to the pitch for his 352nd game for Aston Villa's first team in all competitions.

It's an astonishing total, but still leaves the club captain more than 300 games shy of the record held by the greatest playing servant in the club's history.

In all, Charlie Aitken made 656 appearances in the claret and blue. His Villa Park career spanned three decades and three divisions, and he outlasted five managers, playing...