May 16
Birmingham journalists mark 40th anniversary of Aston Villa’s Euro triumph
Journalists in Birmingham have produced a special publication to mark the 40th anniversary of Aston Villa winning the European Cup.
Birmingham Mail and BirminghamLive journalists pulled together the 64-page souvenir to celebrate the night Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich to become champions of Europe.
Interviews with players who featured that night are accompanied by memories from the army of travelling fans who made the trip to witness history being made in Rotterdam.
Journalists have also retraced Villa’s march across Europe to reach the final, when they conquered Iceland, East Germany, the Soviet Union and Belgium.
The team have also republished the original round-by-round match reports by the Birmingham Mail’s Leon Hickman, along with photographs.
“From Cornwall to Australia, we’ve tracked down heroes from that incredible night, including the man of the match Peter Withe, captain marvel Dennis Mortimer, midfield maestro Gordon ‘Sid’ Cowans, tricky winger Tony Morley and tough-tackling defender Allan Evans,” wrote BirminghamLive’s John Townley.
“Along with the legends of ’82, we have the stories of the fans who travelled the length and breadth of Europe supporting the boys in claret-and-blue.”
The publication is available from Reach’s online shop, priced at £2.50 and can be found here.
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