VICTORY IS WORTH A MEGA £170m, SO FOR DERBY AND VILLA TODAY’S PLAY-OFF FINAL IS... WIN OR BUST
THE winner of the Championship play-off final earns a fortune in prize money, parachute payments and TV rights. Here is exactly how much the last 10 winners have banked for triumphing at Wembley:
DEAN SMITH has managed at Wembley before. He was in charge of Walsall for the 2015 Football League Trophy final against Bristol City. Walsall lost 2-0 but the result was secondary in his mind when thinking back now — on the eve of leading Aston Villa into the biggest match of his life, worth £170million to the winning club. Instead, the sorrow for Smith at that last Wembley visit came from remembering his father Ron. ‘Unfortunately because of his dementia he doesn’t know that I’m Aston Villa head coach,’ said Smith, his voice cracking slightly and his eyes becoming dewy. He pauses as he allows private pain to become public. ‘I remember — you have to excuse me here — after the Walsall game, the final, I had to put my dad to bed that night, which is a tough thing to do for anyone.’ Ron has been in a care home for the last three years and Smith sees him a couple of times a week. It was he who fired Smith’s love for football. Ron was a steward in Villa Park’s Trinity Road Stand and followed the club to Rotterdam for the 1982 European Cup final. So Smith grew up a fan, too, adding poignancy to the prospect of taking Villa back to the Premier League. Father and son would share countless journeys supporting their club together. Derby County have aspirations of their own, of course, and in-house supporters too. Owner Mel Morris, the local businessman, is as fanatical as ever after experiencing the heartache of three playoff failures in five years. Appointing Frank Lampard has proven astute and it would be a mighty achievement to take Derby up in the manager’s first season. Chelsea have noted Lampard’s success and the sense is growing that they are prepared to move for their former player should Maurizio Sarri depart. Whatever the outcome at Wembley, Lampard will sit down with Morris for talks that he describes as ‘crucial’. Difficulties will arise if Derby are still in the Championship and restricted by the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules. Sales would be needed before buys could be made and Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori and Harry Wilson, loans so integral this year, will go back to Chelsea and Liverpool. The landscape is similar for Villa. Smith says ‘the potential is massive’ in the Premier League, backed by billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, but Championship regulations would, for instance, preclude any permanent deal for Tyrone Mings. Then there is Jack Grealish, who deserves to play in the Premier League. Mauricio Pochettino’s interest remains strong, even if Grealish would cost significantly more than the £25m that Tottenham offered last summer. Grealish’s return from injury sparked Villa’s record run of 10 successive wins, alchemy for a campaign that looked like finishing inauspiciously. The way he responded to being punched by Birmingham fan Paul Mitchell confirmed the maturity that convinced Smith to make him captain. So proud was Grealish at St Andrew’s that he actually took that day’s armband home to keep as a memento. There will be 37 of his family members at Wembley. Last season Villa went away distraught and a summer of turmoil followed. Tony Xia’s financial troubles ushered in the
threat of administration. The takeover was essential. John Terry was playing 12 months ago, but he will be in Villa’s dugout this year, assisting Smith and trying to beat his close friend Lampard. The pair spent 13 years together at Chelsea, winning 11 major honours. ‘I’m quite looking forward to going up against John,’ said Lampard. ‘I’ve had a couple of messages. One of us will be happy and one will be sad.’ Ashley Cole will add a further feel of Stamford Bridge, expected to play for Derby in his first game at Wembley since featuring for England in March 2014. This match between two well-supported, much-storied clubs offers so much intrigue — even before recalling the role performed by a cabbage. Thrown by an irate, rather juvenile Villa fan during October’s 3-3 draw with Preston, it marked the end for then manager Steve Bruce. Villa, led by chief executive Christian Purslow, interviewed five candidates, including Thierry Henry, but Smith was selected as the ‘outstanding’ choice based on the results and style achieved at Walsall and Brentford. It was at Brentford that Smith got Lampard to give a talk to his team. ‘Dean used to drink in the same pub as my dad and he mentioned it would be good if I could speak to his players,’ recalled Lampard. ‘So I popped in and chatted to them for an hour. I was impressed with Dean. He gets into the emotional side.’ Despite his freshness to management Lampard has carried a steely assurance, demanding a progressive approach and dedicating his time in such a way that his wife Christine has been known to change the nappies of their baby girl Patricia in his office at Pride Park. Smith’s first job came in different circumstances, taking over Walsall nine points adrift at the foot of League One in January 2011. ‘Getting Villa up would be a big achievement but probably keeping Walsall up was bigger because we needed snookers,’ he said. This time, it could all come down to one clean strike of the ball.