Ron was a winner ...we all had utter respect for him
Morley leads tributes to Villa’s title-winning boss
AT Villa Park, the legacy of Ron Saunders is there for all to see, in large letters across the North Stand. ‘Shaw, Williams prepared to adventure down the left, there’s a good ball played in for Tony Morley...oh, it must be!... And it is! Peter Withe!’ This was the commentary from Brian Moore that provided the soundtrack to the greatest moment in Aston Villa’s history: the 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final that put Villa in a select group of English teams to have won what is arguably club football’s greatest prize.
The great pity, however, is that Saunders was not on the touchline to witness it. With Villa in the quarter-finals of the competition, he walked out on them following a contractual dispute. Two weeks later, he was back at Villa Park as manager of Birmingham City, their most bitter rivals.
Tony Barton, who had been Saunders’ assistant, was the manager when Villa beat Bayern Munich in Rotterdam, but few would question that Saunders was the real key to their success.
‘The biggest regret is that he was never able to fulfil what he started,’ Morley, who played for Saunders at Villa, Birmingham and West Brom, told Sportsmail. ‘He had the club set up in the right way from the youth level all the way to the first team and with more backing, he’d have won five or six more trophies.’
Saunders died on Saturday, at the age of 87. He lived his final years with dementia and is the only man to have managed Villa, Birmingham and West Brom, where he was in charge from 1986 to 1987.
There was a minute’s silence at Villa Park before yesterday’s meeting with Leicester, while Villa players wore black armbands. There was applause in the 81st minute — a reference to 1981, the year Saunders led Villa to the league title — while before the game, a banner was unfurled bearing one of Saunders’ most memorable remarks: ‘I just consider myself lucky that I happen to be manager of their club and I regard myself as one of them.’
Last year, a petition was started by supporters to try to persuade the club to rename the North Stand ‘The Ron Saunders Stand’. The case for recognition is powerful: that year, Saunders outwitted greats of the managerial game such as Bob Paisley, Brian Clough and Bobby Robson to deliver Villa’s first title since 1910. They have not won it since.
Born in Birkenhead, Saunders was a centre forward who started his career at Everton and had spells with Watford Gillingham, and Charlton. Portsmouth, He also managed Yeovil, Oxford, Norwich and Manchester City.
Saunders is probably best known for his work in the West Midlands but his achievements elsewhere must not be overlooked. Before he joined Villa, he led Norwich and City to the League Cup final in consecutive seasons, before making it a hattrick with Villa. He also won promotion to the top flight with both Norwich and Villa. Throughout his career, Saunders developed a reputation as a ferocious taskmaster. ‘ I don’t think he’d survive in this day and age because he’d have a go at people,’ said Morley, now 65. ‘Not in a nasty way, but he’d make it clear what he wanted and some people wouldn’t like it.
‘He’d never come in the dressing room and go mad, but you always knew there were problems when he took his gloves off. If he came in at half-time and did that, you knew what was about to happen.
‘He was a winner. A lot of people thought he was dull and boring but that wasn’t the case, as he had a great sense of humour. You knew where you stood with him. You knew what your job was, and if you didn’t do it well enough, he’d go and get someone who’d do it better.
‘He had a touch of genius and we all had utter respect for him. Not fear but respect, because he was a winner and you want to be involved with winners. The team who won the European Cup was his team. No disrespect to Tony Barton, but we all knew it was Ron’s team.’
Dean Smith, the current Villa manager, paid his own tribute yesterday. ‘He built an incredible team that I was fortunate to come and watch here,’ Smith said. ‘To win the league in 1981 with only 14 players — six or seven made 42 appearances and played every minute of every game — was incredible. My heart goes out to his family. I’m sure he has inspired me in some way.’
There is another banner that lauds Saunders at Villa Park, this time at the Holte End. ‘Do you want to bet against us?’ it reads, recalling Saunders’ defiant line as Villa wobbled in the 1981 title race. It was that spirit that took his team to the highest peak and secured his place in English football’s pantheon.