VILLA HAIL TWO OF THEIR OWN
Grealish and Co fire Villa to top-flight riches
ASToN VILLA’S owners promised ‘the sky is the limit’ after watching Dean Smith’s side clinch promotion to the Premier League in the £170million match at Wembley.
Billionaire businessmen Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens will back Villa with funds to ensure they can compete on their return to the top flight.
Star man Jack Grealish led the celebrations after Villa sealed a 2-1 win over Derby, with goals from Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn, to end a three-season top-flight exile.
‘our ambition was not just to get promoted but to do well in the Premier League,’ said Sawiris. ‘We’ve seen that with great management the sky is the limit, with such a fan base and such a great squad.’
Smith said: ‘ The potential of the
Dean Smith paused near a corner of the Wembley pitch, looked up and savoured the sight of a jubilant sea of claret and blue, tapped his chest with a hand and they responded by calling his name and bowing with hands raised in his honour.
it was a moment of mutual respect after a tumultuous campaign, with Smith acknowledging the aston Villa supporters and them in return hailing the manager, one of their own no less, who arrived in October and led them to promotion.
elsewhere, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, joined the delirium and hugged former Villa striker John Carew, and Jack Grealish somehow cut his eye on the trophy as it was thrust it into the air.
in seven months under Smith, Villa have been energised, found their purpose once again and the club has reconnected to its fanbase. this adventurous team is forged around local lad Grealish, who has matured into an unlikely captain and the player he has always threatened to be.
What a journey it has been.
From the ridiculousness of last summer to the cabbage attack on Steve Bruce, the bungled pursuit of thierry henry to replace him and the mindless pitch invader at St andrew’s on derby day emerged this sublime day of Wembley glory.
One which featured big-name former england stars Frank Lampard, John terry and ashley Cole and gifted on-loan talents of the future in tammy abraham, mason mount and harry Wilson. But it was all about the likeable and down-to-earth Smith.
his time is now. and his father Ron, a former Villa Park steward living with dementia which means he does not even know his son is now manager of the club they love and used to support together from the terraces, would be immensely proud of the way his son delivered this triumph.
Smith told how he had visited Ron in his care home on Friday and promised next time he saw him he would be a Premier League manager, and how his father smiled briefly in return. he told how he tried to separate the emotion of the occasion from his team talk and away from the players.
he stayed calm and clear-headed, at least until he saw his wife and children in tears in the Royal Box.
he was dignified enough in his finest hour to thank his players and staff and even note the contribution of Bruce, his predecessor who recruited most of the team and both Wembley goalscorers. anwar el Ghazi arrived on loan from Lille and John mcGinn for less than £3million from hibernian.
how mcGinn managed to beat Derby’s 6ft 4in goalkeeper Kelle Roos to a high ball and head in the vital second goal 14 minutes into the second half is hard to imagine, but no one of a Villa persuasion cared to stop and analyse it.
Roos ought to have commanded his area and claimed the ball which spun high when el Ghazi’s shot hit Richard Keogh, but the quickthinking Scot nipped in to score what proved to be the winner.
it was not a thing of beauty. But a club which won the european Cup in 1982 with a goal from Peter Withe’s shin know better than most there are no bonuses awarded for aesthetics.
into Villa history alongside Withe and mcGinn will go the first against Derby, deflected into the net off the shoulders of el Ghazi as the winger misjudged a diving header a minute before half-time.
Lampard bemoaned the timing on the first and mistake for the second. he might also dwell on his decision not to start Jack marriott, hero of the semi-final fightback at Leeds, and experienced striker martyn Waghorn, who had been struggling for fitness ahead of the game.
there can be no emptier feeling in football than defeat at Wembley after 10 months of fierce competition. Derby have now lost in the play-offs four times in six seasons.
Derby pulled one back with nine minutes left, marriott’s strike from 12 yards taking a flick off Waghorn on the way in. it tested Villa’s nerves, as did an injury to tyrone mings as the centre back produced a splendid recovery tackle on Waghorn in the build-up to the goal.
Smith described the end to the game as ‘the longest 15 minutes of his life’ as the clocked ticked into added time but Villa saw it out as worthy victors.
When it was over, Smith was a Premier League manager, just as he promised his father he would be.
‘it feels right,’ he said. ‘it feels right that aston Villa are in the Premier League.’
they are back after a three years in the Championship, the club’s longest exile since the early 1970s, for the first time under their new stable ownership and with a jackpot of at least £170m to invest.