Steve Stride writes about his experiences of working with Big Ron Atkinson at Aston Villa in his most recent column for BirminghamLive.
When Ron Atkinson managed Villa, life was never boring. Known by most as Big Ron, he was without a doubt the most charismatic manager in the history of the team. His mission was to turn things around and put us back on course following our flirtation with relegation the season before. He was big, brash, and forceful.
Ron guided us to a single trophy—the League Cup championship. victory in 1994, but he elevated Villa’s popularity to unprecedented levels and his standing helped the team draw in a string of high-profile recruits, including as Andy Townsend, Dalian Atkinson, Steve Staunton, Dean Saunders, Ray Houghton, and Steve Staunton.
He didn’t limit his use of his extraordinary persuasive abilities to football players. Even though I didn’t have a ticket, he told me I would be able to enter Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg when I went with him to the 1992 European Championship final in Sweden. Even though I could never have predicted how things would happen, he was also correct.
I had not planned on going to any of the Euro ’92 matches, but that all changed when war-torn Yugoslavia was replaced by Denmark shortly before the tournament began, and they shocked everyone by making it to the final, where they were scheduled to play Germany. A few days before the match I flew to Sweden because one of my good friends from my time at Villa, center defender Kent Nielsen, was on the Danish team.
I went with Ron the day before the final since he was doing match coverage for ITV. Despite the fact that every hotel in the city had been reserved months in advance, he even got me a room at the hotel where he was staying. Even yet, I was still without a ticket, and each time I voiced my fear, Ron would only reply, “Don’t worry, buddy.”
Ron and I went to the stadium with Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton on the day of the match, and they laughed at how anxious I was. Jack gave me his accreditation tag as soon as we arrived at the stadium and told me to put it on so there wouldn’t be any issues. You don’t look like me, so make sure to wear it with the reverse showing.
I approached the media door with a scarlet face, full of embarrassment and guilt, but I was waved through without a second thought. From the TV gantry, I watched my mate Kent and his Danish friends defeat the Germans 2-0.
Ron always had such a cockiness about him. Even though he was a dedicated football fan, he never shied away from a little banter, especially with his teammates and the club secretary, especially while we were on pre-season trips.
There was a day, when a number of us were lounging by the hotel pool when he challenged us to an informal game of name all the FA Cup winners since the Second World War. Together, we were able to identify every response, ranging from Derby County in 1946 to Liverpool, the winners of the 1992 championship game over Sunderland.
After bringing the most renowned football competition in the world up to date, we moved on to the League Cup, where Manchester United, who had won the cup for the first time by defeating Nottingham Forest in the previous season’s final, finished ahead of Villa, who had won it for the first time in 1961.
Ron then asked that we make an effort to remember the winners of the Grand National, the Wimbledon tennis champions, and the golf Open. Other sports proved to be far less effective for us, and when Ron insisted, “Name every Boat Race winner since the war!” we had absolutely no chance.
During a separate international trip, Ron and I rode the coach from the airport to our hotel, where we struck up a conversation regarding the possibility of Villa Park hosting some of the games during the 1996 European Championship finals.
Ron asked me to name every stadium that was utilized that summer when I remarked that it would be thirty years since I had watched a couple football games during the 1966 World Cup finals from the temporary bench seats on the Witton End terrace. The first one that sprung to mind, for whatever reason, was London’s White City. Without any delay, Ron redirected his attention to the front of the coach and muttered, “That’s the one I thought you wouldn’t get!”
One time, I even tricked him with a trivia question of my own: who won the 1979 League Championship medal and was named the Lions Clubs player of the year? I ended his suffering since he was confused, to put it mildly. I was the one who had the answer!
The Steve Stride Column
We have secured Steve Stride’s memoir writing services to chronicle his tenure at Aston Villa as ‘Deadly’ Doug Ellis’ right-hand man.
Take a trip with him through some of the most exciting periods in the history of claret and blue, when there was never a boring moment.