Head Space Daily Words...

As last weekend approached, my youngest son had already decided it was going to be “the best weekend ever.” Not only was his best mate, who has been living in Australia for the last four years, in town for a Saturday hang out and sleepover, he was also going to see Aston Villa play Liverpool on Sunday, in the F.A Cup Semi Final. These are defining moments in a young person’s life and if Christian Benteke, Villa’s star man, had already stated the semi final was going to be the biggest match of his career, you can only imagine where it registered on the scale for my two boys. It was to be my third F.A Cup Semi Final and sixth time I had seen Villa at Wembley and despite having had a very poor season, the recent change in manager and complete turn around in philosophy and performance, meant that the team and supporters travelled with a great sense of optimism and confidence. The belief felt far higher than when we lost to Chelsea at the same stage of the competition in 2010, at a time when we were actually doing quite well.

My youngest son had seen his best friend a couple of years ago, when his family was last in London. They have one of those friendships where they just fall back into it, as if they had seen each other yesterday. That is a special thing and not something that I ever experienced as a kid – or an adult for that matter. To have an almost telepathic understanding with someone is priceless.

On Saturday morning it was training for the Under 10s football team that I manage and as the three of us walked to the park I was poised to help the conversation on its way, in case things were a bit awkward between the two lads, having only just been reacquainted. As it happened, the chat flowed immediately, as they discussed whether PS3 or Xbox was the best games console and from that point there was no stopping them. I can picture them in another two years time deep in conversation about whatever it is that is ruling their worlds at that moment.

In the afternoon some friends came over, including an Arsenal fan, with whom we watched the Gunners beat Reading in extra time, to clinch a spot in the F.A Cup Final. Over dinner and a few drinks, the possibility of going to the Green Man Festival in Hay On Wye this August was discussed. I am listening to Waxahatchee, who is playing at Green Man, as I write this. I have never been to a festival before, never really fancying the lack of ablutions and the idea of ‘roughing it,’ so it is about time I did one, I guess. The line up looks good and the vibe of the festival seems to be spot on. It is not a huge 200,000 people monster like Glastonbury. Green Man looks like it could be fun. Watch this space.

Once sleepover was finished and breakfast eaten, my two boys and myself were off to Wembley. The excitement was immense and built up nicely on the journey from South East to North West London, as the Wembley Arch eventually came into view. The biggest game of their lives and what could be the only time that the three of us ever see Villa play at Wembley together. Who knows? The walk up Wembley Way was keenly photographed by my eldest son, to post later on Facebook, like a photo journal of the day’s events. Respects were paid to the imposing statue of England’s greatest player, Bobby Moore, before we entered the West Stand of ‘the home of football.’

We located our seats, close to the front of the third tier, in the corner of the stadium, then went back to the concourse to watch the Villa fans arrive, drink a pre match pint – me, not the boys – buy a flag and take in highlights of Villa’s road to Wembley on one of the screens, to put us in the mood.

When we took our seats, the atmosphere was positive, confident and loud. To hear the Villa fans in full voice is one of my favourite sounds in life. Thirty two thousand tone-deaf, mostly Brummie individuals, singing in perfect harmony. Bliss. “Yippee ay aye, Yippee ay ohhhh, Holte Enders in the sky,” went our take on the Johnny Cash track Ghost Riders In The Sky – Villa’s long time adopted anthem. You could feel the passion and the belief. There was not the tiredness or sense of inferiority that had been present at the previous Semi Final against Chelsea. Instead, after Liverpool scored first, the mood was of buoyant defiance. Five minutes later Christian Benteke equalized and I found myself standing on the row behind, kissing a bald man with a tattooed face on top of his shiny dome, whilst my eldest son was raised sky high by another man in the row behind. My youngest son meanwhile, tired from his sleepover, stood there with bewildered amazement, celebrating with disbelief at seeing Villa score at Wembley. The effect at scoring a goal, particularly in a game like this, is to celebrate with total abandonment and disengagement from self-control. In that moment, you completely lose yourself, unaware of what you are doing.

We got to do it all again early in the second half as Fabian Delph put Villa 2-1 in the lead – thirty two thousand elated voices screaming in unison, together as one in that instant. The full time whistle was a welcome cue for celebration. It had been a fantastic team performance, with outstanding individual displays and incredibly we were through to join Arsenal in the Cup Final on May 30^th.

The walk back down Wembley Way, shoulder to shoulder with disappointed Liverpool supporters was restrained and respectful. Someone has to lose a semi-final and Liverpool supporters were magnanimous in defeat and wise enough to know that on this occasion Villa had been the better side. The mass of 32,000 Villans had dissolved to become individuals, in their own little groups, thinking their own personal thoughts, going their own separate ways.

It had been a memorable two days and we had witnessed the biggest game of our collective Aston Villa supporting lives, which can only be topped by getting tickets to the Final. This will prove to be a tricky task and I’m not getting my hopes up but you never know.

As I put my youngest son to bed on Sunday evening, he looked up and said, “Dad, that really was the best weekend ever...”