Mark Ansell

What is your name?
Mark Ansell

How old are you?
56

What is your gender?
Male

What do you do for a living?
Chartered Accountant/Consultant/Director

What is your level of education?
I have a Professional Qualification

Do you hold any religious beliefs?
Church of England

What Stand do you sit in?
Trinity Road Middle

How long have you been going to Villa Park?
49 years

Can you describe some of your favourite goals?
1. Pat McMahon near-post header against a Manchester United team including Best, Law and Charlton when we were in the third division and beat them in the semi-final of the League Cup
2. Tony Morley – one against Everton at Goodison Park in the league championship year and one in Moscow in the following years European Champions run – a mazy run followed by great finishes
3. Peter Withe – Rotterdam, of course
4. Andy Gray at Leeds – he was one of our icons and a headed goal from halfway inside their half typified his leadership of the line

Can you tell us about your favourite players?
They are mainly centre forwards. Gerry Hitchens was there when I first became aware of the side in real detail. Andy Gray was a talisman and part of a Villa revival. Peter Withe was the best leader of the line that I’ve seen at Villa Park.

What are your favourite Villa-related moments?
1. Winning the league although we got beaten on the day
2. The team running out at Wembley (I was just too young for 1957) against Chelsea, although the rest was forgettable.
3. The European Cup Final although because of business commitments I wasn’t there!
4. Many night matches in European competitions – some memorable nights in European and UEFA cups and all the League Cup finals. Ray Graydon’s rebound against Norwich, Andy Lockhead off the line against Spurs, Dalian against United and Savo against Leeds. We had a special place in that cup but that seems to have passed in recent years.

What would be your best-ever eleven players (plus 5 subs)?
Jimmy Rimmer
Stan Lyn
Alan Evans
Paul McGrath
John Gidman
Bruce Rioch
Gordon Cowans
Dennis Mortimer
Peter Withe
Tony Morley
Gary Shaw

No apologies for the domination of league and European champions.

Subs:

Nigel Spink
Charlie Aitken
Paul Merson
Andy Gray
Jimmy Dugdale

Why are you a Villa fan?
My father was one of four boys born in Nechells so although I was born in Small Heath as we lived in business premises there was no other team for me.

Can you tell us about some important moments in your Villa supporting life and where they were?
1. Villa 11 Charlton 1 – who else could I support after one of those early memories?
2. Opening the season at Chesterfield in the Third Division but the Villa faithful were fantastic for those two years
3. Training as a kid two nights a week on the pitch on Tuesday and Thursday nights with Youth and Apprentices. My brother was already a pro but I didn’t get signed!
4. Three matches to see off Everton and a Chris Nichol special at Old Trafford. That signalled the beginning of a fantastic era on the pitch
5. Being appointed as adviser to the club in the mid ‘80s and going on to become a Director

What major incidents have you been present at (on/off field)?
1. All League Cup finals
2. FA Cup Final against Chelsea
3. Season ticket holder throughout the league and European Cup winning campaigns
4. Opening of Third Division campaign at Chesterfield
5. Some fantastic days in the Third Division including full houses against Southampton and Man United in the cups
6. Lock out against Sunderland
7. Full houses against McDougall, Bowyer and Bournemouth

Can you tell us any interesting/little known fact about yourself in connection with Aston Villa?
My brother appeared once for the first team against Cardiff at Ninian Park and got taken to the cleaners by Welsh wing wizard Jones. One of the original subscribers to the club in the 1800s was an Ansell, but no relative as far as I know.

What has been your worst ever Villa-related moment?
1. Resigning but for all the right reasons
2. Chelsea Cup Final
3. Various relegations
4. Losing to Spurs in the League Cup Final. My mates still celebrated, but I was so sick that I spent the night in Jacey Cinema until the coach left London

Why do you continue to support the club?
It is my club and if I’m going to have an opinion I will express it from having been there rather than reading the papers. I love football and Aston Villa can only ever be my side.

What changes would you make to any aspect of Aston Villa in order to improve the experience?
I’m not going there! I have lots of views but with the new owners having taken us to sixth position who am I to talk? But 2008/2009 is a telling season and I want to see the squad strengthened with funding supporting astute dealings.

Is there a defining moment in your life as a Villa fan?
I wasn’t there but the 1957 Cup Final created an atmosphere in my family that meant I was never going to support anyone else.

What memorable moments can you tell us about?
There are so many, but European nights were always special and as a Director I was privileged to have had some fantastic overseas trips and special moments at grounds all over the UK. I am able to count a number of Villa heroes as friends or at least to personally know them.

Are there any family influences?
My Father’s family were Villa mad and my brother was an ex-pro at the club.

Where did you grow up/do you live and has that influenced you?
I grew up in Small Heath and played for Birmingham Boys but there was no chance of ever being a supporter there. I could walk to the ground but fortunately the Number 8 bus took me to Aston Cross.

What has been the influence of clubs/fans (if any) in those areas?
I was a lonely voice in Small Heath, particularly when Blues had their best sides and we were sliding down to the third division.

How and why did you come to support Aston Villa? I probably started going in the late 1950s but can remember my family travelling all over the country for the 1957 FA Cup run

What would you do to improve the overall Villa Park experience?
It would mainly be items outside the control of the club:
• More Saturday afternoon games or certainly less fixture changes throughout the season.
• To break the stranglehold of the so-called Big 4 – cannot see it but it would make big games more competitive with real anticipation and expectation.
• Better Cup runs

How do you see the club progressing?
This coming season is a defining moment. How much will the new owners have learned about the game? How much money are they prepared to invest in the squad? They must maintain the momentum of the fans being behind the club but that is dictated by sustained performances on the pitch.

How long have you supported Aston Villa?
50 years

Do you ‘follow’ any other clubs?
No. Just Villa.

What teams in other sports do you support?
I look for Warwickshire’s results and get to Edgbaston for some of the games.

What hobbies and interests do you have outside of supporting Aston Villa?
Tennis and golf.

Do you go Home, Away, both or are you an armchair/pub supporter?
I am a home season ticket holder. I attend some away games only now but for many years went to them all.

Is there an established family history following the Villa and what does the future hold?
All my family are Villa supporters. My brother lives at Villa Park in South Africa! I do not have any children so will not be carrying on the line directly but nephews, nieces, Godchildren etc. are all converts.

What Villa-related pictures have meaning for you?
Stridey and I are on the team photo with John Gregory’s claret army. The Peter Withe salute

Have you ever been ‘inside’ the ground and if so, what impressed you the most?
Obviously! So much of it impresses me despite what some supporters might think of ground alterations. Just ask people in the game about Villa Park and they will tell you it is a great venue.

What are your views on the past, present and future of Aston Villa?
Far too numerous to set out here and perhaps too dangerous! There are things about the past that I am proud of and admire and there are some that I am not and I expressed my view when I resigned. The future – early days, yet. There are some encouraging signs but the new owners need to learn about the game quickly if we are going to maintain a position as a big club, let alone a biggest club. Managers and players come and go but owners will be judged on success based on longer term achievements or otherwise.

Do you possess any memorabilia that is particularly special to you and could you explain its meaning?
I’m not massively into memorabilia but have signed shirts etc and an original oil paining of the League Cup final against Man United.

Do you have any special emotional attachment to a part of the club?
If getting a lump in the throat when they come out and when they do something that makes me proud to be a part of the club counts then yes, I do have an emotional attachment.

What are the views of your friends and family to your supporting Aston Villa?
They don’t know me as any different! Even now having not been a Director for four years I cannot go anywhere without the association.

Has supporting Aston Villa affected your lifestyle? If so, how?
Maybe I should have played instead of watched as a kid, but Saturday afternoon every other week was Villa Park. For my years as a Director, the club and my responsibilities were all-consuming. You’d better ask my wife if it affected our life but she certainly sees more of me now and still sits next to me at all the home games.

Have you ever supported/followed another club? If so, what made you change your allegiance?
No.

Do you feel that away games are for the fan or the family?
Certainly not for the family. I only take my wife when I can do so with facilities rather as a mere ticket holder.

What changes have you seen that are for the better/worse (prices, atmosphere, obscenities, TV, fans etc)?
For the better of the game – higher profile, better facilities, foreign players. But also for the worse as finances have been distributed to the largest clubs who have a monopoly in the main on trophies and the biggest share of wealth.

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