Big Ron Atkinson at his brilliant best in Aston Villa interview
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- Опубликовано: 5 июн 2024
- Big Ron Atkinson is 85 this week and is still as sharp as a tack when it comes to recalling his memories as Aston Villa manager from 30 years ago. In this exclusive interview, he shares brilliant anecdotes from his swaggering 1991-1994 reign, including funny stories about Sir Doug Ellis, Paul McGrath and other famous claret and blue names from the past.
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Big Ron is an absolute legend. We need to see more of him. As a black man, I have to say that he has done far more for integrating black players (and fans) into the English game than anyone else. He almost single handedly changed the culture in this country. There’s no question about that. He is Mr. Diversity. Thanks for the interview.
The big Ron Era was one of the best. We played with a swagger
Brilliant interview - and Thanks Big Ron for such happy memories. One of The Villa's greatest managers, who left the Villa to soon..... All the best Ron UTV
A Legend at every club he managed. Long Live Big Ron
Sadly there aren’t enough characters like Ron in the game today. He’s aging but he’s still got it. I’ve always said the same as him about the 92/93 season regarding Dalian getting injured and the introduction of Fergie time in that Sheff Weds game they won. One of the games charismatic managers for sure. Great to watch and listen to him like this.
Such happy days - I know it’s no longer PC but I can’t help thinking “big fat Ron’s Claret & Blue army” - massive memories and one of my favourite managers and times as a Villa fan…
Be well Ron
UTV 🦁💪
I don't half get some funny looks when i do occassionally sing that 'un - but ppl join in. It ain't often, ofc, but when the oldies come out, that's alwaysi n there
Shame about the 94/95 season where we were fucking shite
Brilliant mate. I still sing it. Did all home and aways under Ron. Sheff Wed away - his first game - we sang Big Fat Ron’s Claret & Blue Army” for about 45 mins solid prior to kick off. The Wednesday fans just started cheering us in between.
I am a 57 year old Villa fan can just about remember the 80/81 season and 82 Saunders and Barton sides but Rons era was my favourite, we had great players during his time but he attracted them to the club, he is one of Villas best managers and he remains my favourite and he is a nice guy aswell. Thanks for the great memories Ron they were good times to be a Villa fan.
Best Sheffield Wednesday manager ever.
United fan here: I watched most of my football under Ron.
What a gentleman. Had time to talk to my boys when we met him in Dubai a few years ago and we shared stories of the 80s. To me a legend and thanks for this excellent interview.
Absolute legend of a man! Treated appallingly by the media in this country. He made ONE mistake and has been demonised for it ever since
The first Manchester United manager I properly remember.
I got his autograph in 1985.
Underrated manager and a top bloke.
I'm with Big Ron - that Tranmere game was something else!! Great memories 😊
True Legend. He was my first manager as a Villa supporter. Brings back a lot of memories from the time. Great interview and nice to see him doing well.
The Paul McGrath / exercise bike story, brilliant. 😂
As a Liverpool fan always had a gruding admiration for Big Ron (exc. Man Utd tenure), what a truly fabulous career in football as player & manager alike. He oozes charisma and respect, for a man in his mid eighties he's as sharp as a tack, incredible memory bank of recalling players, teams and endearing story after story, just in awe of the man. One of the very best interviews with a former manager hugely respected by his players, clubs and fans alike. Stay well Big Ron and to the interviewer sensational work, huge kudos and congrats 👏🏼
Great to see Big Ron looking so well. Loved his time as manager, and the Sheff Wed game is still one of my best Villa days. Big Fat Ron's claret n blue army. Thanks for the memories Ron. UTV
Ron comes across as a really nice guy plus I can’t believe his memory at the age of 84
Met Big Ron at the Blues one evening when he was United's Manager during a League Cup match. We were in the sponsors box and he joined us with Lou Macari afterwards. Really impressed me. Years later I bumped into him at our golf club in Bromsgrove and more recently in the village near his home where we collected our newspapers in the morning. Always a smile, loved talking football. We are both old men now but he is a giant amongst football characters.
Great to see Ron in conversation ..met him once at a book signing few years back ..was a pleasure to meet him ..top bloke ..I wish him all the very best
Exactly. He treats you with respect. Great with my kids when we met him
Legend, loved the first game at Sheffield and then in the season was a brilliant journey, seeing Dalian score in the soaking rain at palace ground they let Wimbledon use at the time, winning at Liverpool was great but going to Wembley and stuffing Utd I will be eternally grateful sir Ron 💙💜
Absolutely brilliant interview. Love Big Ron. He was manager when I started my love for Aston Villa so he will always have a special place for me. Keep up the great work
One of my favourite ever episodes. Loved Big Ron’s time at the Villa - brilliant memories.
Thanks for doing this one lads. Amazing trip down memory lane 😊
Big Ron is looking really well still got the villa at heart smiling bout the mighty villa the way they are
I am 54 now and living on the other side of the world but listening to these memories, I lived through all of these as a Holte Ender and they were some of the greatest memories of my life supporting my team. We were effing amazing
And I was at Tranmere away…….. the significance of that Dalian goal can never be underestimated
Could've watched 10 hours of this easily, so many special memories. Really appreciate you guys doing this. 💜💙
That game at Hillsborough, Big Ron you have no idea!!! Etched into my memory, thanks for everything!!
I love 'Big Ron'. I was a season ticket holder back then, Villa Park was like a fortress during his reign. If the opposition lost the ball, they had a hell of a time trying to get it back. Such an exciting time back then, and it looks like those times are returning.
Love big Ron my favourite ever manager
Still sharp as a tack. Thanks for the memories big Ron 👏
The only manager who made my team memorable for a few years. Wonderful man.
My word, he's still in such good form! I sound like an old git (I am) but are there any characters in the game like Ron today? 💪
Just found this gem. Great memories. My 1st game, trinity road stand right next to where Deano scored a worldy to beat Ipswich.
Seen big Ron twice now on a evening with big Ron & he is a brilliant guy & was a brilliant manager at Villa 👏
One of the characters of football we are thankful that we had that character for a few years. Good on ya Ron
Brilliant, well done Matt, only you could have gone toe to toe with big Ron with your vast knowledge and memory of them golden days. UTV
Nobody has ever mentioned Barca and Tranmere in the same sentence … Gréât interview .. thanks
Thank you Ron, I was at 1994 final and was great to relive the memory. Take care!!
Oh my gosh. I was on one of those flights from BHX to Tenerife. We were delayed and Big Ron was on the same flight. I managed to get my holiday book signed from him. I was only a kid at the time. Now 37 and have fond memories of Ron
This is my era. Ron's memories is amazing. A great watch.
Wonderful interview, I could listen to hours and hours of this.....but small claim to fame - I actually saw Ron playing....AND at Villa Park!
On 31/03/1970 ...Ron played for visitors Oxford in a 0-0 draw, a game we were desperate to win to avoid relegation from the old Second Division
(now the Championship)..crowd - 30,000...crucially we had a shot cleared off the line.
Then the infamous away game at Leicester when a shot beat Shilton in goal but bounced back out off the stanchion, we lost 1-0, good chances
created, shot cleared off the line again, shot hit the post.
Won the final two home games 2-0 v Boro and 1-0 v Sheff Utd but Charlton sent us down two days later when they beat Bristol City 2-1...in those
days, the final games were not synchronised as they are today.
Yes, it was the horror season 1969/70, the worst ever in our history, simply could not score goals to win games...and rooted at the bottom
of the table from the start of the season.
As a 12 year old, the shame and humiliation was beyond belief; there would have been sheer disbelief if someone had said............
''Don't worry, you'll be league champions in 11 years time, then European Cup winners the year after!''.
Honestly could listen to Big Ron for hours. Only bad thing about having him as manager when i was growing up is that my own son doesn't get to too.
Thanks for making this interview happen. Big Ron was my first Villa manager that I can remember.
Thanks again.
Dave Cheater
Such great memories of the Big Ron era. Great to see him looking so well and still sharp.
"BIG FAT RON'S CLARET & BLUE ARMY! AVFC"🎶 Great interview chaps. Appreciated this, Ron made so many memories for us, a good man & a great era for Villa. I got a story about that sheffield Wednesday game from my dad (r.i.p) & brothers who went. I was too young for away games back then incase of trouble n that. ✌🏼💜💙UTV
Story time. After the game on the way back to the car some Sheffield weds fans called them "Villa w⚓️'s, f off" or something like that & my eldest brother sarcastically shouted back "3-2, Ha ha ha", they didn't like it & followed them back, as my dad,bro & a guy called cod Eye I think were walking through an alley they got jumped by these chaps, 5 vs 3, bear in mind my other brother & his friend was at the chippy around the corner, my dad grabbed one by his belt & filled him in, eldest brother went for the big guy & rammed him up the wall & punched his knackers in then my other bro who was at chippy came back, saw what was going on & ran to help, he had a big bottle of coke in his hand from the chippy & smashed it over one of their heads & coke went everywhere, the guys then ran off after being humbled. Great days lol I always remember this story as it was funny. 💜💙
Oh, the green paint story. I remember that and it had me crying with laughter all over again. Thanks for that Ron, they were happy days
Great interview great days at the Villa Thank you Big Ron 💜💙
Loved that interview, definitely my favourite so far. I'm just about to hit 40 so he was our manager when I was a kid and started following the villa.
Such great memories of that era and his memory is sharp for 85.
On another note you mentioned pagliuga the inter gk, I was obsessed with goalkeeping back then and he was my second favourite keeper behind bosnich, turns out pagliuca is a villa fan.
UTV
This is gold. Thank you.
Thanks for arranging this show, great memories and glad to see Big Ron in good spirits 👍
Brilliant interview! Big thanks from Sweden for all your work Matt
What a fantastic podcast.Thanks for doing this I really enjoyed it and it bought back some very fond memories 💜💙
Many, many thanks for this guys 👏. Big Ron and the teams he picked gave me some of my best Villa memories to date. Absolute fantastic interview but wish it was longer as could listen to Ron all day.
Hopefully you’ve got a few more of these coming this year. Thanks again to everyone involved 🟣🔵
Thanks Matt! That was brilliant! Big Ron is my era too. They were great times. UTV!
What a total pleasure. Nice one lads. Thanks. My memories of the big ron era is my favourite time as a villa fan past.
Great interview. Big Ron was my first Villa manager. Thanks, from an Irish villain
Great interview, thoroughly enjoyed it. UTV!
Absolutely amazing interview!! Love Big Ron and his stories UTV
Thanks so much for this Ron and Mat. Such an amazing trip down memory lane. The 90’s were my favourite time supporting Villa.
Love Ron Atkinson. Main reason me a cockney chose a unusual midlands team to support.
Outstanding interview Matt. Thanks so much for this. Loved Ron and his teams. So great to hear him talk about those brilliant days and see him to fit, healthy and content. Still an engaging raconteur!! 😊💜💙
Happy time's under Big Ron watched some fantastic football what a great interview. UTV
Brilliant stuff, what a guy! Lets hope were watching the same type of thing with Emery in years to come.
Fantastic interview Matt - thought your interview style with Big Ron was brilliant, could have listen to you both for hours. Great to hear Rons stories - but also see your depth of knowledge of our great club. UTV.
Great stuff! I've a lot of time for Big Ron. He could still do a managerial job today!!
A fantastic interview big ron was a proper manager so interesting to listen to his memories
Gary the saddler
Superb, really enjoyed that!
Brilliant - Loved every minute of it .
The only time I thought we could go anywhere and win was when Ron was manager. Brilliant football. Great manager. Thanks Ron.
Nice one guys. Great interview. Brought back many memories. Love the Bozza 🇦🇺🇦🇺
Listening to this guy brings back some unbelieveable memories. What a guy! ...and what a great podcast!
this was a great interview. brought lots of childhood villa memories back.
Loved this and definitely nostalgic!
Really interesting. First villa memories were with big Ron at the helm. Was flying from bhx on holiday and the whole villa team were there. Got autographs and Dean Saunders put me on his shoulders, and said “yabba dabba do mate” cos I had a flint stones tshirt on. Legends!!
Great times.Was season ticket holder stood on the Holte in them days.Saunders never scored on his debut versus Leeds.Well i think he had one disallowed!
That was a fantastic interview, some great great memories rekindled for me, from Tranmere to Inter Milan
Got to love Big Ron!
Brilliant interview, always grateful for the memories Ron gave us from his time at the villa.
Great to hear from the man! brilliant interview - UTV
Enjoyed this, good to see Ron looking well.
Brilliant interview that was chaps! 👏🏾 Love the dog snoring in the background, especially when Ron tried to quieten the noise down with the cushion! 🤣 Some interesting and funny stories shared once again by the big man himself! 😂 Great to see! 💯 Fantastic work as per usual, keep it up fellas! 😀 🎉 UTV! 🦁 💜 🩵
Great man and listened to this where I now live in Australia. Great memories and remember the 2 finals well. Top bloke and one of our best ever managers along with Emery. UTV
I was at an away game in 1994 at Coventry. I got to meet big Ron and what a man he is. I was 13 and in the Coventry box with a Villa top on and he said you're a brave kid wearing that up here, good on you. I remember watching Dwight Yorke warm up and he did balance the ball on his head from the half way line all the way to the goal. What a player he way. Those were some good times as a Villa fan.
Happy days at Villa Park with Big Ron in charge, great to see his passion hasn't been lost. All the best Ron!
Loved Big Ron. Great to hear him. Such good memorys and also some what nearly was. Legend.
Thoroughly entertaining, love big Ron, great job Mat and Dan. UTV
Enjoyed that.Thanks Ron.UTV
Thank you Big Ron.
Wonderful interview. Can see how much Villa mean to him. Almost seemed to get a little emotional at the end.
Good work Matt, got some good stories.
Absolutely outstanding 👏👏👏👏
Absolutely brilliant. Brought me back to my first memories of supporting Villa. Loved that villa team. Big fat Ron's claret and blue army
Love this
One word….Fantastic!! UTV
That was superb 👏🏻
Great interview. Love big Ron
The Cornwall Lions Club had Ron down at the back of last your for a meet and greet in Truro
Top Bloke
Still on the Champagne too, even sung ' My Way for us at the End
Hes looking really well, would never have thought he's 84! Great memories from that time when i was a very young Villa fan, went crazy for that winner at Sheffield Wednesday....was a great first season under big Ron after a nightmare of a season previously under Joe Venglosh...
Big Ron . Great man , great manager . Very charismatic too.
Proper old skool .
Massive respect - UTV 💜💙
great interview UP THE VILLA 🦁🦁🦁
Watched this with a smile on my face the whole episode
Great interview
Great interview ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️
Was there at the first game at Sheff Wed, what a day!!! Great interview, really enjoyed hearing his memories from days gone by. UTV