Some of my best friends are Villains

Leamington is a hotbed of support for Villa and a number of people I know are season ticket holders at Villa Park. In the 1970s there used to be a line of coaches at the top of the Parade on a Saturday morning to take supporters to home games. The rivalry between Leamington and Coventry undermines support for the Sky Blues, not helped by their mediocre record over the years. Hardly any one supports 'the Blews' who are the Millwall of the Midlands. Of course, Villa are in a team that in some ways have punched below their potential weight over the years and their fans are not slow to blame Doug Ellis for his tight hold on the purse strings.

Villa have been a bit of a bogey team for Charlton. I seem to have seen a succession of poor performances by the Addicks at Villa Park and we lost home and away to them last season. Our historic record against them is not good: Won 13; Drawn 13; Lost 22. Tonight 'Carthorse' Cole has declared his intention of 'shutting the Charlton fans up' by scoring a couple of goals. It may be that Bartlett's injury will lead to him being replaced in the starting line up by Jeffers who has a point to prove and has looked promising in the limited time he has been allowed on the pitch so far.

I had a good curtain raiser last night with Premiership action in the Midland Combination at Harbury Lane. Leamington beat Nuneaton Griff 6-1 and we won the golden goal prize. Griff originated in the Nuneaton Bible Class League and in a crowd of 239 gave a new meaning to the chant 'Is this all you bring away?' as I counted just three away supporters. The only disappointment was that Griff's goal was an own goal scored by our sponsored player, Darren Tank, who is built like one. Anyway, let's hope it's a good omen for tonight, although I think that a draw is on the cards.



Action in front of the North Bank at Harbury Lane