Matchday Memories: On This Day 1999 – Villa Vanquished – Sky Blues End Sixty Year Hoodoo!
Gordon Strachan -City’s ‘gaffer’
This day (27th February) in 1999 was a red letter day for the Sky Blues as CCFC, under manager Gordon Strachan, saw the end of a more than sixty year hoodoo! City had had to wait 62 years for their first ever league win against their most local rivals Aston Villa at their opponents home Villa Park and they did it in style this season. They had first breached the Villa Park hoodoo in the FA Cup the previous season and today CCFC totally demolished Villa 4-1. Two goal Sky Blue heroes were both Australian John Aloisi who was making his first start in eight games (replacing injured fellow CCFPA member Noel Whelan) and our Dutch star George Boateng. Even the Villa scorer from the spot, a pumped up former Sky Blue hero (and now Association member) Dion Dublin (who had transferred to the Villans in early November), couldn’t galvanise a thoroughly outclassed home team sufficiently to come back from a 2-1 deficit.
Sky Blue George Boateng
John Aloisi in the Sky Blue
For a long period in this season John Gregory’s men had seemed to be genuine title contenders having topped the table as recently as Christmas Day but the pressure had told since then and their current fourth place (after three successive defeats) went on to further drift to sixth spot by the end of the season. by the end of February. In contrast the Sky Blues were in their traditional tussle against relegation so this emphatic win came as a major surprise. On his return to Villa Park (now CCFPA member) Steve Froggatt set-up Aloisi’s left foot finish past Villa ‘keeper Michael Oakes after 24 minutes for the only goal of a slightly drab first half.
City’s superior desire for the points hit home in the second 45 as the sleet began to sweep the ground. The mood of the Villa fans darkened further when five minutes in George Boateng powered his shot home at the near post after careless play from the home side.
A slight hope for a Villa comeback came from the 55th minute Dion Dublin penalty awarded when Richard Shaw made clumsy challenge on future Sky Blue (and fellow CCFPA member) Julian Joachim and emphatically put away past the Sky Blues Swedish ‘keeper Magnus Hedman for his first goal of the year! However, with eighteen minutes to go WGS‘s men regained their two-goal advantage. From Froggatt’s free-kick, Aloisi connected perfectly on the volley and struck the ball well beyond Oakes. George Boateng who totally dominated the midfield battle competed the rout with six minutes remaining chasing a Gary McAllister chip, ghosting past a static Alan Wright to beat the onrushing Oakes with a lob. The visiting Sky Blue Army in the 38.799 Villa Park crowd went into ectasy!
Another noteworthy feature of this game was the sixteen year old ‘Cov.Kid’ forward (and CCFPA member) Gary McSheffrey became CCFC’s youngest debutant when he came on as a last minute substitute for (now fellow CCFPA member) Darren Huckerby.
Thanks to former CCFPA committee member Dean Nelson you can watch some slightly grainy match highlights by clicking on the link or image below:-
The two team on this momentous day lined up as follows:-
WGS‘s Sky Blues:
Magnus Hedman, David Burrows, Paul Williams, Richard Shaw, Roland Nilsson, Steve Froggatt, Paul Telfer, George Boateng, Gary McAllister, John Aloisi and Darren Huckerby (sub. Gary McSheffrey -90)
We are lighted to report that every member of this squad (and ‘gaffer’) except for Gary Mac and George have since become Association members.
Dion in the Sky Blue
Julian Joachim in the Sky Blue
Aston Villa:
Michael Oakes, Riccardo Scimeca, Gareth Southgate, Steve Watson (sub. Gareth Barry -44), Alan Wright, Simon Grayson, Lee Hendrie, Ian Taylor (sub. Mark Draper 29 & then Stan Collymore -55), Paul Merson, Dion Dublin, Julian Joachim Referee: Uriah Rennie
As implied earlier Villa’s sixth place denied them any European adventure the following season. Manchester United took the Premier League title by a point from Arsenal.
CCFC 1998-99 (away strip)
The Sky Blues fifteenth position granted them a five point, three place cushion between them and the three relegated clubs, Charlton Athletic (eighteenth position), Blackburn Rovers (nineteenth) and, bottom of the pile, Nottingham Forest.
Thanks to CCFPA’s Mike Young (& Dean Nelson) for sourcing the images.
