Not being born in the Midlands I've missed out on years of banter with fans from Birmingham City. I only get it when I come down for a game or like this Sunday, I'm watching the game in the pub and a couple of their fans happen to be there.

It was obviously a pleasure to sit in a pub with a couple of their fans this Sunday, however the same can not be said about the match I watched in Thailand just before Christmas 2004 when Tommy gifted Morrison the opener or whilst drinking in a bar half full of Blues fans in Tenerife when Mellberg threw the ball back to Enckelman.

However much I get wound up in those games though, I don't think I'd go as far as to say I want to see them relegated. I think it's great for the Midlands to have a few clubs in the greatest league in the world and next season could see, Villa, Blues, Baggies, Wolves and Stoke all playing in the Premier League, unlike last season when our local derby was Sheffield United!

For me living in the North West, there are plenty of the Northern away games I can get to and I always manage a fair few trips to Villa Park each season, but for the majority of Villa fans I don't know whether they'd prefer a few Midland derbies or they quite enjoy sitting quite literally a league above any of their local rivals.

One fan did say on the forum 'it would be good to see Blues in the Premier League every two years so we can keep on relegating them', but then others like me love the weeks build up to the game and are really enjoying a week of boasting at the moment.

So what is general view? Do you want to see Small Heath live up to their old name and drop down the divisions? Or do you enjoy the biannual banter that goes with the derby?

Comments (30)

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macmccarthy said:

Behave yourself !!!!!! small heath can play in the Conference for all i care !!!!

April 23, 2008

RUDDY91 said:

it would be good having a massive derby each season cause it will always be the best atmosphere in that season

April 23, 2008

Evoflash said:

Send them down. Midland kids should have one choice only, and that's Villa. With no other team in the premier league, we're going to have an extensive and growing fan base. A good thing indeed.

April 23, 2008

JG said:

I'm from Telford and of the top midlands teams more of the guys there seem to support Wolves or West Brom. However, as a Villa fan for life I have always wanted to see a decent number of Midlands teams in the top division. Why should the press headlines always be about London teams? Its good for the area, and adds a bit of spice to the season - the atmosphere for the derbies is always amazing, so why would you not want that as often as you can??? Of course, its also guranteed points in the bag for us...

April 23, 2008

K4AVFC said:

If the scum stay up ... you only hear more silly things coming out of their mouths. So no, send um down ... its where they belong. they make the premier league look bad.

April 23, 2008

mickey86 said:

its good having the derby against blues each season, but if all iv got to look forward to is it not being on tv and i have to watch a few minutes of highlights on match of the day, then they may aswell keep getting releated.

April 23, 2008

davida said:

Send 'em down. Let 'em rot. I have no desire to play them ever again.

April 23, 2008

andyarkitekt said:

YES GET THEM DOWN. I'll tell you why.... We will have all year being able to gloat, not just two weeks a year. Also good point above, it makes us the only option for the nuetral support to jump on the band waggon and support the villa. While I don't really want us to become a Man Utd/Chelsea (where we only have glory supporters)it can only be good for the club if we increase the fan base. Don't anyone be naive, the only way we are going to get in the top 4/5 teams and stay there is to grow our fan base and build for the future. While I am over the moon with what we have done this year, I am realistic and still not getting carried away with automatic qualification for UEFA, even if we beat Everton. We should look on it as building for the future to really break that top 4 for a very long time. Build a club, build a large national fan base and lets see those claret and blue shirts in every city in world! If we push on now I don't see anything to stop the juggernaut...Randy splash the cash...you know it's a good investment...Proud History, Bright Future...Not heard that for a while have we?!

April 23, 2008

alextaylor24 said:

i said this on damians post on the match but i want them to stay up and the baggies, wolves and stoke to come up. birmingham should really have more than 2 teams in the top flight. the atmosphere at the ground was electric and you just dont get that at games against fulham or bolton.

April 23, 2008

anotherjames said:

I'm from the Oxford area, but even though there aren't as many Blues fans around, I still really enjoy looking forward to the derby games, even if I can't get to them.

April 23, 2008

ScouseBlue said:

A rather nicely balanced article. However don't be kidding yourselves about sending The Blues down. If we do go down then it'll only be ourselves that have done it. Also if you're from the Midlands the team you support is more likely to be through family ties, not because of the club's relative superiority over the other. If that were the case we'd all have joined the sad ranks of the Man U/Arsenal/Liverpool B'ham fan clubs years ago. Still going to KRO.

April 23, 2008

The Mighty Steve said:

I have been debating this in my head all week. If they have a season like this every year, especially giving us six points, I'd be happy for them to stay up. However if they come good (average to most teams) they're a pain. The worst season I've ever experienced was that season a few years back which I don't want to search google for to find the exact year. One scenario I think I'd like is for all the top midlands clubs (even Walsall) to be in the Premier League and for Blues to be fighting in the lower leagues. I think that would be quite amusing.

April 23, 2008 | url

Villain of the North said:

I think those that are keen to see the blues relegated are little nervous because of the impact it had on us when they beat us in the derbys. Not forgetting our recent record, our team has progressed massively since those defeats and the latest win is something even the most optimistic of blues fans would have trouble defending. I think having as many midland teams in the prem as possible can only be a good thing for attracting players to villa park. London has long since been the main attraction to a lot of high profile players, but if playing in the 2nd city becomes the norm , then you have to think that will have a bearing on peoples' attitudes. I don't fear the blues, i don't feel sorry to see them go down but at the same time, you have to admit that the derby matches bring something special to the fixture calendar; it sparks that bit of passion in us all.

April 23, 2008

shabba said:

Send them back where they belong. They can then win a few games against the likes of Coventry and get all confident, get promoted again and then we'll smash them for 5 again and make them wind their necks in!

April 23, 2008

JimboVillain said:

I want them to go down, I'm at university and live with a blue nose, and i have to say they are so diluded. He actually said to me last week that Mauro Zarate was better than ashley young. previous spoutings included "winning the european cup in 1982 wasn't an achievement" "Birmingham city are a better run club than villa" "villa fans are not real football fans because they havn't experienced all the different leagues" "i'd rather be in a relegation battle than be looming in midtable (the year they got relegated)" basically anything his shrunken small heath brain could think to try and get one over the villa, i say good riddance to bad rubbish!!

April 23, 2008

swall said:

Send em down n we'll get 6 points off the baggies instead

April 23, 2008

stig said:

yes, good

April 23, 2008

The Mighty Steve said:

@JimboVillain: Does he still believe that Mario Zarate is better than Ashley Young even after the weekend? If so, I think he may suffer from dangerous levels of delusion and may be a danger to himself and others.

April 23, 2008 | url

vivavilla! said:

Short answer: yes. Long answer: yes, please.

April 23, 2008

I HATE BLUES said:

Were you dropped on your head when you were a baby?I hate the bast-ards, they dont deserve to grace the same pitch as us.I hope the Lord Stevens inquiry finds them guilty of corruption and kicks them out of the football league altogether.Try living amongst them day in day out and im sure your opinion would change.

April 23, 2008

theprimeminister said:

I HATE BLUES said: .Try living amongst them day in day out and im sure your opinion would change. I'm sure my oppinion would change but you must be loving this week. Chris

April 23, 2008

mart43 said:

you arrogant bunch of vile scum remember how you got on against a decent Man U team, yes? Ok you beat a poor Blues team with a poor referee's help but there's one thing we'll always have over you glory hunting vile scum......... Thats the satisfaction of knowing it aint easy, there's no glory but there's no other team to compare KRO

April 23, 2008

Luke said:

looks like mart43 escaped from the mental home! I can't work out if he's a Bluenose or just a complete loser. Or both! I love beating the bluenoses, but on the other hand if you look at the bigger picture we could do with more fans to compete with the big boys easier. Randy's only got so much cash and club's like Arsenal and Man Yoo have big crowds to bring big cash in.

April 23, 2008

nick jett said:

Tbh i don't wanna see them go down at all. If i was being honest i would like some more Midland and East anglian teams in the premiership. We seem to be dominated by Northern and London teams.

April 23, 2008 | url

Arrlui said:

Where you from Chris? I was sitting in the North West around the Lakes. As for your question: I say let them fight their own battle, if they go down they're not good enough to play us. If they stay up, they're not good enough to play us...

April 23, 2008

AV33 said:

I always look forward to the derby games against Blues and Sunday's game was no exception. We won well and were by far the better side. However, i feel that Mart43's comments are typical from a blues fan. Mark Clattenberg controlled a potentially fiery game with great refereeing, letting the game flow whenever possible. I wish more of the officials would take his approach then maybe they would earn more respect on the pitch from the players and media in general. I p**sed myself when he physically pushed Nafti away from Ashley Young. Nafti was being a complete p***k and trying to kick something off and the ref simply stopped it in the most effective way possible which...guess what, worked beautifully. Anyway, I think the problem with Blues fans has always been one thing...jealousy. I'm not being funny but this kind of thing happens in everyday life all the time if you think about it, in the workplace, in relationships, groups and society. Villa have been a successful team for well over a hundred years, winning lots of trophies along the way whilst Blues have merely existed without winning anything of note. We have also had our spells in the lower divisions, just like Blues have...so i'm not sure where JimboVillan's mate is coming from. Bottom line is Villa are...always have been...and always will be the biggest team in the Midlands and especially in Birmingham. This isn't an intentional knock at BCFC or their fans, i'm merely trying to explain the reasons (IMO) why Blues hate us so much. It's the same way that every other team's fans hate Man United like we do...they are more sucessful than us and we are deep down jealous !! (Not for long though hopefully !!) Hope that made some sense ! Take it easy fellas UP THE VILLA

April 24, 2008

Jimmy Villain said:

yes get down where you belong

April 24, 2008

martygra808 said:

Every two years plan is a great idea, give em false hope with wins against stoke city, then send them down again!

April 24, 2008

theprimeminister said:

@ Arrlui I'm originally from Middlesbrough but now live in St Annes on the North West Coast. Chris

April 24, 2008

villa hater said:

shut up you vilers

April 24, 2008

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