Jonny Gould's Football Channel

Hi, this is Jonny Gould. I’m a lifelong Aston Villa fan, born in the city centre of Birmingham.  My first game in 1977, was less than auspicious, a 4-1 midweek thrashing under the famous AV floodlights by a Dennis Tueart inspired Manchester City. But it got a whole lot better over the coming seasons and a key reason for that was Ron Saunders and his inspired signing of Peter Withe for a hefty half a million pounds from Newcastle in the summer of 1980.  His arrival lifted us from three consecutive flatlining seasons of 8th, 8th and 7th finishes to champions of England and the miracle of Rotterdam the season after.  All For The Love Of The Game is one of the best football autobiographies I’ve ever read. And Peter Withe’s story is one of sheer determination to succeed wherever that road took him - from Liverpool to South Africa, the USA, back home – and then out again to the Far East. And boy, did he succeed! At the very highest level: twice a league title winner, a European champion, who scored the winning goal