Aston Villa fans have been reminiscing on Twitter over former-manager Ron Saunders as he celebrates his 87th birthday.
This comes after the official Aston Villa Twitter account shared a post wishing their former manager a happy birthday. The post included some of Saunders’ biggest achievements during his time in charge of the club.
The tweet then led to a large amount of Villa fans replying to the post with positive messages about the 87-year-old.
Here’s a sample of Villa fans appreciating Saunders:
We need to name a stand after him.
Absolute legend— malcywhitehouse (@malcywhitehouse) November 6, 2019
Absolute legend
— Carpy Villan (@PeteVillan1981) November 6, 2019
He built one of the best teams ever in the history of football !
— Keith Rooms (@RoomsKeith) November 6, 2019
Saunders took over as manager of the Birmingham club in 1974 after spells at Yeovil Town, Oxford United, Norwich and Manchester City (per Transfermarkt). He spent eight years as Villa boss, longer than any other club he was in charge of. During his tenure at Villa, in his first season, he guided the club to promotion and won a League Cup. He also led Villa to another League Cup title again in 1977 and won the club’s first First Division title in 71 years (@AVFCOfficial). Some fans were eager to share their appreciation for the former Villa man.
A real manager ,created 3 great teams ,a real legend the greatest manager in my time ,happy birthday legend
— Villa Trev (@Tpjw1982) November 6, 2019
A true legend and one of our best manager’s ever. #utv
— BobV3 (@BobVee3) November 6, 2019
1st manager can properly remember demanded total discipline from his team but away from football a quiet true gentleman. Happy birthday Ron.
— Paul Darby (@PaulDar59616002) November 6, 2019
What do we think?
The flurry of praise and admiration from today’s Villa fans goes to show how appreciated and loved Saunders still is at the club, despite stepping down as manager 27 years ago. The fact that there have been shouts for a stand at Villa Park to be named after the man proves how influential he is to this day.