The Brown is Back in Town

ALLY Brown- not to be confused with Robertson or Tony or the cricketer- was a hero of mine.

Hero might be too strong a word.

'Hero' is a title best reserved, and I am speaking about myself as a ten year here, for my father, or grandfather perhaps. Or Luke Skywalker, albeit fleetingly.... or Linda Lusardi, again fleetingly (well until she joined Emmerdale 20 years later), although she would have been more of a heroine, surely? She and Mrs Collins, my Welsh teacher at school, opened my eyes ...although neither would ever have known it.

Brown was certainly a favourite of mine though. I used to flick heavy Topps cardboard footie cards around my bedroom floor circa 1978, racing them against one from wall to wall in some kind of Superstars event. (Brian Jacks was all the rage at the time).

I would use these cards, and the Panini stickers, instead of Subbuteo figures. Far better to pick your own side from hundreds of players. I would often pick a Midland eleven made up mainly of Villa, Albion and Forest players. Wolves players were banned. And I don;t think Martin O'Neill ever got a sniff of a call-up. I think John Robertson and Willie Johnston used to share left-wing duties- rather like Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence did for England at the time in the real world.

I suspect other kids around this time would simply have been watching Metal Mickey, collecting Star Wars figures, Dinky cars or toy soldiers?

Not me. And Ally Brown mostly always got in my team of football cards up front, although he had stiff opposition from the likes of Paul Mariner, Cyrille Regis and Peter Withe.

The very mention of Brown's name in this blog might grate with some Villa folk, probably most of them in fact. But I hope my reasoning why he deserves a fresh outlook will be given a fair hearing.

For one he's back at Villa Park on Saturday, 31 years and two months after an unforgettable incident. This time he'll be back with a collection tin in hand in aid of the Paul Birch Trust.

Birch is very ill, in hospital on morphine. Bone cancer you see. Aged 46. Cruelly his days are numbered. Sorry about the cliche but there is far, far more to life than football.

Brown will join former Albion players Brendan Batson, Ray Wilson, Derek Monaghan and Darren Bradley behind the away turnstiles looking for loose change.

Regis and Garry Thompson will be around and about elsewhere in the stadium doing their bit for Birch as will be Kenny Swain and Tony Morley. All four of those have played for both Villa and Albion although there is little doubt which club each now favours.

Plenty more Villa stars of bygone days will be carrying buckets, joined by members of the Villa Supporters Trust: Charlie Aitken, Gordon Cowans and Des Bremner to name but three.

I know the Villa Former Players' Association are still busy making calls tonight (Thursday).

Not many Villa fans will welcome Ally Brown with open arms. Not that he is likely to be instantly recogniseable. At the age of 57 his long dark curly hair and full moustache will probably not be in evidence. He'll have to wear a placard with the words: "My name is Ally Brown- not the cricketer but the former Albion and Leicester forward."

I've met Brown on a few occasions but not for many years. He used to run a social club in West Bromwich. He was always polite, always down to earth, always had time for the punters. Today's spoilt lot could do with learning some of that humility.

But he's not popular with Villa fans.

Not after Villa Park, December 1977 and Alex Cropley.

Most of you will know the story. A high ball, Cropley: 26 , talented, wiry, visionary with his passes... got there first. Brown connected with Cropley's leg. Snap. End of career- or as near as damn it as some would suggest (although statistics point to 17 appearances the following season).

Andy Gray apparently raced over and tried to put Brown over the advertising hoardings.

The broken fibula and tibia was not Cropley's first misfortune.

Injury had already blighted his career. He had the distinction of having his ankle broken by none other than Alex Ferguson while playing for first club Hibernian against Falkirk.

He moved to Bertie Mee's Arsenal in 1974 for £150,000 but cruelly broke his leg there too.

Then it was on to Villa and the derby against Albion. Villa won 3-0. Both sides finished in the top eight (Albion sixth, Villa eighth).

Cropley did play again, at Newcastle briefly on loan at Toronto Blizzard and then at Portsmouth before retiring.

He was a taxi driver in Edinburgh when I last heard of his whereabouts fairly recently.

Albion as a club, so the story goes, sent him a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne whilst he never heard from Brown.

The rights and wrongs of an apology that never came can be argued alsewhere.

Brown meant no malice. This was a 50-50 challenge. Do we still despise Richard Wright over Luc Nilis?

Horrific injuries are part and parcel of professional sport and I dare say the Cropley tackle has gained in notoriety over the years as folk who were not even there exaggerate to paint a vulgar picture.

Whatever you think of Brown, and whatever your affinities this weekend, please bring a lot of coins and drop them in a bucket.

Particularly the £2's or pound coins. Even the 50 pence pieces. Do not save those for Harry Redknapp on May 14.