Grande Pablo

Hearing Jo Venglos has gone. Edit - in main death thread.

Geoffrey Fellows - ex Villa & Shrewsbury gone to Covid-19. Heartfelt tributes to former Aston Villa star who has died of coronavirus - Birmingham Live (birminghammail.co.uk)

"Major" - Pato Banton's brother. Tributes to Major, much-loved producer dubbed 'Godfather of Birmingham music' - Birmingham Live (birminghammail.co.uk)

Colin Withers died yesterday, reported in local press & AVFC website as in Time Added thread. Awaiting QO - hopefully quicker than Nigel Sims in 2018 that took all year. The BBC round up with be helpful here too.

I waited 345 days for Nigel Sims in 2018, so I hope they might be a bit quicker with Colin Withers. Already submitted in my 2021 entry so a sub will come into play.

Not sure how all this anti-heading stuff will end up, but it's a real shame nonetheless. Cowans was a genius with the ball at his feet & rarely recall him heading the ball!

One winner is odious twunt Steve Hodge who swapped with Maradona after the Hand of God game. Now a millionaire overnight.

Former Walsall & Norwich player Ken Hill (not the one from the Joy of Sex books) Family pay tribute to former Walsall player and 'real gentleman' Ken Hill | Express & Star (expressandstar.com)

This has been absolutely wonderful to keep following. Thank you for your Herculean effort!

Seeing his name made me recall this classic.

The link might not get you to the full story, but on local social media the Independent Walsall Supporters Association have reported Chris Nicholl was victim to an 'unsavory incident' earlier this week whilst attempting to continue to live independently (as assumedly his dementia worsens) in the north Walsall suburb of Bloxwich, so has now been moved to Southampton with family for his on safety. For those of you unaware of the area, Bloxwich is a lawless shithole. Was a great player in his day for Villa & others.

Bill Oddie has been Tweeting that he's not been well over the summer. Will be a long recovery. https://twitter.com/BillOddie/status/1302314713976655873?s=20

Aston Villa hero dies after crippling battle with dementia https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mike-tindall-aston-villa-dementia-18748706 Mike Tindall - not the royal eggchaser but former Villa, etc. Needs a QO.

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/walsall-fc/2020/06/23/former-walsall-boss-chris-nicholl-presented-with-tracker-watch/ At least he'll be the only successful track & trace case on the mainland.

Local social media reported ex-Villa & Southampton centre back Chris Nicholl had gone missing around the streets on South Staffordshire east of Cannock this afternoon. Found after couple of hours. Known to be suffering from some form of degenerative illness.

Ron Wylie QO https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52286303

Actor Jay Benedict https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jay-benedict-death-coronavirus-emmerdale-aliens-dark-knight-rises-a9450071.html

Michael Chopra has tweeted his condolences, so it seems pretty real. Edit - Not a QO - https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/03/17/breaking-footballer-peter-whittingham-dies-age-35/#.XnE2z252vIU

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/11132919/aston-villa-gordon-cowan-alzheimers/ Gordon Cowans diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. He’s a friend of a friend & saw him about 3 or so years ago, & it was so sadly obvious he had some form of difficulty. He’s now brave enough to go public & should be admired. Cracking player for us in his day, & woefully underused by England. Feel slightly hypocritical on having him on my list today.

https://pitchfork.com/news/57711-gravenhurst-aka-nick-talbot-passes-away-at-age-37/ Nick Turner, aka Gravenhurst.

Graeme Souness will be happy. Allegedly.

https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/2019/december/brian-sparrow-24.6.1962---6.12.2019/ Brian Sparrow - ex Crystal Palace

Great manager for us Villa fans, but sadly being ill for some time made him low hanging fruit for a DL pick. Tomorrow will be quite emotional.

Anna Quayle QO https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/anna-quayle-dead--grange-20393214

A long overdue hit.