Steve Crossman
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
And obviously Forest fans did as well.
And the atmosphere at the city ground for the first leg was extraordinary.
Mull of Kintyre, it sounded absolutely glorious.
But just here tonight, I think the Villa fans have to take a huge amount of credit for creating this almost storm that the Forest players had to walk into.
It was an absolute cauldron, wasn't it?
I thought it was really interesting, the start, before everything really, really kicked off, before the fans really got into the stadium.
There were a few, but it was very relaxed.
You know, it might have been quiet, but there was just this sort of calmness over it.
We saw the owners, they were down pitch side, they were talking to Damian Vidigani, the head of football here, and...
Once it clicked for Villa on the pitch, it goes into the stands and vice versa.
They drove them on tonight and there was nothing from the fans to suggest that there was going to be any anxiety.
It might have taken them a little while to get that goal, but it was coming.
And realistically, there was nothing Forest could do about it tonight.
Ian Dennis, I've waited to bring you back into the conversation because you were scribbling away, and it just made me think, what on earth do you write to try and sum up a night like this in like 20 to 30 seconds, which you'll have to do for the news bulletins?
Well, I don't know, it's very hard.
I mean, if you've got somebody like Ian Taylor, who's in tears behind us, you know, this is, said at the final whistle, the long wait is over.
You know, generations of Villa supporters have been dreaming of this.
You know, I'm not going to diss the Conference League, but, you know, they were so close two years ago against Olympiacos, but they were never really in it after losing the first leg.
The Champions League is everything for Aston Villa if they are to challenge, you know, the other top clubs in the Premier League.
And they've buried, they've put aside their Premier League form, they've brought their European game here.