No.3 is short-sleeved shirts (4)
David Platt
No journalist likes to be scooped on a big interview. Especially when your own cowardice is the main thing that stopped you landing the exclusive in the first place. But that's the self regret I've found myself wallowing in this week since Aston Villa's official podcast trumpeted David Platt as their special guest on Thursday.
For the past five years or more I've been banging on to anyone who'd listen about wanting to get Platty on the Birmingham Live Claret & Blue podcast I co-host. Alas, while I've spent half a decade failing to pluck up the courage to contact him, Villa's presenting duo of Alan McInally and Kate Tracey beat me to it.
The result is a brilliant 90 minutes of interest and insight for all claret and blue fans as Platt opens up on his brilliant spell at Villa from 1988 to 1991. As jealous as I am that Villa persuaded Platt to reveal all at Bodymoor Heath, rather than our Poddymoor Heath recording studio, I fully recommend you listen to it here.
I think it's an important piece of content that challenges the misconception that the former goalscoring midfielder has airbrushed his time at Villla from his memory. He clearly loves the Villa and having his former team-mate McInally on hand to tease out his memories only served to reinforce that claret and blue connection. Platt owing McInally a favour for sorting him out Bayern Munich tickets in Germany earlier this season probably sweetened the deal too!
David Platt
So why have I been such a scaredy-cat then? Why have I not picked up the phone and used my characteristic charm to get the 58-year-old on our show? Partly because Plattt has a reputation for being private, reclusive and media-reluctant nowadays, but mainly to avoid the prospect of being rejected by my boyhood hero.
The following 20 or so sentences that I originally scribbled for Villa's club programme 15 years ago are probably the best way to explain myself and the context for my cowardice.
It hardly ranks alongside an elephant taking an impromptu toilet break at BBC Television Centre in the list of Blue Peter’s all-time greatest moments. But to this day, I still cherish a vivid memory from the cult children’s show much more fondly than that classic clip of a pachyderm doing a poo.
It remains one of the proudest moments of my life that, a quarter of a century ago, between Newsround and Neighbours, a picture I painstakingly painted of Platt was shown on Blue Peter. Admittedly, my competition entry featured for only a millisecond and, knowing my artistic skills, the rather basic portrait probably depicted Platt with an out-of-proportion head and bloated body. But to a young boy completely wowed by the attacking midfielder’s amazing impact at Villa it was a moment to treasure nonetheless.
Forget Pavarotti, Gazza’s tears and Roger Milla’s hips, Platt was the star of Italia 90 for that volley against Belgium on June 26 1990. When England were eliminated on penalties in the dramatic semi-final against Germany, I will now admit, that I shed a tear for Platty, who converted his spot-kick in the shoot-out.
I remember listening to the commentary on a portable radio in a tent at a school camping trip at Bracelands in Gloucestershire and it hurt more than when my girlfriend of one day dumped me before kick off. Now, there is a pocket of Villa fans who have a real downer on Platt for some rather forthright views, in his previous role as SkySports pundit, on the club’s post Millennium place in football’s food chain, accusing him of choosing to forget the claret and blue chapter that was the making of him.
But I prefer to remember him for his free-scoring, box-to-box days, arriving as a £200,000 unknown from Crewe in 1988, notching 68 goals in 155 appearances, transforming Villa from Second Division strugglers to First Division runners-up before departing to Bari three and a half years later as Villa’s then record £5.5 million sale.
There’s a saying that you should never meet your heroes and I have never had the pleasure of Platt’s company face to face. It is a source of relief rather than regret, however, because the one dealing I had with my boyhood idol went better than can be expected.
Speaking to the stars of yesteryear is much more nerve-wracking than interviewing today’s first-teamers. So it was with an air of trepidation that, having acquired a phone number for Platt, I rang him at his holiday home in Sardinia a few years ago.
Fortunately, despite me disturbing his sunshine break, Platt was brilliant, a real top bloke. He afforded me all the time in the world to talk about Villa and England past and present, including THAT volley against Belgium, and, more importantly, keep the legend alive in this little boy’s mind. After getting the quotes I needed he must have afforded me at least 10 minutes of extra fan boy fawning.
Forget the Blue Peter badge I won for painting my hero, it was nothing compared to the thrill of getting chatty with Platty.
So there you have it. Having struck lucky by enjoying that initial chat with Platt, albeit 1,250 miles away on the telephone all those years ago, I didn't want to ruin the memory of a fella I have adored since I was nine. For context, dear reader, I'm a lot older than nine now.
As I said at the start of this piece, it's not nice being scooped, but I'm old enough and gracious enough to give praise to others, especially when one of them is Rambo McInally!
Much as I wanted Platt to come on a Claret & Blue nostalgia trip with yours truly (and still do, if you're reading this David!), just hearing him describe his genuine apprecation and affection for Aston Villa to an army of admirers and doubters was enough to keep this not-so-little boy's childhood love affair alive.
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Aston Villa 150th Anniversary
Get your hands on AVFC 150 years merchandise
Aston Villa is marking its 150th anniversary throughout with the launch of a new merch collection including shirts, hoodies, books, mugs and scarves.
Top items include the Anniversary Shirt, Anniversary Hoodie and Anniversary Polo Shirt, plus the 150 Years picture books Volume One and Volume Two.