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If I could offer you only one tip for the future, Aston Villa would be it. The long term benefits of supporting Aston Villa have not been proved by scientific experiment, and the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the highs of being top of the table while still playing poorly. By the end of the season, those memories will be all you have left. Trust me, in twenty years you’ll look back on the early part of 1998/99 and only remember the good times.

Don’t worry about next season. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to persuade Doug Ellis that money needs to be spent on players. The real troubles in your life are likely to be things that never crossed your worried mind, such as the last programme being sold to the person in front of you in the queue.

Do one thing every season that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t look down on other people’s teams. Don’t put up with people who look down on yours.

Cheer.

Don’t waste your time on Manchester United. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The season is thirty-eight games long and, at the end of the day, it’s a game of two halves and you should always have given 110%. Remember 1981.

Remember the victories you have witnessed. Forget the defeats. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Shout.

Don’t feel guilty if you mistake one player for another. One of the most interesting supporters I know doesn’t know the difference between a bald defender and a bald midfielder. This most interesting fan shall remain nameless.

Drink plenty of beer. But be kind to your liver. You’ll miss it when it’s gone.

Maybe we’ll win the Premiership, maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll win the FA Cup, maybe we won’t. Maybe we’ll “do a Wolves” and sink to the Third, maybe Gareth Southgate will lift the European Cup in two years. Whatever we do, lets not congratulate ourselves too much, or berate ourselves either. Our goals tend to be half chances. So do everybody else’s.

Support, even if you have nowhere to do it but on Teletext in your living room.

Read the match reports, even if you don’t agree with them.

Do not listen to Mark Lawrenson, Alan Green or David Mellor. They will only make you angry.

Enjoy Villa Park. Visit it as often as you can. Don’t be afraid of the Holte End or of the people on it. It’s the greatest catherdral to our team you’ll ever be in, you never know when it’ll be changed beyond recognition. Be nice to your fellow supporters. They’re your best link to glorious seasons past and the people most likely to stick with you in seasons of doom.

Live in Castle Vale once, but leave before you lose an eye. Live in Sutton Coldfield once, but leave before your second mortgage.

Travel (to away games).

Accept certain inalienable truths: Season ticket prices will rise, the club will rip us off, Blues will never get promoted. You, too, will get old. And when you do you’ll fantasise that when you were young, referees were reasonable, directors were noble, and Pat McMahon was the best player in the world. Pat McMahon was the best player in the world.

Visit the toilet before you leave the pub or there’s a good chance you’ll miss the best goal ever scored.

But trust me on supporting The Villa.

Colin Jennings
With apologies to the feller on the Hull City mailing list that I’ve unashamedly pinched large chunks of this from