The group of men who’ve achieved more for Aston Villa than John McGinn is getting smaller by the week.
Villa supporters are rightly proud of the club’s historical status. They were at the very heart of the establishment of football as we know it, and dominated it too. They made FA Cup history and went on to etch the club’s name in League Cup lore.
This is a football club in the finest traditions of the English game and former European champions, but there’s no denying that the bulk of Villa’s demonstrable success happened before the First World War.
That doesn’t cheapen the standing of the club. It just means that when it comes to genuine icons of Aston Villa there are relatively few in the modern era and almost none of them is unassailable.
It’s fair to say I’m a Villa supporter of a certain vintage. I feel lucky that I was taken to Villa Park so young that I don’t remember which match was my first. There won’t be many supporters younger than me who stood frequently on the Holte End. I was a regular at and then a member of the Rat Pan for more years than I care to remember.
I had season tickets that allowed me to watch Paul McGrath. I saw Jack Grealish grow up, prove himself one of the most talented players Villa have ever had, and leave under a cloud.
I was even able to watch Gordon Cowans. In the pantheon of modern Villa greats, it’s only really Brian Little I didn’t experience first-hand.
McGinn might not have the innate genius of Grealish or Little. He doesn’t have the incredible vision and passing ability of Cowans, nor the palpable magic of McGrath, but he’s as close to an embodiment of our football club as we have on the pitch.
Already a Scottish international, McGinn signed for Villa in 2018 for a reported £2.5 million fee that was regarded even at the time as a bargain.
He played a big part in Villa getting promoted in his first season, which culminated in the crucial second goal in the play-off final. Never mind the supershinner against Sheffield Wednesday. Wembley was the purest Meatball goal.
By the end of May 2019, McGinn was part of the squad that had dragged Villa out of the Championship under Dean Smith. They all have a truly special place in my heart. In time, it will be forgotten by anyone who didn’t live through that season just how much pressure was on that second play-off final.
McGinn isn’t the only member of the current Villa squad who was in the promotion team, nor the only one who went on to be a Villa captain, but he has grown with his club in the Premier League and into Europe. Where Dennis Mortimer went before, so McGinn would tread in 2024/25.
Villa signed him for £2.5 million in the Championship. He was highly rated but by no means certain to become the player, the leader, he is today.
McGinn is beloved, not in the way a cult hero might be but because he’s one of the best footballers Villa have had in the Premier League, a perfect fit for what the Villa of 2025 should be, and perhaps the best buy a football club of Villa’s size has made this century.
| Competition | AVFC Apps | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 210 | 18 | 23 |
| Championship | 40 | 6 | 1 |
| FA Cup | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| League Cup | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Champions League | 10 | 3 | 2 |
| Europa League | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Conference League | 12 | 3 | 3 |
According to the unimpeachable John Percy, McGinn is ‘close to signing’ a new contract at Aston Villa. I’m not going to say the sun poked through the clouds at the exact moment I read that news but it wouldn’t have surprised me.
“Negotiations over yet another contract extension are advanced and an agreement is almost complete, ahead of his 31st birthday this weekend,” writes Percy for The Telegraph.
“Everton, Newcastle and West Ham were keen on signing the Scotland international this summer, during a period of great uncertainty for the club, and he will be rewarded with fresh terms to extend the fairytale.”
Despite his remarkable longevity at Villa and his obvious affinity for the club and its supporters, McGinn will one day leave the club. This might very well be his last contract because he makes these connections everywhere he goes.
McGinn is the kind of player supporters appreciate everywhere and that’s like to define the end of his career.
I’m a lover of Scottish football and, in effect, a follower of St Mirren. The people I know there speak about McGinn like they personally carved him out of Erskine whinstone.
Earlier in the year I interviewed supporters of St Mirren and Hibernian for a MUNDIAL article and what came through in every conversation was that everyone who’s had McGinn at their clubs want him to come home to close out his career.
At the time of writing, McGinn will turn 31 in two days. That swansong decision isn’t imminent but it’s not all that far away either, and the strongest contender of all might be a club he hasn’t even played for.
The Villa captain overlooked some very compelling personal connections with Celtic to join what looked a forlorn promotion fight in 2018 but what a way to ride off into the sunset.
That’s for another day. For now, McGinn is close to agreeing a new contract and Villa will be a better club for it. Now he just needs a trophy.
Read more John McGinn news:
➡️The real reasons why John McGinn is the captain Aston Villa need and deserve
➡️Former Aston Villa midfielder names the current star he’d love to have played with
➡️Villa shouldn’t even answer the phone to Premier League clubs chasing midfielder
The post I’ve supported Aston Villa all my life – John McGinn might be the ultimate modern Villa icon appeared first on AVillaFan.com – Aston Villa Fan Site.
