The former Italian star shared his experience of how he became so fond of Aston Villa despite never playing in the Premier League.
Aston Villa are currently attempting to promote their brand globally by holding an Asia Tour, which finished today. They are set to return home ahead of the UEFA Super Cup next week. The Lions have gained global recognition today as the Premier League has been widely known around the world since the mid-1990s.
However, for Gianluca Pagliuca, The Clarets and Blue have been in his memory since long before that. The former Italian goalkeeper from the 1990s has been a Villa fan since his youth. He even still keeps himself updated on Unai Emery’s side’s results today. The first-choice goalkeeper for Gli Azzurri at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups shared his affection for the West Midlands side, as reported by FourFourTwo.
“Even today, I still check their results automatically – it’s a habit I care about.”
Yet, his craziest moment was probably when Villa were on the verge of returning to the Premier League in 2018/19. Pagliuca did something unthinkable.
“In 2019, before Villa won the play-off final against Derby, I promised my son that, if they got promoted to the Premier League, I’d tattoo their crest on my right arm, and I did.”
Pagliuca’s affection for Aston Villa began in the early 1980s. He mentioned his earliest memory from when he was still a teenager.
“I fell in love with Aston Villa watching clips of English football on TV in the early ’80s. I remember those claret-and-blue colours and their title race with Ipswich in 1981.”
Indeed, that was the last great top-flight campaign in the club’s history. Peter Withe and Co. eventually won the title in the 1980/81 season, their last league title to date. They finished on top with 60 points, four points clear of Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town and seven points ahead of Arsenal.
Ipswich might have lost the title race to Villa, but they lifted the UEFA Cup trophy that season. It remains their best continental campaign to date.
Pagliuca’s career as a goalkeeper rose to stardom while he was playing for Sampdoria. He was the key man between the sticks when Il Samp won Serie A in 1991, the Coppa Italia three times, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990, and reached the European Cup final in 1992. They only lost to Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona, with a young Pep Guardiola already in the team.
He then moved to Inter Milan and stayed for five years before switching to Bologna in 1999. Yet, before moving to the Renato Dall’Ara, he did receive an unexpected call. It was from his favourite club. John Gregory made an approach to sign him.
“After my time at Inter, before I agreed to join Bologna, I got a call from Villa. Back then, the Premier League wasn’t what it is today – Serie A was the world’s top league.”
His decision to turn down the chance to play for the Lions appears to have left him with some regret. The goalkeeper with 39 international caps wishes he had taken it.
“If I were playing now, or could go back in time, I’d seize that kind of opportunity immediately – especially in England, which has always fascinated me, but also abroad in general.”
The post ‘I’d tattoo their crest’ – The former Italian star on his love for Aston Villa appeared first on AVillaFan.com – Aston Villa Fan Site.
