John Gregory led Aston Villa to their last European final against Basel 22 years ago. Photo: Christopher Pledger
In less than 10 minutes of Aston Villa's final appearance in the European final, John Gregory left home ground and headed to the directors' box to take a seat next to the club's notorious former chairman Doug Ellis.
Villa beat Swiss club Basel 4–1 and had a 5–2 lead over the two legs. This meant that not only were they one of three winners of the 2001 Intertoto Cup, along with Paris Saint-Germain and Troyes, but they were also progressing. into that season's UEFA Cup.
“Deadly” Doug, as he was known by supporters and pundits, was rubbing his hands at the prospect of finding another source of income, but did not realize that Intertoto's success would cost him dearly.< /p>
“There was a clause in my contract that meant I would get a pay rise if we qualified for the UEFA Cup,” former Villa manager Gregory said. “Last season we didn't finish high enough in the league, but we qualified by winning the Intertoto Cup.
“So after we beat Basel 4-1, I went up to the directors' box and sat next to Doug, which is something I've never done before. He couldn't understand why I was there, but he was glad we were going to qualify for the UEFA Cup. What I didn't remind him that evening was that my salary had increased by £3,000 a week because that was written into my contract.»
Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis (left) during the press conference announcing John Gregory (right) as the club's new manager. Photo: PA/PA
Gregory will celebrate his 70th birthday next year, and while there may be the odd hint of gray in his shock of black hair, he remembers his four years working for Ellis as if they were yesterday.< /p>
The villa entertains the Bozian Club. Zrinjski Mostar on Thursday night in the Europa Conference League — 22 years since Gregory's team won football's smallest trophy in front of their home fans.
“It was kind of a bad precursor to the Conference League,” Gregory said. “The trophy was tiny, you could barely see it and I think some of the players were a little embarrassed. But Villa fans were simply desperate for any success and they continue to suffer to this day. I was at the final game last season when they won Conference League qualification and the celebration was like they had just won the FA Cup. That was incredible. . . noise.»
The Intertoto Cup had changed format by the time Villa booked their place in the UEFA Cup again in 2008, with 11 clubs from the third round progressing, meaning 2001 marked the last time Villa lifted a European trophy after their 1982 European Cup victory over Bayern Munich. which fans are still singing about.
David Ginola scored Villa's final goal of the Intertoto season under Gregory, which would have pleased Ellis, who signed the Frenchman for £3 million from Tottenham Hotspur last summer.
“Doug went on vacation to Mauritius and fell in love with David,” Gregory said. «He called me and said, 'He's an amazing person, he's this and that, and doesn't he have amazing hair.' I knew all about David and I knew he was a great showman, but he was never going to do anything defensive.
“Anyway, Doug will come back and I’ll have to go to the stadium two or three times. a week because my personal secretary was not allowed to work at the test site. So I had to go to the stadium because she was essentially running my life and it was a guarantee that Doug would see me.
“I would have loved to come in and talk to absolutely everyone, but Doug just came back and insisted I come in and see him, and he started talking about David again. He dined with him and was fascinated by him. I put forward a few players I was interested in but all I got in response was, “What about David?” and he knew he could get him for £3 million.
“I thought it was £3 million.» I could have splurged on someone else I really wanted, but in the end I realized it would be David or nobody, and I guess I convinced myself I could change him.
< p>“David was on £20,000 a week at Tottenham and Doug started by offering him £15,000, which was his usual tactic. By the end of the meeting with «Team Ginola» he had agreed to pay him more than double and I'm thinking: «I've got (Paul) Merson, (Dion) Dublin and (Gareth) Southgate and them.» you will all knock on my door.” Of course the word got out and Merce refused to go on the pre-season trip until he was given the same salary and fair play because he had been brilliant for us.
Aston Villa manager John Gregory (left) with Paul Merson during the contract signing. Photo: Action Images/Nick Potts
“I have to say David was great at the club and great company to be around. He scored some brilliant goals, including in the final against Basel, but I remember we had just started using an early version of GPS to track players. Every Tuesday this guy would come to me to review the players' performance over the weekend, and a week later he would come to me and say, «One of your players has moved one meter in the first two minutes of the game.» Who do you think it was? I immediately guessed it was our goalkeeper David James, but of course it was David (Ginola). He walked one meter after the opponent kicked the ball and stopped. It was him, he upset me so much.”
Signing Ginola was uncharacteristic of Ellis, and his strict control over Villa's finances was a major obstacle to Gregory's ambitions to take the club from the Intertoto Cup to the Champions League.
“I wanted to sign Ruud van Nistelrooy, but Doug would never do it.” “I wasn’t going to pay £19 million, which is what Manchester United paid for him,” Gregory said. “We had a great team and I really thought we could move on and try to qualify for the Champions League and fight for the title, but I could never carry Doug with me.”
“The club used to hand out Aston Villa chocolates wrapped in burgundy and blue foil in hotel rooms at the Villa Park Hotel. The expiration date on them was 2000 and was written on the back in gold letters. I remember Doug asking one of the interns to change the date on them with a gold pen to 2002 so he wouldn't have to throw them out and buy a new batch.
“There was another case where a couple of young players had groin surgery and it cost Villa about £700 on top of insurance. Doug managed to convince the surgeon to waive the bill so that insurance would cover the entire cost, and he danced around his office in celebration. United signed Ruud van Nistelrooy and we changed the expiration dates on chocolates and saved hundreds of pounds on operations for the players.»
Gregory's budget battles with Ellis came to a head two months after the Intertoto success, with Villa top of the Premier League table after a 3-2 win over Bolton Wanderers in late October.
“We beat Bolton and on Monday I came in and told Doug I wanted Muzzy Izzet,” Gregory said. “I knew we could buy him for £5 million and his first answer was: 'Why do you need Muzzy Izzet, you're the best in the league.' The next day I called a board meeting to make my case, but I didn't get the chance. From that day on I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall.»
Villa were seventh in the league when Gregory left the club in January 2002 — in the same position he witnessed the club's victory in final. day last season to qualify for Europe.
“We won at Charlton and the following Wednesday I told Doug I wanted to leave,” Gregory said. “He told me to sleep on it, but in the morning I felt the same and that was it.
“I regretted it very quickly and I still do. A few years earlier, I told my wife, “If I ever leave this club, it will only be downhill,” and so it was. I ended the new contract I earned by winning the Intertoto Cup for nothing.
“But I remember my time at Villa fondly and I just wanted to get people talking about us. We had previously won 3-0 and were still last in the match of the day and that really got me going. It's only when you get to the club that you realize how big it is. Fortunately, things are moving in the right direction again.”
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