February 1972. Villa park.
Villa versus Santos. Among the 55k spectators was this lad.
I watched the maestro that was Pele from the Holte!
Genius
Tickets were 70p at the turnstile.
We stood in awe.
Villa won 2-1
Not that it mattered.
I was on the Holte that night too, my first ever visit to Villa park as a 6 year old. I don’t specifically remember Pele playing but do remember my dad and grandad raving about him, that we were in the presence of a genius. He also did a lap of honour at Highbury in May 1981 during the Arsenal Villa game. He’d retired by then but still looked as though he could have turned out for either team.
He was someone that transcended sport in the same way that Mohammad Ali did. He was a genius on the pitch and was revered wherever he went. May he rest in peace.
