Dave Woodhall on an unforgettable man, and a forgettable football match.

I’m really struggling to think of anything new to say about Sunday’s Villa Park debacle that hasn’t been said many times about most of the games already this season.

The match was over after 15 minutes when Villa managed to give away two goals from corners and never looked like scoring from then on In fact, had the referee and his team had better games Villa wouldn’t have even finished second.

Instead, I’d like to write about happier things, namely the service being held tomorrow (Tuesday) to commemorate the centenary of the death of William McGregor, former Villa chairman and founder of the Football League.

It’s being held at St Mary’s, Hampstead Rd, Handsworth at 2pm and amongst those present will be President of the Football League Lord Malwhinney, representatives  of the 12 original members of the League plus religious and civic dignitaries from Birmingham and further afield. Afterwards there will be a re-dedication of McGregor’s renovated grave, paid for by an appeal fund organised by the Villa Supporters Trust.

The service is open to all, so please come along and pay tribute to a man without whom football as we know it might never have existed.