Martin O’Neill’s side are going good guns in the current Premier League but, looking back over top flight seasons of yore, Villa Park played home to some right “Where are they now?”-ers. Sport.co.uk asks: whatever happened to the following 5 Aston Villa players?
1. Savo Milosevic
The £3.5m that it took to land the Serbian in 1995 was considered to huge money at the time. Although he was generally considered to be a flop (the press over here dubbed him ‘Miss-a-lot-evic’), he still scored 28 goals in 91 games, including a spectacular effort in Villa’s 3-0 win over Leeds United in the 1996 League Cup final. He then went on to score 38 goals in 72 games for Real Zaragoza, earning him a £16m move to Parma in 2000.
2. Mark Draper
The midfielder was a success story for Leicester City during the Foxes’ maiden Premier League season in 1994/95 and, while they didn’t manage to beat the drop, Draper himself did by signing for Aston Villa in the summer for £3.25m. He played 120 games for the Villains, scoring 7 goals, and later became a property developer before returning to his first club Notts County as kit man last year.
3. Ian Taylor
One of the Premier League era’s most underrated stalwarts, Taylor’s all-action style and knack for crucial goals made him a Villa Park favourite during his 1994-2003 stint. He was later cheered by Villa fans after scoring a goal against them for Derby County in a pre-season friendly and his popularity continued after his playing days when, rather than taking the VIP treatment, he was spotted travelling with fans to derby matches against bitter rivals Birmingham City. Taylor was even granted his own column – called ‘Tayl End’ (ho ho) – as the final feature in Villa’s match programmes.
4. Alan Wright
At 5 ft 4 ins, Wright was the shortest player in Premier League history. The left-back played 260 games for Villa and has made the third most appearances in European fixtures for the club, with 26. Now aged 38, Wright still plays for Fleetwood Town.
5. Sasa Curcic
Another Serbian, Curcic made a name for himself as a cultured attacking midfielder at Bolton Wanderers before signing for Brian Little’s Villa in 1996. However, he failed to settle in and later described the move as “the biggest mistake I’ve made in my life”. He was sold to Crystal Palace for £1m in 1998 and said as a parting shot: “The way Brian Little played me was very strange. I could never understand it. He knew I was better in a free role. He should have played me like a McManaman or a Cantona. I was never given a chance to show what I could do - and that will always baffle me.” He did, though, admit to drug use and wild partying during his time at Villa, and even purchased a double-decker bus which he used to throw parties on.