No 26 did not deliver destiny for Villa in Championship play-off final, and now Steve Bruce has problems preparing for another promotion tiltSurely football’s gods would not deny Aston Villa this time: 26 May was the 36th anniversary of the club’s European Cup victory when the team in claret and blue, against all the odds, beat the bluebloods of Bayern Munich. The number 26 was on the back of Villa’s captain, John Terry, the warrior central defender who would pass his 38th birthday back in the Premier League, taking a couple of days off when his adopted club play Chelsea to whom he said goodbye a year ago in the 26th minute.That was to be the narrative except that in the high-stakes Championship play-off final the numbers have been crunched and it is Fulham who have triumphed in the game tagged last week as the £280m match, and who will be joining the high rollers of the Premier League. Terry will almost certainly leave the club for whom he has slogged away through an endless English winter and Aston Villa’s summer will be an anxious and long one. Related: Fulham promoted to Premier League after play-off win over Aston Villa Continue readingreadfullarticle
