I'm Aston Villa through and through but it's weirdly nice to see Birmingham City doing well
Warwickshire great and England fast bowler Chris Woakes loves Aston Villa - but he hopes to see a derby with Birmingham City again soon
You couldn't meet a more dyed in the wool Aston Villa supporter than Warwickshire and England bowler Chris Woakes - but even he admits he's looking forward to the prospect of a Second City Derby sometime again in the not-too-distant future with Birmingham City taking a step back towards the Premier League.
Fast bowler Woakes hails from Great Barr and is a proud son of Birmingham, a man who represents the city around the globe while touring and who has a retort readied for anyone who dares to slander Brum in his presence.
Introduced to Villa as a child through his late father Roger, an equally avid fan of the club, Chris' earliest memories are of the sides in the 90s who claimed the League Cup twice in the space of three years.
From there, into his teenage years, Woakes secured himself a season ticket and, as he put it, 'fell in love' with Villa - that was until his cricketing commitments took over.
Woakes is one of Birmingham's most decorated sportsmen - he won the ODI World Cup with England in 2019, on these shores, and then Down Under lifted the T20 World Cup in 2022. He also claimed England's player of the series accolade for his contribution in the enthralling 2023 Ashes, despite only playing in the final three Tests.
Wherever he is in the world, though, Villa remains on his mind and reminds him of home.
"Why Aston Villa? I was kind of forced into it by my old man, he was a big Villa fan," Woakes told the Reports From Arbroath podcast. "From a young age... I was five when they won the League Cup in 1994, that was on repeat on VHS in our house until the following cup win in 1996.
"Naturally as a young person, when you're watching your team you want them to win. We were winning at the time, which was great, but if I'd supported anyone else I'd have been kicked out of the house!
"That was the main reason, through my dad, and those two League Cup wins in '94 and '96 were quite big in pushing me into that. My first game was against Derby County, when I was seven or eight, and I went with an uncle of mine. I barely watched the ball being kicked.
"I remember coming up the steps, seeing the pitch and just being in awe of the ground, in awe of Villa Park. I fell in love immediately. I just remember watching everyone swearing around me, rather than watching the game itself! I was hooked from that moment on, that was it.
"I only started going regularly when I had a season ticket in the Lower Holte when I was about 14. I was trying to go to as many games as I possibly could. It was a little trickier on Saturdays, because my early cricketing career meant I was beginning to play league cricket.
"I had to juggle that a little bit, but it was amazing to spend time at Villa Park - it's an incredible venue to watch sport, I love it. It's probably my favourite ground in the world - cricket, football, whatever."
"It's probably the one thing - until I had a wife and kids - that did follow me around wherever I went," he continued. "Whether I was travelling with England, travelling with Warwickshire, I'd always be keen to check on the score. It didn't matter what timezone, even if in the middle of the night if I'm in Australia or India.
"It's stayed with me. When you have a love, passion for a team and it's your team through thick and thin, you'll do anything to watch them whether you're winning or losing. We've had many tough times watching Villa, specifically six or seven years ago when we were stuck in the Championship. I wouldn't have changed it for anything.
"It draws me back to Birmingham. My love for Birmingham is too much occasionally! People give Birmingham a bad name and I make sure I give them a saying to. I love that city, it's my home city. Villa connects you to home, friends, family, most of the people I went to school with are Villa fans or West Brom fans, so there is a bit of banter. It's been a big part of my life."
Villa have transformed themselves into a Champions League force under Unai Emery in the last 18 months, and are pushing to secure a third straight campaign in Europe under the Spaniard next season, having reached the quarter-finals of the competition this term and the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Blues, on the other side of the city, meanwhile have renewed hope and sizeable ambition under owners Knighthead, who have mapped out plans for a new home in the Sports Quarter by the end of the decade and who have insisted that an immediate return to the Championship - having broken the League One points record - is only the beginning.
"It's nice, in a weird way, to see them doing well, because we all want the Second City Derby to come back," Woakes added. "We want to play against each other. I know plenty of Blues fans and I know plenty of Villa fans who are desperate to see the local derbies. They're flying so hopefully that happens soon."
You can listen to the Reports From Arbroath podcast here.
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