I DIDN'T CHOOSE ASTON VILLA....IT CHOSE ME... Featuring Jora and Aman Lally My name is Aman and my sons name is Jora, and we're Villa fans🦁 Originally from Birmingham but now living in Walsall. @AVFCOfficial #VillaChoseMe #UTV #avfc🦁 STORY1⃣0⃣9⃣ Here is my Villa story.... This is our story and how we became Villa fans. I started following Villa in the late 80s as a good friend of mine also followed the Villa. The first game I attended was at VIlla Park against Tranmere Rovers in the semi final second leg of the League Cup - and what a game to have as my first game! I introduced my son Jora to the Villa in 2016, when I purchased season tickets for both of us following our relegation to the championship. Jora is disabled (with 22q13 Phelan-McDermid Syndrome) which means he struggles with a lot of the everyday things we take for granted. He is non verbal so he has never been able to say he is a Villa fan. However, the more we went to watch Villa games, he started to enjoy the whole experience a lot more which also benefitted him with his own development and social interactions. Jora used to struggle to sit and take part in any activity for any given period of time due to his disability, but through going to Villa his attention span and capacity to sit and enjoy an activity increased and now it has become an enjoyable part of his life. Jora loves the outdoors so the idea of taking him to Villa Park for an outing was a no brainer and we haven't looked back since as we now follow Villa home and away each week. Whether the trip is to Villa Park or a long away day on the coach or train it has become a regular for us both and we've made so many new friends along the way on our 8 year journey as season ticket holders. For my day job I am a Maths teacher by trade and I have been fortunate enough to have taught/work at school with a number of the lads who are currently at Villa including Jamal Jimo-Aloba, Luka Lynch, Rico Richards, Lino Sousa, Morgan Rogers and Tim Iroegbunam who recently moved to Everton. As former students I always root for Morgan to take his game to the next level and for the others to hopefully make their breakthrough with the first team in the near future. It's very special for me as a teacher to see the students that I saw growing up at school are now becoming our heroes at the Villa!. For Jora's 18th birthday TIm got McGinn, Watkins and Ramsey to send Jora a special video birthday message and Emi also sent Jora a signed set of gloves for his birthday. This was an amazing gesture for Jora by Tim and the Villa boys and made Jora's birthday extra special. My favourite players from years gone by would include Paul McGrath and Dalian Atkinson. From the current crop, Emi Martinez, Ollie Watkins, John McGinn and Morgan Rogers are really up there for me at the moment, as was Douglas Luiz. We regularly travel with the Sutton Coldfield Villa (@SuttonVillans) for the away games and we are also part of the Punjabi Villans (PV) supporters group (@PunjabiVillans) and often meet up with the PV group for a mix grill and a few drinks. We have had a number of what I call favourite moments in recent years. The away wins at Man Utd in Sept 2021, at Spurs on New Years Day in 2023 and the win at Arsenal in April 2024. The recent home win against Bayern Munich in the Champions League also really stands out. The win at Luton away in March 2024 last season was really special for us as Tim and Morgan both came to see us and took photos with us after the 2-3 win at Luton and Tim gave his match shirt to Jora. Spurs away - Jan 2023: xitter.cf/amandiplally/status/16… Jora's birthday messages from the Villa players: xitter.cf/amandiplally/status/16… Jora's birthday present from Emi delivered by Tim: xitter.cf/amandiplally/status/16… Man Utd away - Sept 2021: xitter.cf/amandiplally/status/14… Arsenal away - April 2024: xitter.cf/amandiplally/status/18… That is our Villa story so far!! Kind regards Aman & Jora Lally UTV!💜💙 NAME's Twitter handle: @Amandiplally🦁 Didn't choose.. picture created by - [@avfc_edits]