Gordon Cowans, Gary Shaw, Tony Morley, Ken McNaught, Kenny Swain and Colin Gibson were heroes in 1982 – and they proved to be just as popular in the modern era following the club’s #ThePerfectSunday campaign.
The European Cup winners took part in the marketing promotion, which illustrated both partnerships and branding.
Aston Villa’s marketing and communications team conceived the idea but there was support from DPD, who provided drivers and vehicles – while main club partner Dafabet were heavily involved in designing the vehicles, as you can see above.
Over 100 claret and blue fans pre-ordered the away shirt – similar in look to the famous shirt worn in the win over Bayern Munich – so it was appropriate that the Rotterdam legends hit the road to deliver all of them.
There were faces of shock and delight as, one by one, the icons knocked on door after door in areas such as Walsall, Kings Norton, Atherstone, Nuneaton and Sutton Coldfield.
Cowans and Shaw both gatecrashed parties – and also found themselves in penalty shoot-out competitions with excited youngsters.
It provided very positive PR and fans followed the journey – featuring video, pictures and updates – via a live blog on the official website and social media channel, Twitter.
Paul Brown 