On the night of Sunday, December 13, 1998, Aston Villa sat top of the Premier League having just produced a stunning comeback to beat Arsenal 3-2 at Villa Park.
Julian Joachim was one of the main protagonists as the home side fought back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to defeat a Gunners side flush with international talent.
However, the incredible turnaround might never have materialised if manager John Gregory had followed through with his decision to substitute the striker during a prolonged half-time break.
The second half was delayed by 15 minutes due a horrific accident involving a parachutist who landed on top of the Trinity Road stand rather than the halfway line on a windy night, giving the Villa boss time to reconsider his tactical tweaks.
“That’s when a parachutist came down and hit the stand at half-time,” Joachim recalled.
“The second half was delayed, we were 2-0 down. We didn’t really get started and Arsenal were a lot better than us in that first half.
“The gaffer was going to bring me off. He told me I was coming off because I wasn’t having the greatest of games and with what was happening, I flicked my boots off. For one reason or another, he changed his mind and told me to get my boots back on.
“I don’t know what went on there, but luckily enough it gave me a kick up the backside in many ways because I didn’t want to be subbed – you’re disappointed if you come off at half-time. I got our first goal back and then Dion (Dublin) got a couple and we won 3-2. It was a great result.”
The game against Arsenal is the one that stands out for Joachim from his career in claret and blue, and in many ways, the match encapsulates some key aspects of the forward’s time at Villa: a formidable partnership with Dion Dublin, a strained relationship with Gregory and the ability of both Joachim and the club to mix it at the top of the table.
Joachim’s spell in B6 spanned five years and saw him make 172 appearances, scoring 45 goals – a great return for someone who walked into the club in February 1996 as a quiet 21-year-old with a point to prove in the top-flight after joining from Leicester City, the only team he’d ever known.
The young striker had scored their first ever Premier League goal the season before but was now desperate to test himself at the top level again after the Foxes’ relegation to the First Division, and the man who’d handed him his first professional contract, Brian Little, was ready and waiting to give him that chance.
Joachim said: “My old manager, Brian Little, knew me from being at Leicester. He’d always rated me as a young player and he came in three or four times for me, but Leicester wouldn’t sell me at the time.
“Then the time came when Leicester needed money when a new manager came in, which was Martin O’Neill. He needed some money to bring in some players of his own choice.
“I was one of the only ones there at the time who you could get decent money for, so that’s how it came about. I jumped at the chance to be back with Brian, who I knew well, and be back in the Premier League, which was the main factor.”
One month after joining, Joachim watched on as Andy Townsend lifted the League Cup at Wembley as Villa beat Leeds United 3-0 to win the competition for the fifth time.
And while the young forward was disappointed to be in the stands that day due to the fact he was cup-tied, the success reaffirmed a feeling that he was now surrounded by some of the best players in the country.
“You come straight to a club and they’ve won something,” he reflected. “I wasn’t a part of it, in the squad, but I was an Aston Villa player. They’d done all the hard work, obviously, but it was nice to come to a club that were winning things.”
He added: “The one thing I noticed was a confidence in the players. My first trip was away at Wimbledon and it was unbelievable, the confidence in the lads. They were confident they were going to win before they even played the game, that’s how it was.
“The confidence was sky high and that’s something I’d not come across before. You have to respect everyone you play, but there’s nothing wrong with having that confidence. There were some big-name players at the club.”
Joachim was in and out of team during his first two seasons as the club recorded fourth and fifth place finishes in 1996 and 1997 respectively, but in the 1997/98 season, he enjoyed a breakout campaign.
Complementing Villa’s stable of big-name strikers, Dwight Yorke, Stan Collymore and Savo Milošević, Joachim netted eight goals and became a regular starter after the mid-season arrival of Gregory, who replaced Little when he resigned in February 1998.
The new manager set about reshaping the squad that summer, with Paul Merson, Steve Stone and Dion Dublin the marquee signings. And it was with the latter that Joachim struck up a great partnership, enabling him to enjoy the best season of his career in 1998/99.
“I had a really good partnership with Dion Dublin,” he recalled. “We had a good understanding between the two of us and we scored a decent amount of goals over the seasons we had together.
“The better players you play with, the easier the game becomes. I was playing with top international players. When you look throughout the team, we had quite a few.”
Joachim won the club’s Player of the Year award and finished as top scorer with 16 goals, including 14 league strikes as Villa claimed fifth place in the Premier League. Dublin, who missed some time with injury during the campaign, finished with 11 goals, and the combination of his aerial ability coupled with Joachim’s searing speed was enough to scare any defence in the league.
Joachim felt like he was on top form: “A lot of things went well for me and it’s always nice scoring goals. It’s what I dreamed of and it’s what I enjoyed as a striker.
“I created a lot as well for other people, which was an added bonus. That’s one of my better seasons without a doubt and I enjoyed every minute of it.
“When you’re on top of your game, you feel like you can score in most games and frighten most defenders out there. I went out not worried about who I was playing against and letting them worry about me. I’m the striker and they’ve got to try and stop me, that’s how I looked at it.”
Villa never finished outside of the top eight during Joachim’s time at the club, with a run to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals and the FA Cup final in 2000 particular highlights.
Joachim is rightly proud of his achievements in claret and blue.
“You want to play as high as you can, whether that’s in the league or qualifying for European football. That was something I’d never been involved in before I came here,” he said.
“It was all great and everything was moving forward, playing in those sorts of games. I scored against Celta Vigo away, so I can always say I’ve scored in Europe.
“We were FA Cup finalists. Unfortunately, we got beat but you can always say you were involved in an FA Cup final, and the last one at the old Wembley. I had some great years here that I enjoyed.”
The 2000/01 season was Joachim’s last as a Villa player. Broken promises regarding a new contract made for a public fallout with Gregory and saw a transfer request submitted.
Boos rained down from the stands over the first couple of months of the season as the club’s fans took the manager’s side, before the striker won them round with his performances.
A brace against Derby County in September healed some wounds and mended a fractured relationship with Gregory until he joined Coventry City in the summer of 2001 as part of the deal to bring Mustapha Hadji to Villa Park.
“All things weren’t rosy for me at the club and I had a dodgy patch when I had a fallout with the gaffer. I wasn’t in the wrong and I know I wasn’t in the wrong,” Joachim reflected.
“The fans fell out with me a bit and I was getting booed a bit. I was contracted to the club, I wanted to be here and if I was selected to be involved, I came out and did my best.
“I won the fans back over. I showed that I was still willing to fight for the fans. I got a few goals in the Derby game and it turned a corner for the fans and they were right behind me again.
“It got better throughout the season between us (Joachim and Gregory) and I look back and think that was nice because I’d known him for a number of years going back to my early days at Leicester.”
The pair have made up and are on good terms after meeting at Villa’s game against West Ham United at Villa Park in October – their first encounter since Joachim left the club in July 2001.
Joachim’s career at Villa is laid bare in his autobiography ‘You Must Be Joachim’, and the forward will be back at the stadium he used to grace for the game against Manchester City in December to conduct a book signing.
For Joachim, it will always be a place he enjoys coming back to: “When you go to any club, you’re proud first and foremost to put the shirt on and you want to do well for the club.
“You don’t know how your time’s going to be at that club, but you want to do well and leave a mark. Looking back, I was happy with how my career went here.”
Julian will be signing copies of his book in the Holte Suite foyer prior to Manchester City's visit to Villa Park on Wednesday, December 1.
