“Every time I walked out of the tunnel to enter the pitch, it was unbelievable. Villa Park, for me, is electric.”
Wilfred Bouma’s passion and love for Aston Villa still burns brightly. The Dutchman cherishes the times when he used to maraud up and down the left wing in claret and blue.
His five-year stay at the club meant much more to him than fulfilling an ambition of playing in the Premier League, with Birmingham frequently referred to as his ‘second home’.
Bouma became a fan favourite on the back of his whole-hearted performances for the club, displaying all the qualities that helped him win 37 caps for the Netherlands. Had it been his choice, he would have stayed much longer in B6.
The defender’s Villa journey began in August 2005 when the club beat off competition from teams at home and abroad to capture the then 27-year-old’s signature from PSV Eindhoven for £3.5 million.
“When Villa came in for me, I had a great feeling because the manager who signed me, David O’Leary, flew over to Holland and talked about the club. For me, it was not a hard decision to go and give it a try,” he reflected.
For a player who had won the Eredivisie and the Dutch Cup and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in his final season at PSV, Bouma was brought back down to earth quickly in England.
His debut came against West Ham United at Upton Park, and he endured a torrid night as the hosts ran Villa ragged.
“I still remember it like it was yesterday because my first game was on a Monday night against West Ham United away and we lost 4-0 – welcome to the Premier League!” he said.
“I had a difficult start; I had to adapt to the league, especially during my first season. It’s something that you hear from a lot of players who come from abroad. What helped me a lot is that I came into an environment that was almost the same as PSV, it felt straight away like a family.”
Bouma was in and out of the side during his first season at the club as he battled a series of injuries, with the full-back unable to contribute as much as he wanted to.
His adaptation to the ferocious pace and physical nature of English football’s top flight saw the defender suffer setbacks, such as a broken cheekbone and cuts to the face, that he’d never previously endured playing in Holland.
Bouma was quick to settle in off the pitch and found people to be very helpful and supportive where he lived in Sutton Coldfield. However, he didn’t strike up the personal connection he’d hoped for with O’Leary.
The manager had been instrumental in bringing Bouma to the club but, according to the Dutch international, “everything changed” between them the moment he put pen-to-paper on his deal.
“O’Leary was a great manager. Before I came to Aston Villa, I played for PSV against Leeds United and he was the manager of Leeds, so I knew him a little bit already,” he said.
“Things didn’t work out between us, and maybe it had something to do with the fact we were struggling in the league. The only thing we could do was to stay in the Premier League, so we had to play a different style of football. That was something I had to adapt to. Things didn’t work out between us the way we would have hoped.”
The team were only able to string consecutive wins together once during the 2005-06 campaign as they stuttered to a 16th place finish.
“I’d just come from playing in the semi-finals of the Champions League with PSV, so maybe I was thinking ‘I can do this’. If you’re thinking it will be too easy then you’re going to struggle – that’s something I learned in England,” he reflected.
“You need to always be ready for a fight. Watford had just come into the Premier League and some clubs who, on paper, didn’t have the best players, but it was always a fight. That’s something that I appreciated so much about the Premier League.”
O’Leary was replaced that summer by Martin O’Neill, a change that didn’t initially improve Bouma’s prospects.
He had to bide his time and waited until late October of the 2006-07 campaign before the Northern Irishman gave him a run of games in the side.
“Martin O’Neill came in and he was one of the best managers I had in my career,” Bouma said.
“I wasn’t his signing, and he made that clear from the beginning. It was really hard for me to get into his team, but once I was in his team, I was a regular. Since the day he gave me a chance, I stayed in his team.”
Bouma grasped his opportunity and made the left-back position his own as Villa improved upon the season before, compiling a nine-game unbeaten run to end the campaign as they finished 11th.
The Dutchman’s third season as a Villan in 2007-08 is the one that he picks out as the best of his career, and which brings back the fondest memories for Bouma.
He started all 38 Premier League games as the club recorded a sixth-place finish and qualified for Europe. There were plenty of magic moments along the way.
“The whole team was balanced, and we had some unbelievable games that season,” he recalled.
“Some of our matches are forever going to be Premier League classics. We played Chelsea away on Boxing Day and drew 4-4; we played Tottenham at White Hart Lane and drew 4-4 as well.
“A lot of us in that team were friends. We had some good times together outside of football. I worked really well on the left side with Ashley Young in front of me. I taught him a little bit about defending.
“I’m still in contact with Stiliyan Petrov and I talk to Gabby Agbonlahor. With social media you can still follow each other and see what people are up to.”
Bouma also scored his only Villa goal when Newcastle United visited in February 2008, with a somewhat tame effort on his right foot creeping past the goalkeeper in a 4-1 win.
Netting in front of the Holte End meant a lot to Bouma – no matter how it happened.
“One thing that I wasn’t proud of was that Shay Given got injured and did something to his groin otherwise he probably would have saved it,” he said.
“I still get goosebumps when people mention it. That’s the best feeling. I can imagine what Ollie Watkins is feeling every game at home now.”
After a superb season in club colours, Bouma headed off to Euro 2008 with the Netherlands, donning the famous orange shirt twice as they reached the quarter-finals in Austria and Switzerland.
The defender was all set to be a mainstay of the team once again as Villa prepared for a European campaign. The club were pitted against Odense BK in the Intertoto Cup as they looked to qualify for the UEFA Cup.
A 2-2 draw in the first leg in Denmark was followed by a 1-0 win at Villa Park, but the game was overshadowed by an horrific injury to Bouma. Just 11 minutes in he dislocated his ankle and broke his leg.
“I had a long season in the Premier League and then I had the European Championships with Holland. I only had two weeks off, but I felt great and I wanted to start the new season,” he reflected.
“When it happened, the first few seconds I didn’t feel a thing and I thought, ‘I’m ok.’ Then I looked at my ankle and I panicked. The pain kicked in and I’ve never experienced that amount of pain before. The paramedics came and gave me everything they could to stop the pain but it was horrendous. At one stage I was thinking, ‘Just let me die.’
“They couldn’t put my foot back in its socket because it was broken and dislocated, so every bump on the way to the hospital was so painful. In the hospital they finally popped it back into the socket, which was half an hour after the injury occurred.”
If the mental and physical strain of such an injury wasn’t enough to cope with, Bouma was in the final year of his contract and facing a long spell on the sidelines. However, he retained the faith of O’Neill, who honoured his word by confirming a two-year contract extension.
“When I woke up in the hospital, he came that afternoon and said, ‘Don’t worry, Freddie, we already agreed your extension, so make sure you’re going to be healthy again and back in my team.’ I will always be grateful for that,” the now 45-year-old said.
Bouma would never play for Villa again. Two years of toil and torment unfolded as he attempted to regain fitness.
“I had an operation in July 2008 and then I had a setback and needed another operation in April 2009. Then I was thinking I could get fit again,” he said.
“In November 2009 I was fully fit and then I had a turf toe; someone landed on my leg and I couldn’t do a thing. My biggest toe snapped, so that took me a while as well. Otherwise, I’m sure I would have played more games for Villa.
“If that had have happened, I would still be living in England. I would have got another extension and my children would have been getting older. We loved it.”
Bouma left Villa upon the expiry of his contract in June 2010, but he might have stayed in Birmingham after West Bromwich Albion sounded him out about a move to The Hawthorns.
The Baggies wanted the then 32-year-old to go on trial with them, something he never considered doing. The club where it all began for Bouma arranged a homecoming soon after and he returned to PSV for three seasons before hanging up his boots.
If he couldn’t have retired as a Villan, finishing his career with the other club close to his heart was fulfilling for Bouma.
Reflecting on saying goodbye to Villa, he said: “I loved it so much. My family was happy there. I’m very loyal. If you look back at my career, I was a long time at PSV and quite a long time at Villa.
“I was too emotional because I didn’t want to leave. I showed later on with PSV and the national team that I could still play. I made it back and I was still good enough. The club made a different decision.
“I’m very thankful to Aston Villa that I could continue my playing career. Unfortunately it was somewhere else but that place was my first love.”
