Steve Bruce is delighted with Aston Villa support
Steve Bruce has been blown away by the Villa support during his first month in the job.
Villa return to action on Friday night with a trip to Brighton and will be taking a large following after selling out their initial 2,700 allocation. The Seagulls provided 500 further tickets, which appear likely to sell out as well.
And Bruce – who twice managed Villa's arch rivals Blues to promotion – was full of praise for the supporters.
"The fans have welcomed me," he said. "And what fans they are!
"My first game was against Wolves at home. A derby. They are always tough. We drew 1-1.
"But it was a few days later when I realised what a fan base this club has. We were at Reading and hadn't won away for 14 months. You know how many fans we had? More than 5,000.
"That shows the following this club has. The start has been OK. We've had five games and we're unbeaten. Three wins against Reading, Fulham and Blackburn and draws with Wolves at home and Birmingham away."
And it's not just the size of the fanbase that has impressed Bruce in his short time at Villa Park.
He added: "Look, I have a lot of time and immense respect for everywhere I have worked and I love management. But Aston Villa... they are one of the big clubs. The tradition and history here is remarkable."
