Why Aston Villa hate Phil Dowd and his latest curse on Villa Park

Phil Dowd’s Recent Villa Park Curse

Okay, so Phil Dowd is the referee against Spurs, but what is more worrying is the game takes place at Villa Park in the month of October. Why should you be concerned with that? Read on…

“WTF Mr Dowd” – Petrov

Aston Villa 1 West Brom 2 (October 2011) – Chris Herd wrongly sent off

Villa were one-nil up thanks to a Darren Bent goal and looking comfortable. But just after the half-hour mark, Dowd contentiously dismissed Villa midfielder Chris Herd for an alleged stamp on Jonas Olsson, despite replays clearly showing Herd trying to pull out of the challenge. Alex McLeish’s Villa were a team low on confidence to begin with and they seemed to fold due to the decision that lead to the Baggies winning 2-1.

Bennett calls Mr Dowd a dirty word

Aston Villa 1 Norwich 1 (October 2012) - Joe Bennett is sent off

It’s a year later and again Villa were 1-0 up, thanks to a Christian Benteke opener, but five minutes after the break, it was time for Phil Dowd to put the screws on the Villa once again. He gave Villa left-back Joe Bennett a second yellow for a challenge on the half-way line. Was it a yellow card offence? It’s debatable (if Vidic’s wasn’t, then this certainly wasn’t!) Okay, Bennett was naive getting stuck-in at the half-way line and giving Dowd the option, but harsh by Dowd again. Some may say bias.

Aston Villa vs Spurs (October 2013) – Which Villa player will walk this time?

Is a Villa player being sent off by Phil Dowd at Villa Park in October becoming an annual event?

It might be worth a bet for a Villa player to get sent off against Spurs (my money’s on Delph!). Not only will you pocket the cash, but also, if we all pull our receipts together at the end as evidence, we can get Phil Dowd suspended on the suspicion of being part of an illegal betting syndicate. Then finally, we’ll have Dowd banned from Villa Park.