I miss Aston Villa and I have flashbacks and dreams that I'm still there
There's a piece of artwork called the Aston Villa MishMash that carries the strapline 'The History of the Villans In One image'. In the bottom right corner, illustrator Alex Bennett has drawn a picture of a friendly-looking caricature clad in a claret blazer, lion on his chest, with a speech bubble proclaiming 'Welcome to Villa Park'.
That caricature is Mick Dale.
Welcome to Villa Park, indeed.
On the MishMash, Mick is gesturing towards the rest of the picture, a veritable who's who and what's what of the club's long and illustrious history. Never did a four-inch drawing encapsulate the essence of a fella as splendidly as that cartoon version of Mick.
Welcoming is what Mick does. It's what he is. Although it took voluntary redundancy after 30 years of a civil service desk job to actually realise it. Those who know Mick will remember him as the tour guide extraordinaire who illuminated his every behind-the-scenes wander around Villa Park with enthusiastic smiles, entertaining tales and a desire to make it as personal and memorable as possible for every visitor, young or old.
To the uninitiated, Mick left his beloved club around 18 months ago, meaning that if you haven't had the pleasure of one of his tours you've sadly missed your chance. It's for that reason - and the fact that he's my mate and a thoroughly lovely bloke - that we invited Mick on our Claret & Blue podcast channel to share some of his stories and his history this week.
Watch the Mick Dale interview in full on our Claret & Blue YouTube channel here
Shameless plug alert - It's well worth a watch/listen and you can find it on our YouTube channel or on audio-only platforms. It really is best if you consume the interview that way, so I won't give it all away here, other than to provide a taster of what to expect.
Mick was a child of the 1960s and after getting the bug thanks to his Dad's claret and blue allegiances embarked on a lifelong love affair with the Villa. It was not until 2008, as a middle aged man going grey around the edges, that he landed his dream job, acing his audition on a dummy tour for a gaggle of Villa employees. Abandoning the set script and going off the cuff with effortless humour and encyclopedic knowledge helped him overcome self doubt and the rest, as they say, is AVFC history.
Now working as a concierge at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, near the airport - the perfect role for putting his people skills into practice - he admits he still feels a sense of loss about leaving Villa Park in spring last year. "I miss Villa," he admits. "I think about my job at Villa every day. I have flashbacks and dreams that I'm still there, but I love what I'm doing now."
To his credit, however, despite his disappointment at departing the club after 15 wonderful years, the Solihull sixty-something has never lost his head, which brings us on to this interview teaser, with a brilliant anecdote dating back to a big day out at Wembley in March 2020.
Mick was given the responsibility of taking the costume of Bella, Villa's Lioness mascot, to the national stadium for the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City. I'll let Mick take up the story, starting with a panicked conversation with a colleague beneath the famous Arch.
'There's a problem. I can't find the head.'
'What, you can't find the head? It's in the bag isn't it?'
'It's not.'
'It must be. It must be please, please.'
Mick wanders pitchside to compose himself.
"So I've had to go and get some fresh air," he continues. "I've come out of the tunnel and Nev Williams, the club photographer, is in the sunshine two hours before a cup final and he's smiling away. He looked at my face and said, 'What's the matter with you? You haven't lost Bella's head have you?' and I went 'Who's told you?!'
Mick embarks on a walk of shame back to the dressing room.
"I had to go and tell the club secretary that there's not going to be a mascot for the official photos. I can't tell you the feeling - it was agony."
A friendly Wembley woman tries to hatch a rescue plan for the mane attraction, but alas, it's not to be.
"So, bless them, Wembley brought their safeguarding officer down," he explains. "I don't know what they thought was going to happen. She said I'll try and get you a lion's head. We've got the Wembley option - the England lion's head but we think that's off site.
"But we're going to phone Chelsea to see if we can get Stamford the Lion's head and we'll try Millwall too. I'm like 'whatever', anything we can have, I'd have taken anything, but we couldn't get one. I said couldn't we just walk round the pitch and wave (without the head), but that would've been silly."
During our 45 minute podcast, Mick keeps the laughs rolling with the charm and candour that made him such a popular figure with the claret and blue faithful. There's a ridiculous story about Big Ron and some chewing gum, the amusing moment he 'warmed up' an FA Cup opponent, and the unbridled joy he gave and took by letting kids have half-time kickabouts with their Villa heroes. It's interspersed with poignant memories of the dearly-departed Gary Shaw, a superstar footballer whose genius he first encountered in a primary school match more than half a century ago and who later became a close mate.
Just like on the Villa MishMash, Mick is proud to have rubbed shoulders with the great and good of Aston Villa and he is such a delightful raconteur with so many more stories to tell that we're already planning the Mick Dale Podcast Part Two. But for all his captivating tales of Villa players and managers, it's his shared experiences with supporters that bring a lump to the throat. "It's the fans, those are the most special memories, being able to give them moments that they will remember for the rest of their lives."
Ladies and gentleman, Mick Dale. Not all heroes wear capes or football boots. Some wear a blazer and a lanyard.