Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow explains decision against promotion parade
Chief executive Christian Purslow has revealed Villa decided against a civic reception for winning promotion because it was not a big enough achievement.
Birmingham City Council would have allowed Villa to hold a public parade to celebrate Monday’s play-off final win over Derby, which sealed the club’s return to the Premier League after a three-year absence.
But Purslow and Villa head coach Dean Smith had already decided winning promotion through the play-offs would not be worthy of such a grand event.
“We got asked a lot about why there wasn’t a big parade,” said Purslow. “Even our friends at the council have been concerned people might think it was their call.
“It wasn’t anything like that. Myself and Dean had talked about it for under 10 seconds about a week ago and we felt the same thing.
“We are Aston Villa. We have parades when we win cups and win leagues. Not when we get promoted, effectively third.
“We had a wonderful day on Monday and a wonderful few hours of celebrations. Parades are for when we win something big.”
Smith, a fan since childhood, was a regular at matches when Villa won the league and European Cup in consecutive seasons in 1981 and 1982.
And he said: “I was fortunate to get on the bus when they carried the European Cup around.
“There has been a European Cup and a league championship. But for the play-off final? No.
“We are back where we should be and we have to make sure we build from here.”
