Manchester City and England full-back Kyle Walker has been speaking about the Midlands Derby on his new podcast.
Walker played 15 Premier League games on loan at Aston Villa from Tottenham Hotspur in the 2010/11 season, scoring once and assisting three goals according to Transfermarkt.
Since then, the 34-year-old has won 17 major honours and has made 82 appearances for England in a glittering career.
Walker has recently started a brand new BBC 5 Live podcast alongside former Love Island contestant Chris Hughes called ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker’ in reference to his electric pace.
In the second episode of the podcast the former Villa loanee was asked about derby games in England and commented on the Midlands Derby he played in during his brief spell at Villa Park.
Kyle Walker couldn’t believe the Midlands Derby
When Walker played for Villa he was part of a side that secured a ninth placed finish in the Premier League under Gerard Houlier.
Having started the season playing for QPR in the Championship, Walker joined Villa in January of that season to earn Premier League experience.
During his time at The Villans Walker played in the second Midlands Derby of the season, lasting the full 90 minutes as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at St Andrews.
Birmingham City got relegated that season and there has subsequently not been a Premier League meeting since.
Speaking about the derby, Walker spoke of his shock at the atmosphere and hostility between the two sets of fans, as he said: “Birmingham – Villa, I played in that derby and that was, like, mental. I’ve never seen anything like it. I was like ‘what is going on here?’.”
Aston Villa may have to wait a while to face Birmingham City again
The derby fixture Walker was referencing was over 13 years ago now, when the Manchester City captain was just 20.
Having played for Tottenham and City, Walker knows a thing or two about derby matches, but the level of hostility between Villa and Birmingham is simply on another level to the other derbies the full-back would have experienced.
Now, with Birmingham suffering relegation to the third tier and Villa qualifying for the Champions League the two clubs’ current fortunes could hardly be more different.
There is always a chance that the two clubs face off in the domestic cup competitions but it looks as though it could be quite some time before the two sides meet in a league game.
The post Kyle Walker reveals why Aston Villa v Birmingham City is the most ‘mental’ derby in English football appeared first on Aston Villa News.