Former England boss Graham Taylor admits he turned down the job at Newcastle United.
In 1987, Taylor, his stock sky-high after guiding Watford from the fourth division to an FA Cup final, had already got a contract with Villa. With regret, he politely declined.
"It seems like a long, long time ago, but it was when I went to Villa. I had been there a year and there was an offer, through a third party, asking whether I would be interested in considering the Newcastle job," he told the Sunday Sun.
"I couldn't because I had signed a contract at Aston Villa, but there was a tinge of regret there.
"It would have been a fantastic opportunity and Newcastle has always had a place in my heart, ever since I made my debut for Grimsby against them in the old Second Division.
"I knew all about Newcastle and what a big club it is - I had actually spent a lot of time at St James' Park when I was at Watford.
"In fact, it was on the Gallowgate that I learned never to under-estimate the knowledge of the average football fan. When I was a young manager at Watford and we didn't have a midweek game I used to go to Newcastle a lot if they were playing.
"I would park my car up at Kings Cross after training, catch the 2 o'clock to Newcastle and walk up to the stadium and pay to get in. It probably sounds crazy now because you wouldn't be able to do it these days, but I loved standing on the terraces and I didn't get noticed once, I don't think.
"It was a fantastic trip and one that I used to love to make. I would stand on the Gallowgate and watch whoever it was that I wanted to watch, then afterwards have a tot of whiskey in the station and catch the sleeper train back to London in time for training at 9am the following day."
