Are Aston Villa fans right to boo Jack Grealish?

Football tribalism is a weird thing.

Heroes of a club can immediately be turned into pariahs overnight. Fans will hate any other clubs in their immediate area as part of the eternal struggle for regional dominance. People will spout some of the most obviously biased opinions until they are blue in the face to make their team look good.

We are all guilty of it, whether you are a Sky Sports pundit, a fan on Twitter, or an upstart blogger who writes an article every two months or so.

It is important to remember that tribalism manifests itself in different ways with everyone, particularly when it comes to fan attitudes towards former players.

This is where Aston Villa and Jack Grealish come in. Once upon a time, Grealish looked set for legend status at Villa Park. He had been a fan of the club since childhood, climbed through the academy to become captain, and was arguably the most naturally gifted player in the club's history.

However, when he faced off against his former club on Wednesday night, he was booed relentlessly by the fans who once sang his name.

The Villa boo-boys came in for plenty of criticism from neutrals on social media, as well as certain sections of Villa supporters. People believed that Grealish should still be loved by fans after all he achieved at Villa, but it is not as simple as that.

Grealish was indeed an amazing player for Villa, who accomplished so much. He captained the club to promotion back to the Premier League in 2019. He was their standout player as they secured survival in their first season back before driving the club to an 11th-place finish in 2021, their best Premier League performance in a decade.

Obviously, fans would be hurting when he left, but the club did net a British record £100 million fee for him, so they cannot moan too much, right?

However, there is so much context that neutrals do not consider.

Firstly, Grealish tried to force moves before he finally left the club in 2021. He was incredibly close to joining Tottenham in 2018 as Villa teetered on the edge of administration and he did everything he could to join Manchester United in 2020.

Another issue is who he moved to. Villa had routinely lost their best players to Manchester City over the previous decade or so. First Gareth Barry left in 2009, then it was James Milner a year later, before Fabian Delph crossed the divide in 2015 six days after publicly declaring he was staying.

The similarities to the Delph debacle were stark. Grealish signed a long-term contract just months before he headed to Manchester, proudly declaring his love for the club in an infamous social media post, just like Delph. He had also appeared in a kit launch weeks before he left, again just like Delph.

Even now, almost a decade on from Delph’s betrayal, it is still a sore point for many Villa fans. Having a situation so similar occur with a player they loved so much was bound to hurt even more than usual. Throw in the fact that he was a Villa fan, a future club legend, and one of the best players the club had seen in decades, and it is not hard to see why fans find it hard to forgive him.

However, yet again, there is context that the boo-boys also do not consider.

It is not disrespectful to the club to say that Grealish was ready for the top level a long time before Villa were. The club were the definition of a midtable team. They had just finished in 11th and would go on to finish 14th the next season before Steven Gerrard had them facing relegation in 2022. Villa were in no way fit to give him the level of football his ability warranted at that point.

It is also not disrespectful to the player to say that the club are in a much better position without him. Leon Bailey has finally matured to become his direct replacement and is more consistent in terms of getting goals and assists, equalling Grealish’s 2020/21 tally of 16 goal contributions in 576 fewer minutes.

The money Villa received for him has also given the club the breathing room needed to improve while still complying with FFP. If he had stayed, Villa likely never would have signed Bailey, Moussa Diaby, or Pau Torres and they may never have attracted Unai Emery to the club.

Ultimately, Grealish leaving has been beneficial for the club, but that does not erase the pain that his departure caused, and it does not mean that Villa fans should immediately forgive him for the way he left.

These feelings will likely fade away over time, just like they did with Ashley Young and Gareth Barry before him, hell he may even play in Villa colours again one day, but fans are well within their rights to hold a grudge now.