I played in one of football’s most intense derbies – bouncers wouldn’t let me into nightclubs because of it

Gabby Agbonlahor certainly had a successful playing career, but his days enjoying nightclubs were numbered due to his Aston Villa roots.

The three-time England striker racked up 322 Premier League appearances and is Villa’s all time top scorer in the competition with 74, keeping his side top of the Birmingham pecking order during his playing career.

However, such success had ramifications, particularly for a young man wanting to hit the town to enjoy himself.

Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast, the topic of bouncers came up, and he said: “Don’t mess with the bouncers. 

“I used to walk in some clubs in Birmingham city centre and some of the bouncers were Bluenoses [Birmingham fans], they used to look at me, ‘not today mate’.

“When I was young, 19 or 20, ‘not today mate, not today’. I was like ‘okay mate I’ll turn around and go! I won’t argue with you!”

Agbonlahor first encountered Birmingham on the pitch as a 19-year-old in 2006, with Villa recording a 3-1 home win.

That likely annoyed local bouncers, but they couldn’t have known what the future had in store.

Despite their proximity geographically, Villa and Birmingham didn’t spend too much time in the same league, with Agbonhalor facing his fiercest rivals just nine more times during his 13-year playing career.

The talkSPORT pundit did record seven wins and just one defeat in ten, though, and even scored five goals to make him hated in the blue side of Birmingham.

Knowing the derby as well as anyone else, Agbonlahor previously discussed why he thinks it’s the biggest in England.

"There is actual hatred between both fans," he explained. “We always knew we would beat Birmingham City and we knew how much it meant to the fans.

"Even if you had four or five bad games, you go and beat Birmingham City in the Premier League and it is sort of like, you are forgiven for them poor performances.

"Massive, massive derby. It gets very heated. You see the incident with Jack Grealish [attacked by a fan], you don't really see that in English football. It just shows the hatred between both clubs."

Comparing the Second City derby to others in the country, he said: "I feel like Everton Liverpool, you see Everton fans in the same end as Liverpool fans. That would never happen between Birmingham City and Aston Villa.

"People might say to me 'oh it's because he's from Birmingham' but when I watch these other derbies and I hear about them, they don't compare to Birmingham v Villa.

"I've played in them, you feel that adrenaline, you feel that atmosphere.

"You're on the coach to the game and you're getting stones and rocks thrown at you and the players were hiding under the tables."