Aston Villa

Aston Villa is one of the foremost football clubs in England, based in the Witton area of north Birmingham and were formed in March 1974 by four members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel playing their matches at Aston Park.

In 1876 the club moved to a new ground at Perry Bar. In 1884 the club employed George Ramsay as their first manager, then in 1886-87 Villa won their first FA Cup, defeating West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at The Oval with goals from skipper Archie Hunter and Dennis Hodgetts.

A Scottish draper and director of the club William McGregor was fed up with one sided games and wanted Villa to embrace professionalism. He wrote to eleven other leading clubs, which led to the formation of The Football League in 1888.

Villa became league champions for the first time in the 1893-94 season, drawing crowds of up to 25,000 to home games, at a time when the FA Cup final was attracting five thousand less. 

A second FA Cup win came in 1894-95 as a Bob Chatt goal was enough to defeat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at Crystal Palace. Villa’s second league title followed in 1895-96. The following 1896-97 season saw the club become the second after Preston North End to complete the League and Cup double.

The FA Cup half of the triumph was completed with a 3-2 win against Everton at Crystal Palace with Villa’s goals coming from John Campbell, Fred Wheldon and Jimmy Crabtree. The club had moved into their new home, Villa Park, in 1897, before the team went on to be crowned champions of England in 1898-99 and 1899-00 to take their tally to five.

The ensuing decade saw the addition of Villa's fourth FA Cup triumph after they’d reached the semi-finals in 1900-01. They weren’t to be denied in 1904-05 as they returned to Crystal Palace to defeat Newcastle United 2-0 with both goals from Harry Hampton.

League title number six arrived in 1909-10 after finishing runners-up in 1907-08. Further second places ensued in 1910-11 and 1912-13. Consolation was gathered in the latter season as Sunderland were defeated 1-0 at Crystal Palace through a Tommy Barber goal in front of 121,919 spectators.

1913-14 saw the team reach the semi-finals of the competition and end as league runners-up before a sixth FA Cup triumph arrived in 1919-20. On this occasion a Billy Kirton extra time goal was enough to defeat Huddersfield Town 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

The team reached the second ever Wembley cup final in 1923-24, losing 2-0 to Newcastle United prior to the reign of Ramsay coming to an end in which he helped his side accumulate six league titles and six FA Cups. He was replaced by WJ Smith.

The board signed Tom 'Pongo' Waring in 1927 from Tranmere Rovers, as he went on to become one of the most prolific scorers in English football. Villa reached the semi-finals of the Cup in 1927-28 before ending as league runners-up in 1930-31 and 1932-33. They then reached another FA Cup semi-final in 1933-34.

Jimmy McMullan took over the side in the summer of 1934 and was at the helm as Villa were relegated in 1935-36. The board acted by appointing Jimmy Hogan as manager who led his team to the Division Two title and FA Cup semi-final in 1937-38.

After World War Two, Villa consolidated their position and then introduced the youngster Peter McParland to the team as Alex Massie and then George Martin managed the side before the arrival of Eric Houghton.

Villa went on to win the 1956-57 FA Cup after defeating the Busby Babes of Manchester United, with McParland netting twice. Villa were relegated under the managership of Joe Mercer in 1958-59, but they returned twelve months later as Division Two champions as the teams’ young look gained them the nickname of 'Mercer's Minors.'

The side also reached the semi-final of the FA Cup in the same season, going out to Wolverhampton Wanderers, but they were not to be denied knockout honours in 1960-61 as Villa lifted the League Cup as Rotherham United were defeated 3-2 on aggregate. Alan O'Neill, Harry Burrows and McParland scored in the dramatic second leg.

Villa Park in the early 70's as taken from the Football League Review

Villa were League Cup runners-up in 1962-63, losing 3-1 over two legs to local rivals Birmingham City before Mercer departed in 1964 with Dick Taylor taking over but unable to aid his side stave off relegation in 1966-67.

Tommy Cummings was installed as his replacement, lasting until December 1968 when Tommy Docherty was appointed in the role. He was dismissed during the 1969-70 campaign, which would end in relegation to Division Three after Vic Crowe tried to pick up the pieces.

Villa reached the 1970-71 League Cup final as a third tier side, going down 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur, as Bruce Rioch and Andy Lochhead became pivotal figures in the team, which went on to become Division Three champions in 1971-72.

In the autumn of 1972, a boardroom coup to remove one of its directors, Doug Ellis took place. This succeeded, but Ellis was back fourty three days later. This time he had the backing of the supporters and the major shareholder and came back as Chairman.

In the summer of 1973 Ron Saunders was appointed as manager to replace Crowe. Saunders immediately did the trick as the team won promotion as well as the League Cup in 1974-75 as a Ray Graydon goal saw off Norwich City with a 1-0 win.

Ellis stepped down as Chairman but remained on the board as Villa went on to win the League Cup in 1976-77, beating Everton 3-2 in a second replay as the side included stars such as Chris Nicol, John Gidman, Dennis Mortimore, Brian Little and Gordon Cowans.

Ellis departed in the summer of 1979 after an attempt to remove some directors from the board failed. Saunders meanwhile built a new team as he brought in defenders Alan Evans, Ken McNaught and Kenny Swain as Andy Gray terrified opposing defences after Little was forced to retire with injury.

Midfielder Des Bremner was later added along with Tony Morley and Peter Withe who replaced was signed to play up front with Gary Shaw to build a fine team that went on to become league champions in 1980-81 and playing some scintillating football along the way.

In February 1982 with the team struggling, but still in the European Cup, Saunders resigned over a contract dispute to be replaced by his assistant Tony Barton. On the 26th May 1982 Aston Villa went on to win the European Cup after a Peter Withe goal was enough to beat Bayern Munich as rookie goalkeeper Nigel Spink excelled after coming on as substitute.

To see action of the glorious evening, click here.

Unfortunately, the team failed to build on the victory and the club revealed a sizeable debt because of wages and the building of the North Stand. Ellis returned to the Chairman's seat as Barton was sacked in the summer of 1984.

Graham Turner lasted fourteen months before Billy McNeill took over but couldn't do any better as the team were relegated in 1986-87 prior to Graham Taylor being brought in from Watford to take over as manager.

Taylor took the side straight back up in 1987-88 with the help of excellent signing David Platt. After two seasons Taylor was appointed as England manager after Villa ended as runners up in Division One in 1989-90 with a side that included Paul McGrath, Derek Mountfield and Tony Daley.

The Czech Joseph Venglos lasted just a season, before the charismatic Ron Atkinson became another of 'Deadly Doug's' appointments as Platt was sold to Bari. Atkinson brought in several players such as Andy Townsend, Kevin Richardson, Shaun Teale and Dean Saunders.

Villa finished runners up in the inaugural Premier League season of 1992-93 before the team went on to lift the League Cup for a fourth time in 1993-94 as two goals from Saunders along with a Dalian Atkinson effort helped see off Manchester United 3-1. Atkinson was dismissed in November 1994 as a rift grew between him and Ellis.

Brian Little re-joined the club as manager from Leicester City in controversial circumstances to lead the side to lift the League Cup in 1995-96. Leeds United were defeated 3-0 at Wembley with goals from Savo Milošević, Ian Taylor and Dwight Yorke while Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu along with McGrath marshalled the defence.

Villa also reached the semi-final of the FA Cup the same season, going out to Liverpool before Little resigned siting boardroom interference in February 1998. John Gregory was the next manger to attempt to satisfy Ellis, which he managed to a degree.

By the time he resigned just under four years later he had to sell star asset Dwight Yorke but still led the team into Europe twice and reach the last FA Cup Final at the old Wembley, when they were defeated 1-0 by Chelsea in May 1999-00. 

Ellis appointed Graham Taylor for a second time, but he was yet another manager to tender his resignation just over a year later. David O'Leary took over and it was during his spell that some Villa players heavily criticised Ellis. O'Learly left the club by mutual consent in July 2006.

The following month Martin O'Neill stepped in as team manager, but the bigger news that month came when after several seasons of fans protests and countless managers Doug Ellis sold the club to American Randy Lerner.

Lerner was the owner of the NFL team the Cleveland Browns and quickly gave O'Neill funds, becoming popular in an instant. However, it wasn't to last as the manager openly asked for further funds. Villa lost in the 2009-10 League Cup final 2-1 to Manchester United.

Villa Park taken from the internet

At the time the star players included Gabriel Agbonlahor, Stiliyan Petrov and Ashley Young. O'Neill resigned in August 2010 before Lerner appointed Gerard Houllier who struggled with a recurring heart problem and unpopularity amongst the players.

Houllier stood down in June 2011 as Alex McLeish was surprisingly arrived from across town from Birmingham City, who had just been relegated under his supervision, in a highly unpopular move. After a poor season McLeish was released as Paul Lambert moved to the club from Norwich City to take over.

Lambert's new look side eventually secured their top flight status in 2012-13 despite the disappointment of bowing out at the semi-final stage of the League Cup to Bradford City. Lambert became increasingly unpopular with the loyal fans, especially once the goals of Christian Benteke dried up and the team struggled to score.

Poor results led to the Scot's dismissal in February 2015 with the team teetering around the relegation zone. Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood was appointed to try and halt the slide. He kept the side up and led them to the 2014-15 FA Cup final where they went down 4-0 to Arsenal in the Wembley showpiece.

Sherwood looked to rebuild his squad in the summer of 2015 but only lasted a few months into the new season before he was replaced by Rémi Garde who was at the helm as Villa were relegated at the end of the 2015-16 season.

The club was sold to Tony Xia, a Chinese businessman, who appointed Roberto Di Matteo as manager, before replacing him with Steve Bruce a few months into the 2016-17 campaign. In 2017-18 Middlesbrough were disposed of in the play-offs before Villa were beaten 1-0 in the final by Fulham.

Local youngster Jack Grealish became the new Villa hero as club supporter Dean Smith came in as manager in October 2018. His side defeated West Bromwich Albion in the 2018-19 play-offs before beating Derby County 2-1 at Wembley to regain Premier League status with goals from Anwar El Ghazi and John McGinn.

Wes Edens, alongside Nassef Sawiris bought the club from Xia as John Terry joined the club as assistant to Smith as the team held their nerve to retain their status on the final day of the 2019-20 season, as did the owners by staying loyal to the management team.

Signings such as Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Martínez and Matty Cash bolstered the squad who put in a much improved performance in 2020-21. Grealish was sold to Manchester City for a record fee before Steve Gerard replaced Smith in November 2021.

The appointment didn’t work out, with Unai Emery arriving as manager in October 2022, overseeing a massive improvement which saw a seventh place finish and qualification for the Europa League as the squad was strengthened. The side lost in the semifinals of the competition to Olympiakos but sealed a Champions League place at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.

Aston Villa FC will play in the Premier League in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Tuesday 21st October 1987

I was travelling to Hereford in Scarborough's first Football League season in the company of our wonderful driver Doomie, Mick Young and Crusher. We'd set off early so that we could get there for a few beers and to stop off at some grounds along the way.

We'd been to Eton Park at Burton before Doomie had the super job of having to find our way off Spaghetti Junction and come out the right way. We didn't do bad between us, with the usual advice been given out by us back seat drivers. We parked behind the North Stand, stopping briefly to take in the magnificent grand entrance to the Trinity Road Stand. It was our lucky day as a gate was open in the corner between there and the North Stand, so we walked in.

We went down pitchside and walked along the cinder track. Villa Park looked a really impressive venue. The Trinity Road Stand had seats at the rear and in the converted paddock, with corporate boxes in between. The North Stand behind the goal had a raised seating deck, boxes and then standing downstairs. 

The Witton Lane Stand was quite a low single tiered seated structure, but the best of all was behind the other goal. The Holte End was a huge bank of terracing with segregation barriers down the middle. This was not to separate home and away fans, but opponents when Villa Park hosted FA Cup semi finals.

After our look round we called into the souvenir shop, where I bought a recent programme as a souvenir. We were lucky that we'd got inside but it shows that if you make an effort you can succeed.

England 3 Spain 0 (Wednesday 28th February 2001) International Friendly (att: 42,129)

Wembley was in the process of waiting to be demolished in readiness for the new stadium so England were playing their home games around the country. Crusher had continued in the England Members Club and could get tickets for games. 

When he suggested a game at Villa Park I was right up for it and booked a day off work. Adding to the attraction was the fact that it would be England's first ever game under a foreign coach as Sven-Göran Eriksson had been appointed.

Crusher decided on a break in London at the same time so we had a large night out around the West End on Tuesday after I finished work, ending up with the ridiculous sized Chinese meal that only blokes order at last orders. It was a great idea at the time! 

We met again at Euston the next lunchtime for a a couple of pints in The Head of Steam before going for the train. The fares weren't cheap to Birmingham with Virgin, but I'd discovered a slower but much cheaper service. Yet another great idea at the time.

After our train eventually crawled into New Street station I suggested that we catch the local train to Aston and find a pub near there that might not be so crowded? Crusher was happy with that and we did indeed find a pub where we could get served, and what a pub it was.

I like old fashioned traditional boozers, but this was something else. The Britannia was definitely not for an away fan on a match day. All things Villa filled the tobacco stained walls, with some of the locals not looking like the lads to be upsetting. We had a couple of pints and then took the fifteen minute walk up to the ground.

We were in the newly re-built Trinity Road Stand. Gone had the stunning old facade instead of a larger more functional structure. Sure it was easy to get a beer and a pie but it sure lacked character. The Holte End was also re-built with a large tier below a smaller upper deck. The Witton Lane Stand had been replaced by the Doug Ellis Stand. 

This had two tiers of seats divided by corporate boxes. The North Stand was as our previous visit, apart from seats replacing terracing downstairs. We were located in the Trinity Road Stand on the back row of the Middle Tier of two large sections of seats. There were boxes behind us and then another large seating deck.

I'm glad we were on the back row as the leg room was pretty poor for a new stand. We stood up throughout the game. England fielded some new faces with Chris Powell making his debut at full back. After thirty eight minutes Nick Barmby latched onto Michael Owen's pass to put the home side one up.

Eriksson rang the changes at half time and it paid off as Emile Heskey scored and then Ugo Egiogu headed home Frank Lampard's corner past Ike Casillas. It had been a very good performance against a team that were gradually building.

At full time we went round to Witton station where there was good humoured banter amongst fans of the local clubs across the platforms. We grabbed a take away and cans and jumped on our train back to London. Joy of joys, we were woken at Northampton and put onto another train. Our feedback probably wasn't the best! 

Even worse was to come for the big man as all the tubes had gone when we returned and the queue for taxis was huge so we set off on foot. To be fair he walked all the way back to Paddington, while I jumped on my night bus on Edgware Road.

It had been a long day out, but lots of fun with experiences learned for future reference!

Monday 4^th August 2014

It was high time I returned to Villa Park. This time it was on my day off as part of a look at several clubs in the area before attending the Halesowen Town v Hednesford Town Pre Season Friendly.

It was a lovely day and ideal for a proper look round without crowds getting in the way. Having purchased my £6.20 one day travelcard I took a train to Aston. The former Britannia pub from my last visit was now an Indian restaurant and bar. Aston Park looked glorious on the approach to the stadium, with the Holte pub, refurbished under the tenure of Randy Lerner looking majestic over the road.

I saw a door open at the pub so I had a look to see if they were serving, but it was being set up for a function. It was a shame as the memorabilia on the walls warranted deeper investigation. The back of the Holte End had grand staircases leading to the entrances. This slightly compensated for the loss of the magnificent old Trinity Road Stand.

This had been rebuilt and the new huge structure spanned over Trinity Road. No entrances to the stadium were open and the club only did tours on a Wednesday. I continued round and back down Witton Lane. This is where I found the main entrances to the ground behind the North Stand.

It really was a big complex with Villa community centres past the Aston Hotel along with the Cowans Centre. The massive car park held the ticket office and merchandise stalls. I managed to take to decent snaps without having the chance to enter.

How everything had changed since my first ad hoc visit twenty seven years earlier when we were free to go wherever we wanted and ended up on the pitchside track. I really rue not taking my camera back in those days.

I decided than rather heading into the city centre I’d try my luck and catch the train to Bescot to see if I could gain entry at Walsall FC.