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Aston Villa FC
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Aston Villa FC Information
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Aston Villa FC History
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Aston
Villa Football Club play at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.
They currently play in the Premier League. Aston Villa were
founding members of the Football League in 1888 and of the
Premier League in 1992. It is one of the oldest and most
successful clubs in England.
Aston Villa Football Club was formed in March 1874 by members of
the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Aston, Birmingham. Members of
the Aston Villa cricket team were looking for a way to stay fit
during the winter months and decided to adopt the new sport of
football. The 'Four Founding Fathers' were Jack Hughes,
Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood. Little
did they know that the team they formed would go on to become
the most famous and admired football club in the world by the
end of Queen Victoria's reign.
Aston Villa's first match was against the local Aston Brook St
Mary's Rugby team and as a condition of the match, the Villa
side had to agree to play the first half under rugby rules and
the second half under football rules! Amazingly Villa managed to
hold St Mary's to a pointless draw up to half time and in the
second half won the historic affair by one goal, scored by Jack
Hughes. Villa won their first honour, the Birmingham Challenge
Cup in 1880, under the captaincy of Scotsman George Ramsay. The
club won its first FA Cup in 1887, by which time football had
become professional. However, the Scottish draper and director
of Aston Villa, William McGregor had become frustrated with one-sided
friendly matches and low attendances for all games but FA Cup
ties. He saw that in order to keep interest in the game alive
the top teams needed to play each other in a league much like
American baseball teams did. So he wrote to the 12 leading clubs
in England proposing the formation of a league. The reason the
Football League was never called the English League is because
McGregor intended Scottish and Welsh teams to join eventually.
Naturally, Aston Villa were one of the dozen teams that competed
in the inaugural Football League in 1888 finishing runners-up.
It didn't take long for Villa to lift their first League
Championship trophy, and this was achieved in 1893/94. This
would signal the start of Aston Villa's 'Golden Age' and by the
start of the First World War the club had won the League
Championship six times and the FA Cup five times, including in
1896/97, a League and Cup Double, a feat which would not be
repeated for more than 60 years.
Although they remained a major force after the war, winning
their sixth FA Cup in 1920, the club began a slow decline. This
can be attributed in large part to a complacency which
culminated in the unthinkable, the most famous and successful
football club in world being relegated to the Second Division in
1936. However, throughout the 1920's and into the 1930's the
club had many fine international players (in 1933/34 Villa had
no fewer than 14 full internationals) and continued to challenge
for honours, Villa were FA Cup runners-up in 1924 and second in
the League in 1931 and 1933. Throughout this period the Villa
Park crowds were entertained with attacking football and goals
galore, in season 1930/31 Tom 'Pongo' Waring scored 49 of Aston
Villa's 128 league goals, however Villa were denied the title by
the sensational Arsenal team of the 30's.
The club's decision to appoint their first manager coincided
with relegation for the first time in 1935/36. This was largely
due a dismal defensive record, they conceded 110 goals, 7 of
them coming from Arsenal's Ted Drake in the infamous defeat at
Highbury. However 'The Grand Old Man' of football was crowned
Second Division Champions in 1937/38 under the guidance of Jimmy
Hogan, Aston Villa were back where they belonged by the outbreak
of The Second World War. Seven seasons were lost and many
careers were finished due to the conflict and Aston Villa went
about rebuilding the team under the guidance of former player,
Alex Massie. The remainder of the 1940s and the 1950s saw Villa
try to re-establish themselves as a top team. However, Villa
could only be described as mediocre during this period, although
they had some good players and attendances were high. Season
1956/57 saw Villa go on an unexpected FA Cup run that would
culminate in them defeating the 'Busby Babes' of Manchester
United in the final. It was Aston Villa's first trophy for 37
years.
However this success proved to be a false dawn with the team
finishing 14th in the league the following season. Eric Houghton
was sacked (after refusing to resign) when relegation loomed in
1958/59. His successor Joe Mercer was unable to prevent the club
being relegated for the second time in 1959. Again a complacency
had set in at the club, the famous Aston Villa had won the FA
Cup for a record seventh time, this only served to fuel the
belief that Villa were too good to go down. A return to the top
flight was assured however in 1960 when Villa were crowned
Second Division Champions. Season 1960/61 saw Villa win the
inaugural League Cup and finish repectably in the league, this
was achieved with an exciting nucleus of youth players who
became known as 'Mercer's Minors'.
The slow decline continued throughout the 1960s due to a deep
seated malaise; the club had failed to adapt to the new football
reality, they had a non-existent scouting network, coaching was
conducted in the same way as it had been 40 years earlier and
the 5 man board contained 3 members over the age of 70. It was
the board who decided that they couldn't refuse offers for their
two most reliable goalscorers, Phil Woosnam and Tony Hateley.
Without their goals Villa were in real trouble and were
relegated for the third time, under manager Dick Taylor in 1967.
The fans' calls for the board to resign became more and more
urgent when Villa finished 16th in the Second Division in 1968.
In a desperate attempt to avert total disaster, relegation to
the Third Division, the manager, Tommy Cummings was given
£200,000 to spend on new players, and with supporters boycotting
Villa's home games in protest at the board, debts mounted.
Events on the pitch came to a head in November 1968, with Villa
lying at the bottom of Division Two; the board sacked Cummings
and within weeks the entire board resigned due to overwhelming
pressure from fans. After much speculation, control of the club
was bought by London financier Pat Matthews, he also brought in
Doug Ellis as chairman and Tommy Docherty as manager.
However, despite breathing new life into the club and initial
success, Docherty was unable to lift the team out of the danger
zone and he was sacked after just a year in charge. His
successor Vic Crowe, was unable to prevent Aston Villa from
being relegated to the Third Division for the first time its
history. Amazingly the following season Villa reached the League
Cup final after beating Manchester United in the semi-final.
They were eventually defeated in the final by two late Tottenham
goals. The only way was up for Villa and in 1971/72 they
finished top of the league with a team that was simply too good
for Division Three. The team narrowly missed out on successive
promotions when they finished third on their return to Second
Division football in 1972/73. However the following season Villa
struggled and Doug Ellis sacked Crowe replacing him with Ron
Saunders.
Aston Villa's centenary season provided the double success of a
League Cup final victory over Norwich and promotion to the First
Division after an absence of eight seasons in 1974/75. Villa
were back and due to their League Cup success were in Europe for
the first time. Although Villa were knocked out in the first
round by Antwerp, Saunders was assembling a team that would go
on to win the European Cup seven years later. Villa won the
League Cup again in 1977 by beating Everton after two final
replays. The following season saw Villa reach the quarter-final
of the UEFA Cup where they held their own against Spanish
giants, Barcelona. That night at the Nou Camp finally laid to
rest the nightmare of the previous 10 years; Aston Villa were
finally back amongst the footballing elite.
The ups and downs of the 1980's
The 1980's was another mixed era in the history of Aston Villa
football club. Villa won the Football League Championship,
fighting off competition from Liverpool and Nottingham Forest,
in 1981 under the managership of Ron Saunders. Saunders quit
halfway through the following season (1981-82) and was replaced
by his assistant manager Tony Barton. In May 1982, just three
months after being appointed manager, Barton guided Villa to a
1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final. Key
players in this side included Des Bremner, Peter Withe and
Gordon Cowans. Barton remained in charge until the summer of
1984, when he was sacked after a disappointing season which had
seen the club finish 10th in the First Division. His successor
was Graham Turner who had taken Shrewsbury Town from being
Fourth Division strugglers into being an established Second
Division side. Turner was sacked in September 1986 and his
successor Billy McNeill was unable to save the club from
finishing bottom of the First Division and being relegated -
just five years after Villa had been champions of Europe.
McNeill left in the summer of 1987 to become manager of Glasgow
Celtic. Villa chairman Doug Ellis gave the manager's job to
Graham Taylor, who had transformed the fortunes of Watford in 10
years of management. A significant addition to the Villa squad
was attacking midfielder David Platt, a 21-year-old signing from
Crewe Alexandra for £200,000. Platt was instrumental in getting
Villa back into the top flight at the first time of asking as
they finished Second Division runners-up in 1988.
Villa narrowly avoided relegation from the First Division in
1989 but in 1990 they surprised everyone by finishing runners-up
to Liverpool in the First Division. Taylor left shortly
afterwards to replace Bobby Robson as England manager, but
Taylor would eventually be villified by the British press for
his failures as national coach. Villa meanwhile appointed Czech
coach Jozef Venglos as their new manager - the first time that a
foreign manager had taken charge of a top division club.
The 1990's: more mixed fortunes
Jozef Venglos spent one season as manager of Aston Villa
(1990-91). He stepped down after they finished just two places
above the First Division relegation zone and David Platt was
sold to Italian side Bari for £5 million. Aston Villa's new
manager was Ron Atkinson, who had achieved considerable success
with West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United and more recently
Sheffield Wednesday. He spent heavily, making expensive
additions to the squad including Earl Barrett, Dean Saunders,
Dalian Atkinson, Kevin Richardson, Ray Houghton and Shaun Teale.
The policy nearly paid off in 1993 when Aston Villa finished
runners-up to Manchester United (Atkinson's old club) in the
inaugural Premier League. Villa gained their revenge over United
with a 3-1 League Cup final victory the following season (which
prevented United from winning a unique domestic treble) but
Villa's league form slipped and they finished tenth in 1994.
Atkinson was sacked in November 1994 with Villa battling
relegation, just 18 months after they had almost won the league.
His successor Brian Little did well to keep a demoralised team
in the Premiership and in the summer of 1995 reshaped the squad
by selling most of the club's older players and buying in many
younger players. New arrivals included Alan Wright, Gary
Charles, Ian Taylor, Mark Draper, Savo Milosevic, Gareth
Southgate and Tommy Johnson. Several home grown players were
also progressing well, especially striker Dwight Yorke and
defender Ugo Ehiogu.
Aston Villa made huge progress in 1995-96 under Brian Little.
They won the League Cup, reached the F.A Cup semi finals and
finished fourth in the Premiership. Dwight Yorke was now
established as a world class striker and other players like Ugo
Ehiogu and Gareth Southgate were already gaining international
recognition. Villa qualified for the UEFA Cup in 1996 and again
in 1997, without making any real progress, and Little resigned
in February 1998 with Villa 15th in the Premiership and with
relegation looking a real possibility.
Little's successor John Gregory, a former Aston Villa coach who
had left to take charge of Wycombe Wanderers 18 months earlier,
revitalised the club's fortunes and they finished seventh in the
Premiership and qualified for the UEFA Cup - due to the progress
of other teams in the top seven it was the only time that a
seventh placed club has automatically qualified for the UEFA
Cup.
Despite the £12.6million sale of Dwight Yorke to Manchester
United in August 1998, John Gregory had guided Aston Villa to
the top of the Premiership by the middle of the 1998-99 season.
New signings Paul Merson and Dion Dublin were proving to be
worth the money, while 18-year-old defender Gareth Barry was
easily the most competent young player in the Premiership that
season. But Villa's form slipped during the final weeks and they
finished sixth - not even enough for a UEFA Cup place.
The New Millennium
So far, the new Millennium has brought more 'average'
performances for Aston Villa. They did reach the F.A Cup final
in 2000 (for the first time since 1957), but lost 1-0 to
Chelsea. Gregory quit the club in January 2002 and chairman Doug
Ellis made a surprise decision on appointed Graham Taylor as
manager for the second time. Villa finished the 2001-02 season
in eighth place, which was similar to most of their other
Premiership finishes. But a 16th place finish in the 2002-03
Premiership campaign saw Taylor quit as manager and make way for
ex-Leeds United manager David O'Leary.
After a poor start to the season, O'Leary transformed the team's
fortunes and by Spring 2004 they were in contention for a
Champions League place. But a 2-0 home defeat against Manchester
United saw them finish sixth in the Premiership and narrowly
miss out on a UEFA Cup place. Nevertheless, such an improvement
in league form reflected well on how David O'Leary had
rejuvenated the club's fortunes. By February 2005, they were mid
table in the Premiership but there is still time for an
improvement which could see Villa qualify for European
competition in the 2005-06 season.
Current key players in the Aston Villa side include Juan Pablo
Angel, Nolberto "Nobby" Solano, Darius Vassell and Olof
Mellberg. |
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Aston Villa FC Honours, Trophies & Awards
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- European
Cup
- European
Super Cup
- Inter-Toto
Cup
- FA Cup
- 1887,
1895, 1897, 1905, 1913, 1920, 1957
- League Cup
- 1961,
1975, 1977, 1994, 1996
- First
Division Champions
-
1893-1894, 1895-1896, 1896-1897,
1898-1899, 1899-1900, 1909-1910,
1980-1981
- Second
Division Champions
- Third
Division Champions
- FA Youth
Cup
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