Aston Villa Greatest Games

By James Driver-Fisher and Ron Atkinson

Expertly presented in evocative historical context, and described incident-by-incident in atmospheric detail, Aston Villa Greatest Games offers a terrace ticket back in time, taking in their 19th-century dominance of club soccer, the ignominy of relegation to the Third Division, and then lifting Europe's biggest trophy just a decade later. An irresistible cast list of club legends—Pongo Waring and Peter Withe; Charlie Aitken, Paul McGrath, and Peter McParland—springs to life in these thrilling tales of goalscoring feats, great comebacks, Wembley glory, and the odd glorious yet crushing disappointment. In all, a journey through the highlights of Villa history which is guaranteed to make any fan's heart swell with pride.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
• Release date: Jan 8, 2015
• ISBN: 9781785311000

Book preview

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A word from Dennis Bache, 91, a former shareholder and lifelong Villa fan. Dennis recalls his early days as a Villa fan, transporting some of the team’s best players to games in his own car and what it has meant to support the club for more than 80 years

MY father ran a pub, the New Inn, in Highley, Shropshire, when I was little. He used to take customers from the pub who were football fans in his car because not many people had one in those days – there were only three in the whole village. One week he would drive to West Brom and the other to see Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In 1928 I was taken to Molineux, aged five-years-old. I was lifted over everyone’s shoulders and sat right at the front.

The front row was full of kids. On the day Wolves happened to be playing a team called Aston Villa and a player called Thomas Pongo Waring was playing up front for them.

It was such a thrill to see a professional in those days but to see Pongo and Villa play on that day was life-changing.

I got my first season ticket in 1948, just after the war, and I would go to all the games with my uncle Albert, who was a huge Villa fan.

I became a shareholder in 1951 until I was forced to sell them when Doug Ellis sold the club to Randy Lerner, although I did make a decent profit out of it.

I worked down the colliery in Highley during my early life, the same colliery Gerry Hitchens worked down before he went to the play for Villa, England and several clubs in Italy.

I travelled to places like Belgium to watch the team in European competition and I’ve seen them in the old third division too.

There have always been turbulent times at Aston Villa but when you think of the crowds we brought to the third division, it shows what this great club will always mean to all the supporters.

Mr Bache was also a guest of honour after being singled out for his sporting expertise during radio phone-ins after being voted as caller of the season on BBC Radio Five Live’s 606 programme. The programme encourages listeners to call in and voice their opinions on football related topics.

Mr Bache travelled to the Liverpool Echo Arena in March 2013 to pick up his award, which he received thanks to a call he made to former footballer and pundit Robbie Savage about his beloved club, which included reference to Hitchens, the famous ‘son’ of his home village of Highley.

It was a great day and we all had a lot of fun and banter.

I phoned in 2013 about a conversation I had with former Villa chairman, Doug Ellis, when I met him in a lift at Villa Park.

He asked me where I was from and I said Highley, in Shropshire, where Gerry Hitchens was from, who he sold for £75,000 to Inter Milan in the 1960s. Mr Ellis said that sale had paid to build the North Stand.

I travelled to Liverpool but was unaware I had won the competition until I was greeted by an audience of five-thousand, which included current and former footballers Jason Roberts, Pat Nevin and Neville Southall.

I addressed the crowd with my story and they all cheered.

I told Robbie Savage he was a better dancer than a footballer, following his turn in the television programme Strictly Come Dancing.

He was a brilliant laugh and I presented him with my Villa cap when I left the stage, due to his connection with Birmingham City, which brought more laughs. Proud daughter Charlotte Bache also accompanied her father on the day. She had this to say:

He had a wonderful day with Radio Five Live and his success has become viral on Facebook and Twitter.

He was happily chatting with Robbie Savage in the canteen and indeed my father captivated a 5,000 strong audience with his thank you speech, the end of which caused great hilarity and cheering by presenting his Aston Villa cap to Robbie, who accepted it graciously.

I eventually managed to get a ticket to the 2015 FA Cup Final through that phone call and was treated to food and drink. It was a great day despite the result.

Early Beginnings Lead To Great Things

FOLKLORE has it Villa’s first opponents were Aston Bank St Mary’s, who were actually a rugby side.

It meant the first half was played as football and the second with rugby rules but Villa went on to win the game 1-0 thanks to a goal by Jack Hughes.

It was the arrival of George Ramsay that really kick-started the rise of the first great Villa side, when the club established its first home pitch at Perry Barr.

Ramsay also changed the club’s whole outlook on the game and took charge of training sessions.

He would stay at the club for a further 59 years, playing as captain when Villa won their first trophy, the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1880. Later he became secretary and finally club President.

The arrival of Archie Hunter, who joined the club in the late 1870s, helped push the club even further forward by introducing a pass and move style of football.

It soon paid dividends when the side destroyed Small Heath 22-0 as Villa’s skill and flair proved too much for the other local sides and the club began to dominate games in the Midlands.

Early ventures into the FA Cup saw the club reach the quarter-finals in 1883 and 1884, which in the end proved to be tantalising glimpses into the glory years that were just around the corner.

A loss to Queen’s Park saw Ramsay begin to adopt a more defensive approach to the game, which actually helped Villa’s overall game move up another gear.

Arthur Brown and Howard Vaughton would become Villa’s first internationals during the start of the club’s rise to the top. During this era Villa began to push more and more for FA Cup glory as local opposition was not really testing them anymore.

During the 1886-87 season, Villa began their cup campaign with a 13-0 win over Wednesbury Old Athletic and then a 6-1 win over Derby Midland.

What followed was three replays in the third round at Wolverhampton Wanderers before Dawson and Hunter scored to secure a 2-0 win at the fourth time of asking.

A bye and a 5-0 win over Homescastle followed, which brought Darwen to Perry Barr in the quarter-finals.

Villa took an early 3-0 lead but then Darwen hit back with two goals in the second half to set up a nervous final few minutes but the home side managed to cling on to book a place in the semi-finals.

At the time Scottish clubs were still playing in the competition and the draw for the next round was not very favourable for Villa as lying between them and a place in the Final was Glasgow Rangers.

Archie Hunter put in a brilliant display scoring two to help secure a memorable 3-1 win. The victory meant Villa would face their old foes West Bromich Albion in the Final – it was also Villa’s first Final in their young thirteen year history.

The starting line-up for Villa’s first ever FA Cup Final was Jimmy Warner, Frank Coulton, Joseph Simmonds, John Burton, Harry Yates, Frederick Dawson, Richmond Davis, Albert Brown, captain Archie Hunter, Howard Vaughton and Dennis Hodgetts.

April 2, 1887 – FA Cup Final

Villa 2, West Bromwich Albion 0

VILLA’S Cup Final against rivals West Brom was dubbed in local newspapers as the great fight for the year’s custodianship of the national Association cup.

A crowd of 15,534 made their way to Kennington Oval to watch the derby, which was the first time two West Midlands clubs had compete in the Final.

It seemed there was less interest in the game because no southern or northern teams remained in the competition.

The sun shone down on those who did make the effort to support their teams and the game kicked off at the unusual time of half-past three in the afternoon.

West Brom won the toss and decided to defend the goal nearest the ground’s gasometer, with the Baggies believing the light wind would give them a possible advantage while shooting in the other direction.

Villa captain Archie Hunter kicked off the club’s first ever foray into an FA Cup Final contest and straight away both teams began playing the game at a fast pace.

After an even start West Brom began to take control and looked like scoring on several occasions but the Villa back line of Joseph Simmonds, Harry Yates, Frank Coulton and Frederick Dawson, well supported by goalkeeper Jimmy Warner, managed to keep the scores level.

Villa also attacked on occasion but the better passing was coming from the opposition and West Brom captain Bayliss thought he had scored only to see his effort ruled out by the linesman for offside.

As half-time approached neither side really looked like scoring and both teams went in at the break level at 0-0.

The second period saw the forwards enjoying more of the action as both sides seemed to wake up and attack.

The deadlock was finally broken ten minutes into the second half when some nice play by Hunter and Richmond Davies eventually released Dennis Hodgetts to score Villa’s first ever goal in an FA Cup Final.

The relatively small crowd cheered and made sure their voices were heard, encouraging their team to go on and get a second.

Villa, with their tails up, began making inroads in to the Albion defence but the opposition was still more than capable of attacking and some nice work by Bayliss, Green, Woodhall, Pearson, Perry and Timmins suddenly had Villa on the back foot.

Fortune seemed to smile down on Villa for the remainder of the game as Albion failed to make any more inroads and three minutes before time Villa wrapped the game up when Hunter grabbed Villa’s second, giving Villa their first ever victory in the FA Cup.

The Albion players were despondent having gone into the game confident of victory, especially as the side had beaten Villa five times in their previous six games.

Albion had been strong favourites going into the game so the 2-0 scoreline took many by surprise but Hunter praised his team’s efforts, saying they had done everything they could to lift the cup for the players, staff and travelling fans.

Meanwhile, in West Brom, about ten-thousand poured on to the streets with confused looks on their faces as news filtered back that their great team had done the unthinkable, and lost.

Albion, however, would not have to wait too long to claim revenge, eventually beating Villa 3-0 during the 1892 FA Cup Final, which this time was played at The Oval in front of 32,810 fans.

Hunter, the first Villa player to lift the FA Cup, was a legend for the club who would go on to score forty-two goals in 73 appearances. He tragically died at the young age of thirty-five after suffering a suspected stroke while playing the game he loved.

The FA Cup win would signal the start of more than a decade of dominance by the Birmingham club, at the same time as professionalism was starting to creep into the game.

Villa began the defence of the FA Cup with easy wins over Oldbury Town, Small Heath and Shankhouse, which eventually brought the mighty Preston North End to the table.

Such was the interest in the game between the two top sides, many of the enthusiastic crowd ended up on the pitch, which delayed the game on several occasions – but even more controversy was to follow.

With the crowd getting out of hand both captains agreed to play the rest of the match as a friendly after half-time.

Villa went on to lose the game 3-1 but much to their surprise Preston suddenly claimed the win at a later date, which was upheld by the FA.

Villa’s dream of defending their title had gone up in smoke in the most bizarre of circumstances while Preston went on to beat West Brom in the Final, 2-1.

Despite being knocked out of the cup in very dubious circumstances, Villa, led by William McGregor, met with officials from Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston and West Brom to begin the process of setting up a football league. Villa, at the helm of negotiations, would join twelve other teams to form the first ever Football League in 1888.

It would be another year dominated by Preston who would go on to complete the league and FA Cup double, remaining undefeated throughout.

Three seasons of relative inactivity followed although Villa did make another trip to the Cup Final, this time losing 3-0 to their old foes West Brom in 1892 along the way.

However, during that same year Villa would amass a record league win that still stands to this day.

March 12, 1892 – Record league win

Villa 12, Accrington Stanley 2

NOT surprisingly when the results came in on that day in 1892, Villa’s 12-2 humbling of Accrington Stanley stole all the headlines and was easily the largest winning margin of the season.

Such was the landslide that even to this day it remains Villa’s largest ever league win.

The glory days were well and truly on the way for Villa who were beginning to mould one the strongest sides to ever represent the club.

James Warner held the fort in goal, while defenders Jimmy Cowan, Gershom Cox, William Evans and John Baird supported him in front.

Wing-half John Devey was a match for anyone and his namesake, Harry Devey, could score goals for fun on this day.

Outside-left Louis Campbell was also a goal threat on most days while Dennis Hodgetts could play either inside or outside-left.

They were all backed up by forward William Dickson and outside-right Charlie Athersmith, two of the greatest players to ever wear a Villa shirt.

Accrington on the other hand were not having a great season and had already lost 9-0 to Nottingham Forest earlier in the campaign, while Villa’s forward line was seen by many as the best in the land at the time. So the huge scoreline did not come completely out of the blue.

The game saw Campbell and Harry Devey notch four goals apiece while Dickson also grabbed a brace.

Athersmith and Hodgetts compounded Accrington’s misery with a goal each.

Villa began the 1893-94 season slowly but a run of form over the winter saw the side rocket to the top of the table and a 6-3 win over Burnley during the penultimate game of the season would clinch Villa’s first ever league title with a game to spare.

April 7, 1894 – Villa win the league

Burnley 3, Villa 6

VILLA have won seven league titles during their illustrious history and the first was won with an emphatic 6-3 victory over Burnley.

At the time there were twelve teams in the old division one, which had previously been won by Preston North End in 1888-89 and 1889-90, Everton in 1890-91, and Sunderland in 1891-92 and 1892-93.

The club had begun its life playing friendlies up and down the country, with an amateur set up, until McGregor joined the club’s committee and went on to form the first ever Football League in 1888. Six years later Villa became the fourth club in the league’s young history to lift the title.

John Devey, William Groves and Dennis Hodgetts bagged two goals each to ensure the title made its way back to Aston.

Devey top scored that season with twenty goals and was well supported by Athersmith and Hodgetts who caused no end of terror down the wings.

It marked the start of an era of dominance by the Midland club, which would lay the foundations for five titles over the next seven years.

William McGregor, born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1847 was responsible for the formation of the Football League.

After joining the Villa committee in 1877 he was the first to think of competitive matches rather than just playing friendlies.

He was appointed chairman of the first Football League and became President in 1894. McGregor wrote to other clubs and 12 would eventually come forward to become the founding members.

Villa were joined by Accrington, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Those founding teams would lead the foundation for today’s Premier League, viewed in many eyes as the best in the world, and the scene for some of Villa’s more recent great games.

Villa, along with Blackburn and Everton, are the only clubs to have been founding members of the Football League and the Premier League.

McGregor was presented with the Football Association’s long service medal two weeks before he died in December 1911. A statue now stands proudly outside Villa Park in honour of his achievements and his role in creating the first dynasty of the Football League and helping to shape the beautiful game as we know it today. The club had tasted its first success in 1887 with the 2-0 win over West Brom in the FA Cup, which was Villa’s first taste of silverware but it was a change within the club’s administration that would really change Villa’s fortunes.

Frederick Rinder and his team were the first to cultivate a youth system, which even today remains one of the best and most successful in the country.

But the club also broke all records with some of its transfers, much like megabucks teams like Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United do in modern times.

It was a winning formula of blooding young talent, something the club still stands proudly by today, and bringing in the best players in the world.

As the club’s pedigree continued to rise so did its fan base but the club’s forward thinking continued as they began laying on away travel for the supporters, which was unheard of at the time.

The following season Villa would finish third in the league but all the fans’ eyes had again switched to the FA Cup.

By this stage the club was pushing to become only the second club in history to claim both trophies following the formation of the league in 1888.

The run saw Villa make light work of Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest before coming up against a formidable Sunderland side, who had already won three of the seven championships.

A closely fought tie was edged by Villa who set up another derby final against West Brom.

April 20, 1895 – FA Cup Final winners for a second time

Villa 1, West Bromwich Albion 0

THE third Villa versus West Brom Final in nine years attracted 42,000 fans to Crystal Palace.

The game itself would be settled with a goal after just thirty-nine seconds, which gave Villa the victory.

It was a goal by Bob Chatt, who was credited with scoring the fastest goal in FA Cup Final history, after he found the net with just thirty seconds on the clock.

The record stood for 114 years before being broken by Louis Saha of Everton in the 2009 FA Cup Final when he scored after twenty-five seconds.

The Final was played for the first time at Crystal Palace, which was to host the finals for the next twenty years.

The weather for the Final was described as a beautiful spring day and consequently the crowd and press were still coming into the ground when the game kicked off.

John Devey, the Villa centre-forward, swung the ball out to his inside-left straight from kick-off to Dennis Hodgetts, whose long cross-pass found Athersmith on the right.

His cross into in the box fell nicely for Chatt who struck the ball on a half volley, which Albion’s keeper Joe Reader managed to get his fingertips to.

The ball rolled across the goal mouth and after a scramble involving Devey and Albion defender Jack Horton, the ball was turned in but the goal was credited to Chatt for his earlier effort.

Many of the crowd and press missed the goal as they were still taking their seats, which may have had something to do with why Chatt and not Devey was given the goal, despite the fact many of the Villa players believe the wrong person had been given it.

The rest of the game, however, was far less controversial and exciting, and Villa were able to hold on to their lead until half-time.

Villa pressed much further forward for the second half with Chatt and Devey forcing saves from Joe Reader but the score remained the same until the final whistle, which ensured the Aston side would once again have bragging rights over their rivals.

Villa finished the season as FA Cup winners and third in the league, thanks in part to two young players who shone throughout the season, Steve Smith and Howard Spencer, who would both go on to represent England at international level.

But even still, neither of the two up and coming talents had the skill, flair and all round game of the great John Devey.

Devey was born in Birmingham on Boxing Day 1866. He joined Aston Villa aged twenty-five after a grounding with several junior clubs in the Birmingham area.

By the time he was thirty-four he had established himself as perhaps the greatest captain in the club’s history.

As a forward he was peerless and throughout his career he maintained the top goals to games ratio, scoring on average one in every two matches.

Even in his scandalously nondescript England career of just two appearances, mainly due to him being a contemporary of two of the finest players ever produced in these islands; John Goodall and Steve Bloomer, he scored an international goal.

Football was an extremely physical game during the late nineteenth century but Devey stood out because of his dribbling prowess and his uncanny ability to stop abruptly, pivot and get off a powerful shot.

Devey’s Aston Villa career was liberally sprinkled with trophies and goals after the first two campaigns failed to bring any silverware to Villa Park.

His first season, 1891-92, yielded thirty-four goals in thirty appearances as Villa finished fourth in the league and lost the FA Cup Final to near neighbours West Bromwich Albion.

Many Villa fans blamed goalkeeper Jimmy Warner for that reverse as the Albion had been comprehensively beaten in the two league games and, suspecting bribery, caused severe damage to the custodian’s public house.

Although it was an even poorer second season for the club, Devey still maintained his superior goals record, with nineteen in thirty-one appearances for a staggering tally of 63 goals in 61 matches over two campaigns.

It was the third season, 1893-94, when the trophy ‘duck’ was broken, not inappropriate phrase either as Devey was also an accomplished cricketer, scoring 6,500 runs for Warwickshire between 1888 and 1907.

On the football field, Villa stormed to the Football League championship and Devey finished top scorer with 20 goals in 29 league appearances. Over the next six seasons Aston Villa claimed the mantle of league champions five times, including only the second double of league and FA Cup in 1897, with the FA Cup being won in 1895 for good measure.

The FA Cup was actually stolen in 1895 from a Birmingham bookmakers. Despite the offer of a reward for its safe return it was never found and a new trophy had to be made.

As the 19th century morphed into the 20th, Devey’s Villa career of more than a decade began to wane and his penultimate season, 1900-01, was the last campaign in which the fans saw the real quality that had helped the club dominate English football.

Nevertheless, he still managed fifteen goals in thirty-two games. Ironically, in his last season from 1901-02, he only played four matches all season but still netted twice for that all important top striker ratio to be maintained.

Aston Villa were not about to say goodbye to their captain and icon. He retired as a player in 1902 having played and scored in his final game against Grimsby on December 14, 1901, for a career tally of 186 goals in 306 appearances.

In July 1902, Devey was elected to the board of Aston Villa FC, and he served his beloved Villa in that capacity until 1934. He died in 1940 aged 73.

Despite winning only two England caps, Devey remains one of the top players from the early days of English football and few would exclude him from any best eleven of select of players who plied their trade while Victoria was queen.

March 22, 1897 – Villa lift their second title

Villa 6, Bolton Wanderers 2

VILLA, under Rinder’s leadership, had become a limited company by 1896, a decision that would help finance a move to Aston Lower Grounds, where Villa Park would eventually be built.

He installed turnstiles at the Perry Barr ground for the first time and signed Jack Reynolds from West Brom, along with future Villa legend James Cowan.

Before the start of the 1895-96 season Villa went on a spending spree and bought Jimmy Crabtree from Burnley and John Campbell, who both helped Villa to lift their second title with a four point lead over Derby.

The following season saw more changes with Hodgetts leaving for Small Heath while keeper Jimmy Whitehouse was bought for a record £200 fee along with Fred Wheldon from Small Heath.

After a stuttering start Villa went on a good run until the end of November and topped the table once again.

Dominance like Villa’s during the century is rarely seen but this side was simply unstoppable. They claimed the title by eleven points and thrashed Bolton nineteen days before the impending FA Cup Final, sending out a strong message to Everton.

The 6-2 win meant Villa had sealed the title with four games still to play in front of about eight thousand fans.

Amazingly, Villa actually went into half-time two goals down but something woke them up at the break because Bolton were soon torn apart.

Athersmith equalised on sixty minutes and further goals from Reynolds, Devey, Campbell and two from Wheldon secured the sublime turnaround.

A 5-1 hammering of Blackburn Rovers had seen Villa reach the top of the table as early as November, and it was a position they would maintain for the rest of the season. By the end of the campaign Villa sat eleven points clear of the rest and the team now had their eyes firmly on matching Preston by claiming the domestic double.

The run to the Final had started with a 5-0 win over Newcastle United and a 2-1 victory against a ten man Notts County.

Preston, always tricky opponents, took Villa to two replays before Villa finally triumphed 3-2 at Bramell Lane. Liverpool were dispatched 3-0 in the semis, which set up a showdown with Everton in the Final. It was the first time Villa had reached the final of an FA Cup and not faced West Bromwich Albion.

April, 1897 – FA Cup and double winners

Villa 3, Everton 2

SOME 65,000 fans made their way to the Final at Crystal Palace, which Villa would go on to win 3-2 – with all the goals coming in the first half.

Villa became just the second club to complete the double of winning both league and FA Cup just before the turn of the twentieth century.

Preston were the first but Villa’s double-win signalled the club’s intent to go on to bigger and better things – even today only Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United and Chelsea have managed to match that feat.

The game was reckoned to be one of the finest in the era and included the likes of Charlie Athersmith, who was hailed as one of the finest wingers in the world.

There were even stories about Athersmith once playing holding an umbrella rather than get wet during a thunderstorm but it came as no surprise when he set up the opening goal for Villa, after playing in Devey, who in turn found Campbell in space to score.

The opening quarter of an hour had been played at breakneck speed and in response to the goal Everton began attacking with even more determination and soon equalised in the twenty-third minute when Andy Hartley played in John Bell to score.

Everton now had their tails up and when a free kick was awarded on the edge of the box, Richard Boyle stepped up and struck a beautifully weighted shot into the top corner.

This time it was Villa’s turn to respond but the Merysiders managed to hold on to their lead thanks to two great saves from Bob Menham.

With ten minutes to go before half-time Villa found themselves level when Jimmy Crabtree faked to shoot, leaving Menham completely out of place, and laid the ball off to Freddy Wheldon to score.

Reynolds then collected a poorly cleared corner and crossed the ball back into the box, straight on to the head of Crabtree to give Villa a vital lead.

Villa held on to the narrow advantage going into half-time but the second forty-five was played with just as much pace, skill and flair