Aston Villa Quiz Book: 1,000 Questions on all Things Villa

How much do you really know about the club you love? You can find out by exploring the 1,000 questions set out in 100 categories that make up this Aston Villa Quiz Book.
It's not often that books on football make reference to Karl Marx, The Boat Race, Tony Hancock, 'the Tiger' comic, 'dragons' Den' or 'Porridge,' but this one does!
This latest quiz book from Mart Matthews is a quirky, challenging affair for real Villa fans who can test themselves or take each other on, with the emphasis on enjoyment and discovery. Try these for size:
Who is the only Villa manager to have won the league title as a player or manager with three different clubs?
Only two clubs have won and lost an FA Cup final against Villa. Who are they?

When Villa were relegated to the third flight for the only time in their history in 1970 their manager at the time said 'I promised to take Villa out of the Second Division and that's exactly what I've done.' Who was he?

• Language: English
• Publisher: G2 Entertainment
• Release date: Dec 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781782814054

Book preview

IllustrationIllustration

Published by G2 Entertainment Ltd

© G2 Entertainment 2023

ISBN: 9781782814054

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information within this publication but the publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the publishers.

PICTURE CREDITS: Action Images, Alamy

DEDICATION

This book is for Villa fans Robin Lewis and Tim Russell, the latter being someone I was close to at school but have long since lost touch with. If you’re still alive, get in touch!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Once again, my thanks go to Stuart Tibber for his assistance with this project.

INTRODUCTION

Hello, Villa fans everywhere and welcome to what I hope is the most comprehensive quiz on your club available.

A word or two on the League Cup is required here. Since its inception in 1960-61 it has had numerous sponsors, but in this quiz it will be called the ‘League Cup’ throughout. My choice of ten ‘Trinity Road Titans’ may differ from yours but that only provokes debate, which is a good thing. I hope you enjoy it.

CONTENTS

1. ANYTHING GOES – PART 1

2. ANYTHING GOES - PART 2

3. ASTON VILLA V BIRMINGHAM CITY CUP COMPETITIONS

4. ASTON VILLA V BIRMINGHAM CITY THE LEAGUE

5. ASTON VILLA IN THE FA CUP 1879-1915

6. ASTON VILLA IN THE FA CUP 1919-1939

7. ASTON VILLA IN THE FA CUP 1945-1960

8. ASTON VILLA IN DOMESTIC CUP COMPETITIONS - 1960-1970

9. ASTON VILLA IN DOMESTIC CUP COMPETITIONS – 1970-1980

10. ASTON VILLA IN DOMESTIC CUP COMPETITIONS – 1980-1990

11. ASTON VILLA IN DOMESTIC CUP COMPETITIONS – 1990-2000

12. ASTON VILLA IN THE LEAGUE 1888-1900

13. ASTON VILLA IN THE LEAGUE 1900-1915

14. ASTON VILLA IN THE LEAGUE 1919-1939

15. ASTON VILLA IN THE LEAGUE 1946-1960

16. ASTON VILLA IN THE LEAGUE 1960-1970

17. ASTON VILLA IN THE LEAGUE 1970-1980

18. ASTON VILLA IN THE LEAGUE 1980-1990

19. ASTON VILLA IN THE LEAGUE 1990-2000

20. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2000-2001

21. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2001-2002

22. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2002-2003

23. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2003-2004

24. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2004-2005

25. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2005-2006

26. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2006-2007

27. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2007-2008

28. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2008-2009

29. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2009-2010

30. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2010-2011

31. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2011-2012

32. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2012-2013

33. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2013-2014

34. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2014-2015

35. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2015-2016

36. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2016-2017

37. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2017-2018

38. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2018-2019

39. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2019-2020

40. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2020-2021

41. ASTON VILLA – SEASON 2021-2022

42. BIRTHPLACES

43. CRYPTIC ‘KEEPERS

44. CRYPTIC VILLANS

45. CUP FINAL ‘KEEPERS

46. EUROPEAN ADVENTURES – THE 1970’S

47. EUROPEAN ADVENTURES – THE 1980’S

48. EUROPEAN ADVENTURES – THE 1990’S

49. EUROPEAN ADVENTURES THE 21ST CENTURY

50. FA CUP FINALS – PART 1

51. FA CUP FINALS – PART 2

52. FOREIGN AFFAIRS

53. GEOGRAPHICAL VILLA

54. GREENER GRASS – PART 1

55. GREENER GRASS – PART 2

56. HELPING HANDS – OWN GOALS

57. IF THE CAP FITS – ENGLAND

58. IF THE CAP FITS – NORTHERN IRELAND & THE REPUBLIC

59. IF THE CAP FITS – SCOTLAND & WALES

60. IF THE CAP FITS – OVERSEAS INTERNATIONALS

61. LATER IN LIFE

62. LEAGUE CHAMPIONS – 1980-1981

63. LEAGUE CUP FINALS – PART 1

64. LEAGUE CUP FINALS – PART 2

65. MANAGERS – PART 1

66. MANAGERS – PART 2

67. MULTIPLE CHOICE

68. OCCUPATIONAL VILLA

69. ODD MAN OUT

70. OTHER COMPETITIONS

71. POLITICAL VILLA

72. POT LUCK

73. SOME VILLA FAVOURITES

74. SOME MORE VILLA FAVOURITES

75. THE VILLA & THE ALBION

76. THE VILLA & THE WOLVES

77. TRANSFERS – 1950’S

78. TRANSFERS – 1960’S

79. TRANSFERS – 1970’S

80. TRANSFERS – 1980’S

81. TRANSFERS – 1990’S

82. TRANSFERS – 2000’S

83. TRANSFERS – 2010’S

84. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.1 – CHARLIE AITKEN

85. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.2 – HARRY HAMPTON

86. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.3 – ERIC HOUGHTON

87. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.4 – PAUL MCGRATH

88. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.5 – PETER MCPARLAND

89. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.6 – DENNIS MORTIMER

90. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.7 – DAVID PLATT

91. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.8 – RON SAUNDERS

92. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.9 – BILLY WALKER

93. TRINITY ROAD TITANS NO.10 – TOM ‘PONGO’ WARING

94. TRUE OR FALSE

95. VENUES – PART 1

96. VENUES – PART 2

97. VILLA PARK

98. VILLAINS – (SENDINGS OFF)

99. VOICES FROM THE VILLA

100. WILD CARD

1

ANYTHING GOES PART 1

1. The only post-war player to be capped by England with a surname ending with a ‘C’ played ten times for Aston Villa in the league in 1979. Who was he?

2. Add three letters to the surname of one Villa striker from this century and produce another. Who are the two players?

3. How are Aston Villa connected to the FA Cup Finals of 1948 and 1981?

4. The only number to turn out for the Villa did so in the league on 16 occasions in the 1984-85 season. Who was he?

5. What is the link between Ian ‘Chico’ Hamilton, who played 207 league games for Aston Villa between 1969 and 1976, and the legendary Jimmy Greaves?

6. Which great Aston Villa player who made 268 appearances in the league for them between 1891 and 1901 shares a surname with an ex-member of ‘Dragon’s Den’?

7. Which member of Aston Villa’s European Cup winning side of 1982 shares his surname with a horse that won successive King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in 1997 and 1998?

8. Which two Villa goalkeepers in this century have the same four letter first name?

9. Which player who appeared in 154 league games for the club between 1911 and 1922 only needs an excellent horse after his name to be an English coastal resort?

10. The full name of a Villa man who played in 195 league games for the club between 1903 and 1914 is also a London musical venue. Who is he?

2

ANYTHING GOES PART 2

11. Which Spurs player scored at both ends when Villa lost 3-2 at home to the Londoners on 16 February 2020?

12. Villa won a League Cup tie 2-1 at Colchester United on 9 August 2017. One of their goals was an own goal from an English county. Which of the following scored it? – A. Dorset B. Hampshire C. Kent D. Sussex

13. Villa were involved in two Intertoto Cup second leg home ties in the summer of 2000 against Marila Pribram from the Czech Republic and Celta Vigo of Spain, winning the first and losing the second by 3-1 each time. Where were the two games played?

14. A Villa player was sent off at Villa Park against a London club in 2013, and against another London club in 2014. In 2020 he returned to the ground with a third London club and this time got sent off against Aston Villa. Who was he and which three clubs from the capital were involved?

15. Villa’s many fans include a classical violinist, a former inhabitant of No. 10 Downing Street, the first film star to win successive ‘Oscars’ and a fictitious prisoner from ‘Porridge’. Who are these four fans, and for a bonus point, who does the prisoner’s cellmate Norman Stanley Fletcher support?

16. Aston Villa hold the record for the most league matches without a draw, with a total of 51. After a 4-4 draw on 8 November 1890 they didn’t draw again until 11 February 1893. The ‘bookends’ in this long run were two Lancashire clubs who can’t stand each other. Who were they?

17. In war-time football Aston Villa recorded an incredible 19-2 win on 24 March 1942 against a services side from Samuel Johnson’s birthplace. Who were they?

18. Which Scottish wing-half turned out 39 times for Aston Villa between 1948 and 1954, and afterwards enjoyed a career in journalism and broadcasting, at one time having a place on the board at Villa Park? If it helps, he shares his surname with a Prime Minister.

19. Villa players Gareth Barry and Charles N’Zogbia were born in towns involved in historical conflicts between Britain and France some 350 years apart. In which two towns were they born?

20. Which club played a few games at Villa Park after their own ground had suffered bomb damage in 1942 and 1943?

3

VILLA V BIRMINGHAM CITY - CUP COMPETITIONS

21. Birmingham City have had four names. They are Small Heath Alliance, Small Heath, Birmingham and Birmingham City. Incredibly, they have met Aston Villa in the FA Cup just once in nearly 135 years in the competition. Villa won the tie away from home by 4-0, but which of these four names did they beat?

22. Without the League Cup meetings between the clubs there wouldn’t have been a category here at all. Famously, they met in a two-legged final in 1963, but I will draw a veil over that except to ask which Villa player who appeared in both legs of that final later went on to win the league title as a manager?

23. They next met each other in that competition in the 1988-89 season in a two-legged second round affair, with Villa scoring seven times without reply in the two games, winning 2-0 away and 5-0 at home. Who scored for Villa in both games?

24. Just for good measure Villa also beat Birmingham City 6-0 at Villa Park on 9 November 1988 in which competition?

25. Their next League Cup meeting came in the second round of the 1993-94 season and again it was a two-legged tie, with Villa winning both games 1-0 on their way to taking the trophy. Which midfielder scored Villa’s winner in the away leg?

26. Which centre forward completed the job by scoring the only goal of the second leg?

27. Birmingham City won the next League Cup meeting between the clubs on 1 December 2010 at the quarter-final stage by 2-1 at St. Andrews in a match marred by crowd problems. Who scored Villa’s goal?

28. Which Aston Villa front man got the decisive goal when they beat Birmingham City 1-0 at Villa Park in the League Cup third round on 22 September 2015?

29. The two clubs have played eight individual games against each other in the League Cup. How many of those eight have Villa won?

30. In which season was the only 0-0 draw between the clubs in that competition?

4

VILLA V BIRMINGHAM CITY - THE LEAGUE

31. The first time the clubs met in the league was on 1 September 1894 when Villa won 2-1 at home to Small Heath, as Birmingham City were then known as. Where was the match played?

32. The clubs shared ten goals on 7 September 1895 when Villa entertained Small Heath. What was the score?

33. Which Villa player scored four times in that game?

34. In the last season before the second world war Birmingham were relegated by a point. It didn’t help that Villa had beaten them