Aston Villa's 1914-15 season

<-1913-14

Season 36 | 1914-15

1919-20->

The Story of 1914-15

Villa open the season with victory at Villa Park as forward Howard Humphries made his Villa debut aged 23 after joining from Handsworth Amateurs in July 1913. Football however is insignificant against the backdrop of the growing spectacle of the Great War.

Harry Hampton, opened the season with a brace to secure Villa an opening day win, Wednesday, 2 September 1914.

Villa's second game of the season ends in a home defeat.

Harry Hampton, scored for the third time in the opening two games of the season but Villa lose at home, Saturday, 5 September 1914.

Villa lose a second successive game as they lose at Wednesday's new home after years of reverses at the Owlerton.

Howard Humphries, scored his first goal for Villa but they lose on their first visit to Hillsborough to make it successive defeats, Saturday, 12 September 1914.

Villa bounce back from successive defeats to earn a second win of the season.

Clem Stephenson, scored to help Villa earn their second win of the season, Saturday, 19 September 1914.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to three to make it three wins, a draw and two defeats in six division one games.

Clem Stephenson, scored for the second time in three to help secure a third win of the season, Saturday, 3 October 1914.

Villa bounce back from a first defeat in four but are held at home to make it three wins, two draws and three defeats in eight division one games.

Tommy Barber, scored a brace but Villa are held at home, Saturday, 17 October 1914.

Villa win at White Hart Lane to make it four wins, two draws and three defeats in nine division one games.

Clem Stephenson, scored for the third time in six to help Villa to a first win in three, Saturday, 24 October 1914.

Villa record successive victories for the first time this season to make it five wins, two draws and three defeats in ten division one games.

Charlie Wallace, scored to help Villa to a second successive win for the first time this season, Saturday, 31 October 1914.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to four but are held at home to make it five wins, three draws and three defeats in eleven division one games.

Joe Bache, scored to extend Villa's unbeaten run to four games but they are held at Ayresome, Saturday, 7 November 1914.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to five to make it six wins, three draws and three defeats in twelve division one games. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Brendel Anstey played for Villa for the final time aged 27 after forty five appearances over his five seasons with the club before moving on to Leicester Fosse in 1915.

Andy Ducat, scored to secure Villa's third win in five unbeaten games, Saturday, 14 November 1914.

Villa bounce back from a first defeat in six to beat Liverpool in a nine goal thriller at Anfield and make it seven wins, three draws and four defeats in fourteen division one games.

Clem Stephenson, scored to help Villa secure a fourth win in six games, Saturday, 28 November 1914.

Villa lose for the second time in three to make it seven wins, three draws and five defeats in fifteen division one games.

Clem Stephenson, scored for the second successive game but Villa lose for the second time in three, Saturday, 5 December 1914.

Villa line up for their 1,000 League and FA Cup fixture almost 35 years to the day after their first match on Saturday, 13 December 1879 - which also ended a score draw - 1-1 away at Stafford Road in the FA Cup 2nd Round.

Harry Hampton, scored in Villa's 1,000th League and FA Cup fixture but they are held at Boundary Park, Saturday, 12 December 1914.

Villa record a second successive 3-3 draw to make it seven wins, five draws and five defeats in seventeen division one games.

Harry Hampton, scored for the third time in two as Villa are held for a second successive 3-3 draw, Saturday, 19 December 1914.

Villa record their first win in four to make it eight wins, five draws and five defeats in eighteen division one games.

Harold Edgley, scored for the third time in as many games as Villa win for the first time in four, Friday, 25 December 1914.

Villa suffer their biggest loss since 1890 as they are taken apart at home to Bolton to make it eight wins, five draws and six defeats in nineteen division one games. Meanwhile, forward Andy McLachlan made his final appearance for Villa aged 26 before moving on to Dundee in August 1915. Andy played for Villa between 1912-13 and 1914-15 making 17 appearances and scoring 3 goals.

Clem Stephenson, scored but Villa are hammered at home in the final game of 1914, Saturday, 26 December 1914.

Villa recover from their biggest loss since 1890 to draw with their foes to make it eight wins, six draws and six defeats in twenty division one games. Meanwhile, full back George Hampton made his Villa debut aged 25 after joining from Bellis and Morcom in August 1914 for a fee of £150.

Harold Edgley, scored for the fourth time in five games as Villa draw against the side who had inflicted their biggest defeat on them since 1890 in the previous game, Friday, 25 December 1914.

Villa face non-league Exeter in the FA Cup for the second successive season to progress to the second round.

Clem Stephenson, scored to help Villa to victory over Exeter in the first round of the FA Cup, Saturday, 9 January 1915.

Villa extend their run without a League win to six to make it eight wins, seven draws and nine defeats in twenty four division one games.

Clem Stephenson, scored Villa's first goal in four games but they extend their winless League run to six, Saturday, 6 February 1915.

Villa extend their run without a League win to seven to make it eight wins, seven draws and ten defeats in twenty five division one games. Meanwhile, midfielder Arthur Dobson made his seventh and final appearance for Villa aged 21. Arthur would tragically be killed in action during WWI succumbing to his injuries suffered during the Spring Offensive on 29 March 1918.

Harry Hampton, scored but Villa extend their winless League run to seven and five defeats, Wednesday, 10 February 1915.

Villa extend their run without a League win to nine to make it eight wins, eight draws and eleven defeats in twenty seven division one games.

Jimmy Leach, scored but Villa extend their winless League run to nine and six defeats, Monday, 22 February 1915.

Villa record a League victory for the first time in ten to make it nine wins, eight draws and eleven defeats in twenty eight division one games.

Harry Hampton, scored a brace as Villa win for the first time in ten League games, Saturday, 27 February 1915.

Villa record a second successive League victory having been winless for the previous nine matches to make it ten wins, eight draws and eleven defeats in twenty nine division one games.

Harry Hampton, scored a second successive brace as Villa win for the second successive game, Saturday, 13 March 1915.

Villa end a run of two victories with defeat at Bramall Lane to make it ten wins, eight draws and twelve defeats in thirty division one games. Meanwhile, forward Sammy Whittaker made his final appearance aged 26 after making 68 appearances and scoring six goals across his seven seasons with Villa before moving on to Walsall in May 1915.

Sammy Whittaker, final appearance, Saturday, 20 March 1915.

Villa record a third victory in four to make it eleven wins, eight draws and twelve defeats in thirty one division one games.

Clem Stephenson, scored to help earn Villa a third win in four games, Friday, 2 April 1915.

Villa record a fourth victory in five and in an otherwise poor season have now put twelve past Liverpool in two matches this campaign to make it twelve wins, eight draws and twelve defeats in thirty two division one games. Meanwhile, forward Harry Nash scored a hat trick on his Villa debut aged 22 after joining from Pontypridd.

Harry Nash on debut and Harry Hampton scored hat-tricks to secure Villa's biggest win of the season and make it four wins in five games, Saturday, 3 April 1915.

Villa record a third game unbeaten but are held at Meadow Lane to make it twelve wins, nine draws and twelve defeats in thirty three division one games. Meanwhile, midfielder Frank Moss made his Villa debut aged 19 after joining from Walsall in February 1914.

Joe Bache, scored on his return to the side to earn Villa a draw and make it three unbeaten, Monday, 5 April 1915.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to four but are held for the second successive game to make it twelve wins, ten draws and twelve defeats in thirty four division one games. Meanwhile, full back Tom Lyons made his final appearance aged 29 before moving on to Port Vale at the end of the season. Lyons had made 238 appearances over his eight seasons with Villa winning the 1912-13 FA Cup and 1909-10 League title as well as finishing runners up on four occasions. Also appearing for the last time was fellow full back George Hampton after three appearances for Villa aged before moving on to Shrewsbury Town in May 1915.

Andy Ducat, scored from the spot but Villa are held to a second successive draw, Saturday, 10 April 1915.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to six and win for the first time in four to make it thirteen wins, eleven draws and twelve defeats in thirty six division one games.

Harry Nash, scored his fourth goal in three games since his debut as Harry Hampton also scored a brace to earn Villa a first win in four, Wednesday, 21 April 1915.

Villa end the season in fourteenth place after what had proved to be a difficult campaign and their worst since 1900-01. Villa recorded just thirteen wins in their thirty eight division one games as well as eleven draws and fourteen defeats. Against the backdrop of the increasingly global hostilities of WWI however nothing was normal and football would be suspended at the end of the 1914-15 season until 1919-20. As a result, although of little consequence against the millions of lives lost in the utterly pointless conflict, a number of players would not retake the field post war and their Villa careers therefore ended with the suspension of football. Villa’s legendary forward Joe Bache played his final game aged 35 ahead of his move to Mid-Rhondda in August 1920. Between 1900-01 and 1914-15 Joe had made 470 appearances and scored 185 goals for Villa winning the 1904-05 FA Cup, 1909-10 League title and the 1912-13 FA Cup as well as finishing League runners up on four occasions. Also making their final appearances were midfielder Tommy Barber, 35, before moving on to Stalybridge Celtic having played for Villa between 1912-13 and 1914-15 making 51 appearances and scoring 10 goals whilst centre back Bill Morris also made his final appearance for Villa aged 27 before moving on to Shrewsbury Town having made 53 appearances and scoring once and full back William Littlewood, aged 22, before moving on to Wellington Town in August 1920 after 51 appearances.

George Ramsay's remarkable 998th match as Villa's Secretary Manager would prove to be his last for over four years as football is suspended due to the ongoing hostilities of WWI, Wednesday, 28 April 1915.

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Season Summary

Division	Final League Position	FA Cup Progress	Biggest Win
Division One	14th	2nd Round	6-2 vs. Liverpool (h), Division One

Top Scorer		Most Appearances
19 \| Harry Hampton		39 \| Sam Hardy, Clem Stephenson

Manager Summary

P: Games Played; W: Games Won; D: Games Drawn; L: Games Lost; PPG: Points per Game (3 Points for a win, 1 Point for a draw); CS%: Clean Sheet percentage; W%: Win Rate; L%: Loss Rate; U: Games Unbeaten; U% Unbeaten Rate.

From	To	Manager		P	W	D	L	U	W%	L%	U%	CS%	PPG
Ongoing	Ongoing	George Ramsay led Management Committee		40	14	11	15	25	35%	38%	62%	20%	1.32

Manager	Chairman		Club Secretary
George Ramsay led Management Committee	Fred Rinder		George Ramsay

Season Statistics

Pos: Final League Position; P: Games Played; W: Games Won; D: Games Drawn; L: Games Lost; F: Goals Scored; A: Goals Conceded; Pts: Final League Points; GD: Goal Difference (A-F); PPG: Points per Game (3 Points for a win, 1 Point for a draw); GR: Goal Ratio (F/A); GPG: Goals Scored per Game; CPG: Goals Conceded per Game; CS: Clean Sheets; CS%: Clean Sheet percentage; W%: Win Rate; L%: Loss Rate; U: Games Unbeaten; U% Unbeaten Rate.

Results - All Competitions

	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	GR	GPG	CPG	CS	CS%	W%	L%	U	U%	PPG
1914-15	40	14	11	15	64	73	-9	0.87	1.6	1.83	8	20%	35%	37%	25	63%	1.32

Results - League

	Pos	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD	GPG	CPG	GR	CS	CS%	W%	L%	U%	PPG
1914-15	14th	38	13	11	14	62	72	37	-10	1.63	1.89	0.86	7	18%	34%	37%	63%	1.32

Sequences

Season	Wins in a Row	League Wins in a Row	Games Unbeaten	Games without a Win	Losing Run
1914-15	2	2	6	7	4

League Table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Everton	38	19	8	11	76	47	29	46
2	Oldham Athletic	38	17	11	10	70	56	14	45
3	Blackburn Rovers	38	18	7	13	83	61	22	43
4	Burnley	38	18	7	13	61	47	14	43
5	Manchester City	38	15	13	10	49	39	10	43
6	Sheffield United	38	15	13	10	49	41	8	43
7	The Wednesday	38	15	13	10	61	54	7	43
8	Sunderland	38	18	5	15	81	72	9	41
9	Bradford Park Avenue	38	17	7	14	69	65	4	41
10	West Bromwich Albion	38	15	10	13	49	43	6	40
11	Bradford City	38	13	14	11	55	49	6	40
12	Middlesbrough	38	13	12	13	62	74	-12	38
13	Liverpool	38	14	9	15	65	75	-10	37
14	Aston Villa	38	13	11	14	62	72	-10	37
15	Newcastle United	38	11	10	17	46	48	-2	32
16	Notts County	38	9	13	16	41	57	-16	31
17	Bolton Wanderers	38	11	8	19	68	84	-16	30
18	Manchester United	38	9	12	17	46	62	-16	30
19	Chelsea	38	8	13	17	51	65	-14	29
20	Tottenham Hotspur	38	8	12	18	57	90	-33	28

Matches

Select a row for detailed match reports

Competition	Date	Home		Away	W	D	L	Game
Division One	2 Sep 1914	Aston Villa	2-1	Notts County	W			985
Division One	5 Sep 1914	Aston Villa	1-3	Sunderland			L	986
Division One	12 Sep 1914	Wednesday	5-2	Aston Villa			L	987
Division One	19 Sep 1914	Aston Villa	2-1	West Brom	W			988
Division One	26 Sep 1914	Everton	0-0	Aston Villa		D		989
Division One	3 Oct 1914	Aston Villa	2-1	Chelsea	W			990
Division One	10 Oct 1914	Bradford City	3-0	Aston Villa			L	991
Division One	17 Oct 1914	Aston Villa	3-3	Burnley		D		992
Division One	24 Oct 1914	Tottenham Hotspur	0-2	Aston Villa	W			993
Division One	31 Oct 1914	Aston Villa	2-1	Newcastle United	W			994
Division One	7 Nov 1914	Middlesbrough	1-1	Aston Villa		D		995
Division One	14 Nov 1914	Aston Villa	1-0	Sheffield United	W			996
Division One	25 Nov 1914	Manchester City	1-0	Aston Villa			L	997
Division One	28 Nov 1914	Liverpool	3-6	Aston Villa	W			998
Division One	5 Dec 1914	Aston Villa	1-2	Bradford Park Avenue			L	999
Division One	12 Dec 1914	Oldham Athletic	3-3	Aston Villa		D		1000
Division One	19 Dec 1914	Aston Villa	3-3	Manchester United		D		1001
Division One	25 Dec 1914	Blackburn Rovers	2-1	Aston Villa	W			1002
Division One	26 Dec 1914	Aston Villa	1-7	Bolton Wanderers			L	1003
Division One	1 Jan 1915	Bolton Wanderers	2-2	Aston Villa		D		1004
Division One	2 Jan 1915	Sunderland	4-0	Aston Villa			L	1005
FA Cup 1st Round	9 Jan 1915	Aston Villa	2-0	Exeter City	W			1006
Division One	16 Jan 1915	Aston Villa	0-0	Wednesday		D		1007
Division One	23 Jan 1915	West Brom	2-0	Aston Villa			L	1008
FA Cup 2nd Round	30 Jan 1915	Manchester City	1-0	Aston Villa			L	1009
Division One	6 Feb 1915	Chelsea	3-1	Aston Villa			L	1010
Division One	10 Feb 1915	Aston Villa	1-5	Everton			L	1011
Division One	13 Feb 1915	Aston Villa	0-0	Bradford City		D		1012
Division One	22 Feb 1915	Burnley	2-1	Aston Villa			L	1013
Division One	27 Feb 1915	Aston Villa	3-1	Tottenham Hotspur	W			1014
Division One	13 Mar 1915	Aston Villa	5-0	Middlesbrough	W			1015
Division One	20 Mar 1915	Sheffield United	3-0	Aston Villa			L	1016
Division One	2 Apr 1915	Aston Villa	2-1	Blackburn Rovers	W			1017
Division One	3 Apr 1915	Aston Villa	6-2	Liverpool	W			1018
Division One	5 Apr 1915	Notts County	1-1	Aston Villa		D		1019
Division One	10 Apr 1915	Bradford Park Avenue	2-2	Aston Villa		D		1020
Division One	17 Apr 1915	Aston Villa	0-0	Oldham Athletic		D		1021
Division One	21 Apr 1915	Aston Villa	4-1	Manchester City	W			1022
Division One	26 Apr 1915	Manchester United	1-0	Aston Villa			L	1023
Division One	28 Apr 1915	Newcastle United	3-0	Aston Villa			L	1024

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Transfers In

1 July - 30 June

Player	Position	In	From	For	Aged
Billy Walker	Forward	March 1915	Wednesbury Old Athletic	Free	17
Walter Maiden	Full Back	March 1915	Kidderminster Harriers	Free	18
Dicky York	Winger	March 1915	Birchfield Rangers	Free	15
Harry Nash	Forward	Unknown	Pontypridd	Free

Transfers Out

1 July - 30 June

Player	Position	In	To	For	Aged
Charlie Slade	Forward	August 1914	Huddersfield Town	Free	23
Bob Chandler	Goalkeeper	September 1914	Walsall	Free	19
Bert McLachlan	Midfielder	September 1914	Aberdeen	Free	22
Tommy Barber	Midfielder	1915	Stalybridge Celtic	Free	35
Brendel Anstey	Goalkeeper	1915	Leicester City	Free	27
Bill Morris	Centre Back	1915	Shrewsbury Town	Free	27
Bill Williams	Left Back	1915	Chirk FC	Free	29
Tom Lyons	Full Back	1915	Port Vale	Free	30
Len Richards	Goalkeeper	April 1915	Bilston	Free	22
George Hampton	Full Back	May 1915	Shrewsbury Town	Free	25
Sammy Whittaker	Forward	May 1915	Walsall	Free	26
Andy McLachlan	Forward	August 1915	Dundee	Free	27
Arthur Dobson	Midfielder	n/a	n/a	n/a

Debut Appearances

Player	Number	Against	On	Aged
Howard Humphries	Player #255	Notts County (h), Division One	Wednesday, 2 September 1914	23
Jimmy Stephenson	Player #256	Everton (a), Division One	Saturday, 26 September 1914	19
George Hampton	Player #257	Bolton Wanderers (a), Division One	Friday, 1 January 1915	25
Harry Nash	Player #258	Liverpool (h), Division One	Saturday, 3 April 1915	22
Frank Moss	Player #259	Notts County (a), Division One	Monday, 5 April 1915	19

Final Appearances

Player	Number	Against	On	Aged
Brendel Anstey	Player #222	Sheffield United (h), Division One	Saturday, 14 November 1914	27
Andy McLachlan	Player #241	Bolton Wanderers (h), Division One	Saturday, 26 December 1914	26
Arthur Dobson	Player #244	Everton (h), Division One	Wednesday, 10 February 1915	21
Reg Boyne	Player #250	Bradford City (h), Division One	Saturday, 13 February 1915	23
Archie Dyke	Player #252	Bradford City (h), Division One	Saturday, 13 February 1915	28
Sammy Whittaker	Player #206	Sheffield United (a), Division One	Saturday, 20 March 1915	26
George Hampton	Player #257	Bradford Park Avenue (a), Division One	Saturday, 10 April 1915	25
Tom Lyons	Player #202	Bradford Park Avenue (a), Division One	Saturday, 10 April 1915	29
Tommy Barber	Player #243	Newcastle United (a), Division One	Wednesday, 28 April 1915	35
William Littlewood	Player #236	Newcastle United (a), Division One	Wednesday, 28 April 1915	22

Season #2 | 1880-81 | Games #3 - #6

AVFC History

133 Seasons, 33 Managers, 978 Players, 5645 Matches, Only 1 Aston Villa

Season 36 | 1914-15

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