Season #2 | 1880-81 | Games #3 - #6
AVFC History
Season #61
| 1949-50 |
Games #2120 - #2164 |
1949-50 Club Summary
Chairman | Fred Normansell |
Secretary | Fred Archer |
Manager | Alex Massie |
1949-50 Season Summary
Manager | Alex Massie |
Games | #2120 - #2164 |
Captain(s) | #405 Dicky Dorsett |
Top Scorer | 18 | #408 Trevor Ford | All League |
Most Appearances | 45 | #386 Frank Moss | #419 Ivor Powell | 42 League | 3 FA Cup | Appearances |
Final League Position | 12th Football League Division One |
FA Cup Progress | 3rd Round |
Biggest Win | 4-0 vs. Middlesbrough (h) |
Highest Home Attendance | 69,492 vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers |
1949-50 Division One Table
| 9 | Burnley | P42 | W16 | D13 | L13 | F40 | A40 | GR 1.00 | Pts 45 |
| 10 | Derby County | P42 | W17 | D10 | L15 | F69 | A61 | GR 1.13 | Pts 44 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | P42 | W15 | D12 | L15 | F61 | A61 | GR 1.00 | Pts 42 |
| 13 | Chelsea | P42 | W12 | D16 | L14 | F58 | A65 | GR 0.89 | Pts 40 |
| 14 | West Bromwich Albion | P42 | W14 | D12 | L16 | F47 | A53 | GR 0.89 | Pts 40 |
1949-50 Results
| 1 | 20 Aug | a | Manchester City | D | 3-3 |
| 2 | 23 Aug | h | Derby County | D | 1-1 |
| 3 | 27 Aug | h | Fulham | W | 3-1 |
| 4 | 31 Aug | a | Derby County | L | 2-3 |
| 5 | 3 Sep | a | Newcastle United | L | 2-3 |
| 6 | 5 Sep | h | Portsmouth | W | 1-0 |
| 7 | 10 Sep | h | Blackpool | D | 0-0 |
| 8 | 17 Sep | a | Middlesbrough | W | 2-0 |
| 9 | 24 Sep | h | Everton | D | 2-2 |
| 10 | 1 Oct | a | Huddersfield Town | L | 0-1 |
| 11 | 8 Oct | a | West Bromwich Albion | D | 1-1 |
| 12 | 15 Oct | h | Manchester United | L | 0-4 |
| 13 | 22 Oct | a | Chelsea | W | 3-1 |
| 14 | 29 Oct | h | Stoke City | D | 1-1 |
| 15 | 5 Nov | a | Burnley | L | 0-1 |
| 16 | 12 Nov | h | Sunderland | W | 2-0 |
| 17 | 19 Nov | a | Liverpool | L | 1-2 |
| 18 | 26 Nov | h | Arsenal | D | 1-1 |
| 19 | 3 Dec | a | Bolton Wanderers | D | 1-1 |
| 20 | 10 Dec | h | Birmingham City | D | 1-1 |
| 21 | 17 Dec | h | Manchester City | W | 1-0 |
| 22 | 24 Dec | a | Fulham | L | 0-3 |
| 23 | 26 Dec | a | Wolverhampton Wanderers | W | 3-2 |
| 24 | 27 Dec | h | Wolverhampton Wanderers | L | 1-4 |
| 25 | 31 Dec | h | Newcastle United | L | 0-1 |
| 26 | 7 Jan | h | Middlesbrough (FAC R3) | D | 2-2 |
| 27 | 11 Jan | a | Middlesbrough (FAC R3 Replay) | D | 0-0 |
| 28 | 14 Jan | a | Blackpool | L | 0-1 |
| 29 | 16 Jan | n | Middlesbrough (FAC R3 2nd Replay) | L | 0-3 |
| 30 | 21 Jan | h | Middlesbrough | W | 4-0 |
| 31 | 4 Feb | a | Everton | D | 1-1 |
| 32 | 18 Feb | h | Huddersfield Town | W | 2-0 |
| 33 | 25 Feb | h | West Bromwich Albion | W | 1-0 |
| 34 | 8 Mar | a | Manchester United | L | 0-7 |
| 35 | 11 Mar | h | Liverpool | W | 2-0 |
| 36 | 25 Mar | h | Burnley | L | 0-1 |
| 37 | 29 Mar | a | Arsenal | W | 3-1 |
| 38 | 1 Apr | a | Sunderland | L | 1-2 |
| 39 | 7 Apr | a | Charlton Athletic | W | 4-1 |
| 40 | 8 Apr | h | Chelsea | W | 4-0 |
| 41 | 11 Apr | h | Charlton Athletic | D | 1-1 |
| 42 | 15 Apr | a | Stoke City | L | 0-1 |
| 43 | 2 Apr | h | Bolton Wanderers | W | 3-0 |
| 44 | 29 Apr | a | Birmingham City | D | 2-2 |
| 45 | 6 May | a | Portsmouth | L | 1-5 |
1949-50 Season Review
Villa's earliest start to a season to date with 4 games played in August. An opening 3 games saw Villa unbeaten with a single win. Villa's first subsequent 12 games however delivered only 3 additional wins with 5 losses and games being decided by the odd goal.
Losses and runs without a win featured throughout the season as Massie's Villa found achieving consistency a struggle. The Christmas and New Year saw a particularly damaging run of 6 games without a win including 4 losses, over that period the size of the losses had also notably increased from earlier in the season, culminating in a second replay third round exit from the FA Cup after being beaten 0-3.
Ironically it was those difficulties that appeared to kick start Villa's season. The losses still came, and some were particularly heavy 0-7, 1-5 but these were sandwiched between regular wins (8 in 16) with some strong scorelines, 4-0, 4-1, 4-0, 3-0.
That late flourish however was not enough to fire Villa up the table and despite finishing on the same points as the previous campaign they fell to 12th in the table and for the second time in three seasons failed to hit 5 in a single match, something they had now failed to do on only 3 occasions since 1908-09.
In truth Villa were listless and it was no surprise that 1949-50 proved to be Alex Massie's final season in charge after 5 campaigns.
1949-50 Season Statistics
Games | 45 |
Won | 15 | 33% |
Drew | 14 | 31% |
Lost | 16 | 36% |
Unbeaten | 29 | 64% |
Goals Scored | 63 | 1.40 Goals per game |
Goals Conceded | 65 | 1.44 Goals per game |
Clean Sheets | 12 | 27% |
Average Home Attendance | 42,867 |
Longest winning run | 2 Games |
League winning run | 2 Games |
Longest unbeaten run | 4 Games |
Longest losing run | 2 Games |
Games without a win | 6 Games |
Cross Season Record |
1948-49 to 1949-50
Longest unbeaten run | 15 Games |
1949-50 Transfers
1 July 1949 - 30 June 1950
Incoming | 6 |
#422 Jimmy Harrison | Leicester City | £12,000 | Jul 49 | 28 |
#432 Derek Pace | Bloxwich Scouts | Free | Sep 49 | 17 |
#433 Graham Cordell | Walsall Star | Free | Sep 49 | 21 |
#423 Pat Daly | Shamrock Rovers | Free | Dec 49 | 22 |
#426 Stan Lynn | Accrington Stanley | £10,000 | Mar 50 | 22 |
#441 Joe Tyrell | Bretforton Old Boys | Free | Jun 50 | 18 |
Outgoing | 2 |
#415 Jock Mulraney | Cradley Heath | Free | Aug 49 | 33 |
#399 Eddie Lowe | Fulham | £15,000 | 25 May 50 | 25 |
1949-50 Squad Changes
Debut Appearances | 2 |
#422 Jimmy Harrison | Saturday, 20 August 1949 | Manchester City | Division One | 28 |
#423 Pat Daly | Saturday, 14 January 1950 | Blackpool | Division One | 22 |
Final Appearances | 5 |
#417 Syd Howarth | Saturday, 15 October 1949 | Manchester United | Division One | 26 |
#389 Alan Wakeman | Tuesday, 27 December 1949 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Division One | 29 |
#399 Eddie Lowe | Monday, 16 January 1950 | Middlesbrough | FA Cup | 24 |
#423 Pat Daly | Saturday, 4 February 1950 | Everton | Division One | 22 |
#422 Jimmy Harrison | Wednesday, 8 March 1950 | Manchester United | Division One | 29 |
1949-50 Squad Statistics
Squad Size | 21 | -5 |
Average Age | 27.7 | +0.1 |
Youngest Player(s) | 20 |
#411 Keith Jones | 23-Oct-1928 |
Oldest Player(s) | 34 |
#390 Joe Rutherford | 20-Sep-1914 |
1949-50 First Team Squad
Peter Aldis
James Harrison
Con Martin
Ivor Powell
Colin Gibson
Miller Craddock
Geoff Wright*
John Walter Harrison*
John Millington*
L A Atkins*
D R Matty*
John Barratt*
N J Croxson*
Keith Jones
Joe Rutherford
Alan Wakeman
Derek Ashton
George Cummings
Reg Lowe*
Harry Parkes
Albert Vinall
Larry Canning
Eddie Lowe
Amos Moss
Frank Moss
Arthur Proudler
Johnny Dixon
Bob Iverson
Dicky Dorsett
George Edwards
Trevor Ford
Billy Goffin
Syd Howarth
Herbert Smith
Les Smith
Tom Wood*
*Did not make a first team appearance
1949-50 Scorers
Goals Scored | 63 | League Goals | 61 | FA Cup Goals | 2 |
| 18 |
#408 Trevor Ford | Goals | 18 | League | 18 | FA Cup | 0 |
| 13 |
#396 Billy Goffin | Goals | 13 | League | 13 | FA Cup | 0 |
| 11 |
#401 Johnny Dixon | Goals | 11 | League | 11 | FA Cup | 0 |
| 4 |
#421 Colin Gibson | Goals | 4 | League | 3 | FA Cup | 1 |
| 3 |
#397 Les Smith | Goals | 3 | League | 3 | FA Cup | 0 |
#418 Miller Craddock | Goals | 3 | League | 3 | FA Cup | 0 |
#419 Ivor Powell | Goals | 3 | League | 3 | FA Cup | 0 |
| 2 |
#387 George Edwards | Goals | 2 | League | 2 | FA Cup | 0 |
#405 Dicky Dorsett | Goals | 2 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 1 |
| 1 |
#399 Eddie Lowe | Goals | 1 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 0 |
#422 Jimmy Harrison | Goals | 1 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 0 |
#386 Frank Moss | Goals | 1 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 0 |
#416 Con Martin | Goals | 1 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 0 |
1949-50 Appearances
| 45 |
#419 Ivor Powell | Appearances | 45 | League | 42 | FA Cup | 3 | . Player Profile
#386 Frank Moss | Appearances | 45 | League | 42 | FA Cup | 3 | . Player Profile
| 43 |
#395 Harry Parkes | Appearances | 43 | League | 40 | FA Cup | 3 | . Player Profile
#416 Con Martin | Appearances | 43 | League | 40 | FA Cup | 3 | . Player Profile
| 41 |
#405 Dicky Dorsett | Appearances | 41 | League | 39 | FA Cup | 2 | . Player Profile
| 40 |
#401 Johnny Dixon | Appearances | 40 | League | 37 | FA Cup | 3 | . Player Profile
| 39 |
#408 Trevor Ford | Appearances | 39 | League | 36 | FA Cup | 3 | . Player Profile
| 34 |
#396 Billy Goffin | Appearances | 34 | League | 33 | FA Cup | 1 | . Player Profile
#421 Colin Gibson | Appearances | 34 | League | 32 | FA Cup | 2 | . Player Profile
| 32 |
#397 Les Smith | Appearances | 32 | League | 29 | FA Cup | 3 | . Player Profile
| 31 |
#390 Joe Rutherford | Appearances | 31 | League | 28 | FA Cup | 3 | . Player Profile
| 16 |
#418 Miller Craddock | Appearances | 16 | League | 16 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
| 13 |
#387 George Edwards | Appearances | 13 | League | 13 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
| 10 |
#411 Keith Jones | Appearances | 10 | League | 10 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
| 9 |
#399 Eddie Lowe | Appearances | 9 | League | 6 | FA Cup | 3 | . Player Profile
| 8 |
#422 Jimmy Harrison | Appearances | 8 | League | 8 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
| 4 |
#423 Pat Daly | Appearances | 4 | League | 3 | FA Cup | 1 | . Player Profile
#389 Alan Wakeman | Appearances | 4 | League | 4 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
| 2 |
#406 Amos Moss | Appearances | 2 | League | 2 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
| 1 |
#417 Syd Howarth | Appearances | 1 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
#420 Herbert Smith | Appearances | 1 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
| 0 |
#414 Larry Canning | Appearances | 0 | League | 0 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
#412 Albert Vinall | Appearances | 0 | League | 0 | FA Cup | 0 | . Player Profile
1949-50 'Keepers
#389 Alan Wakeman | Appearances | 4 | Conceded | 9 | Ratio | 2.25 |
#390 Joe Rutherford | Appearances | 31 | Conceded | 45 | Ratio | 1.45 |
#411 Keith Jones | Appearances | 10 | Conceded | 11 | Ratio | 1.10 |
1949-50 Managerial Record
Alex Massie’s fifth and final season as Villa manager saw Villa finish 12th in Division One, their lowest position under Massie.
Massie’s Villa had achieved a win rate of 44%, losing 32% of their 227 League and FA Cup matches under his leadership.
As a result Alex Massie had returned 1.56 points per game* across his 227 games in charge of Villa. For the first time that placed Massie behind the performance of his predecessor Jimmy Hogan (1.59 in 124) and behind George Ramsay’s 1.69 across his 1,332 games and Billy Smith’s 1.62 across 364 games. Massie was however far ahead of Villa’s first professional manager Jimmy McMullan (1.24 in 99).
*Rankings based on 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw in all competitions
1949-50 Kits
1949-50 Season Results
Game #2120
Matchday #1
League Matchweek #1
Manager Game #183
Saturday, 20 August 1949
Football League | Division One | Away | Manchester City | Maine Road | 43,196 |
Manager | Alex Massie |
FT Result | Drew |
FT Score | 3-3 |
Last 5 Games | WDWDD |
Scorers | Les Smith | 1 | Billy Goffin | 2 |
Line Up |
GK Joe Rutherford |
FB Jim Harrison | DEBUT |
FB Harry Parkes |
CH Frank Moss |
CH Con Martin |
WH Ivor Powell |
OL Les Smith | GOAL |
OR Colin Gibson |
CF Trevor Ford |
W Billy Goffin | GOAL | GOAL |
LB Dicky Dorsett |
On this day 20 August 1949
Full back Jim Harrison made his Villa debut after moving from Leicester City earlier this month.
Game #2121
Matchday #2
League Matchweek #2
Manager Game #184
Tuesday, 23 August 1949
Football League | Division One | Home | Derby County | Villa Park | 50,380 |
Manager | Alex Massie |
FT Result | Drew |
FT Score | 1-1 |
Last 5 Games | DWDDD |
Scorers | Trevor Ford | 1 |
Line Up |
GK Joe Rutherford |
FB Jim Harrison |
FB Harry Parkes |
CH Frank Moss |
CH Con Martin |
WH Ivor Powell |
OL Les Smith |
OR Colin Gibson |
CF Trevor Ford | GOAL |
W Billy Goffin |
LB Dicky Dorsett |
Game #2122
Matchday #3
League Matchweek #3
Manager Game #185
Saturday, 27 August 1949
Football League | Division One | Home | Fulham | Villa Park | 47,785 |
Manager | Alex Massie |
FT Result | Won |
FT Score | 3-1 |
Last 5 Games | WDDDW |
Scorers | Les Smith | 1 | Billy Goffin | 1 | Trevor Ford | 1 |
Line Up |
GK Joe Rutherford |
FB Jim Harrison |
FB Harry Parkes |
CH Frank Moss |
CH Con Martin |
WH Ivor Powell |
OL Les Smith | GOAL |
OR Colin Gibson |
CF Trevor Ford | GOAL |
W Billy Goffin | GOAL |
LB Dicky Dorsett |
Game #2123
Matchday #4
League Matchweek #4
Manager Game #186
Wednesday, 31 August 1949
Football League | Division One | Away | Derby County | Baseball Ground | 31,748 |
Manager | Alex Massie |
FT Result | Lost |
FT Score | 2-3 |
Last 5 Games | DDDWL |
Scorers | Trevor Ford | 1 | Billy Goffin | 1 |
Line Up |
GK Joe Rutherford |
FB Harry Parkes |
CH Frank Moss |
CH Con Martin |
WH Ivor Powell |
OL Les Smith |
OR Colin Gibson |
CF Trevor Ford | GOAL |
W Billy Goffin | GOAL |
LB Dicky Dorsett |
IF Johnny Dixon |
Game #2124
Matchday #5
League Matchweek #5
Manager Game #187
Saturday, 3 September 1949
Football League | Division One | Away | Newcastle United | St James’ Park | 57,669 |
Manager | Alex Massie |
FT Result | Lost |
FT Score | 2-3 |
Last 5 Games | DDWLL |
Scorers | Trevor Ford | 1 | Eddie Lowe | 1 |
Line Up |
GK Joe Rutherford |
FB Harry Parkes |
WH Eddie Lowe | GOAL |
CH Frank Moss |
CH Con Martin |
WH Ivor Powell |
OR Colin Gibson |
CF Trevor Ford | GOAL |
W Billy Goffin |
LB Dicky Dorsett |
IF Johnny Dixon |
Game #2125
Matchday #6
League Matchweek #6
Manager Game #188
Monday, 5 September 1949
Football League | Division One | Home | Portsmouth | Villa Park | 38,360 |
Manager | Alex Massie |
FT Result | Won |
FT Score | 1-0 |
Last 5 Games | DWLLW |
Scorers | Ivor Powell | 1 |
Line Up |
GK Joe Rutherford |
FB Jim Harrison |
FB Harry Parkes |
CH Frank Moss |
CH Con Martin |
WH Ivor Powell | GOAL |
OR Colin Gibson |
W Billy Goffin |
LB Dicky Dorsett |
IF Johnny Dixon |
F Miller Craddock |
Game #2126
Matchday #7
League Matchweek #7
Manager Game #189
Saturday, 10 September 1949
Football League | Division One | Home | Blackpool | Villa Park | 60,337 |
Manager | Alex Massie |
FT Result | Drew |
FT Score | 0-0 |
Last 5 Games | WLLWD |
Line Up |
GK Ken Jones |
FB Harry Parkes |
CH Frank Moss |
CH Con Martin |
WH Ivor Powell |
OR Colin Gibson |
W Billy Goffin |
LB Dicky Dorsett |
IF Johnny Dixon |
F Miller Craddock |
CF Trevor Ford |
Game #2127
Matchday #8
League Matchweek #8
Manager Game #190
Saturday, 17 September 1949
Football League | Division One | Away | Middlesbrough | Ayresome Park | 30,525 |