Aston Villa's 1971-72 season

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Season 83 | 1971-72

1972-73->

The Story of 1971-72

14 August 1971, Villa 3-1 Plymouth, Villa Park.

Villa open their second season in the third division with a comfortable win but midfielder Pat McMahon leaves the pitch on a stretcher after 65 minutes with a dislocated and fractured ankle.

18 August 1971, League Cup, Villa 2-2 Wrexham, Villa Park.

Villa are held at home by fellow third division side Wrexham in the first round or the League cup ahead of a replay at the Racecourse Ground.

21 August 1971, Villa 1-1 Walsall, Fellows Park.

Villa are denied a late penalty as they are held at Fellows Park by neighbours Walsall to leave them joint second in the early third division table.

23 August 1971, League Cup, Villa 1-1 Wrexham, Racecourse Ground.

Wrexham hit a late equaliser once again, this time in 27th minute of extra time, to take Villa to a second replay in the first round of the League Cup.

28 August 1971, Villa 2-0 Rochdale, Villa Park.

Villa playing a pair of wingers and the division’s best midfielder in Anderson, Graydon and Rioch sweep aside Rochdale to climb to the top of the third division after three games sharing the summit with Brighton and Bournemouth with five points apiece.

31 August 1971, League Cup, Villa 4-3 Wrexham, The Hawthorns.

Villa beat Wrexham in the first round of the League Cup at the third attempt as this time it is Villa who hit the late goal to win the tie at the Hawthorns.

4 September 1971, Villa 0-2 Bolton, Burnden Park.

Villa tumble to joint tenth in the table after their first defeat of the season but they have played a game less than early leaders Notts County who sit three points ahead of Vic Crowe’s side.

8 September 1971, League Cup, Villa 3-2 Chesterfield, Saltergate.

Bruce Rioch receives his second booking in five days, his third this season and his fifth in seven months as Villa, who have been ordered by the FA to improve their disciplinary record or face a fine of £13,000. Rioch could have been booked twice and sent off but the referee erred on the side of leniency after his handball with five minutes left to play. More positively Villa win through to the League Cup third round.

11 September 1971, Villa 2-0 Brighton, Villa Park.

A Chico Hamilton inspired Villa climb back to fifth in the table, three points off leaders Notts County with a game in hand, as they beat fellow promotion chasers Brighton at Villa Park.

18 September 1971, Villa 1-0 Halifax, The Shay.

Villa win away for the first time in fourteen games as the wingers combine again to secure a narrow victory for Vic Crowe’s side - although the boss is absent scouting talent - as they remain joint fifth in the table but close the gap to joint leaders Bournemouth and Notts County to two points with a game in hand on the top four.

22 September 1971, Villa 0-1 Mansfield, Villa Park.

Even this early in the season, Villa suffer a ‘shock’ defeat as they are beaten at home by bottom side Mansfield (one point in six games) despite having had eighteen shots on goal (Mansfield four) in a game they, on balance, should have been victorious in by at least six goals.

25 September 1971, Villa 2-0 Wrexham, Villa Park.

Villa beat familiar foes Wrexham to go joint fourth, two points behind leaders Bournemouth after wasting their game in hand against Mansfield.

28 September 1971, Villa 4-0 Barnsley, Oakwell.

Despite, or maybe because of, the games coming so thick and fast Villa record their biggest win of the season and fourth third division victory in five games to climb to joint first alongside Bournemouth.

2 October 1971, Villa 1-0 Bristol Rovers, Eastville Stadium.

Villa record their third successive away victory and after 10 games they sit top of the third division, level on points with Bournemouth but ahead on goal average and two points ahead of the chasing pack.

5 October 1971, League Cup, Villa 2-2 Palace, Selhurst Park.

Villa fight back from two down to force a League Cup replay at Villa Park against first division Palace.

9 October 1971, Villa 1-2 Rotherham, Villa Park.

Villa fall back to joint second in the table, two points off leaders Bournemouth, as they fall to a shock defeat to a Rotherham side who came to Villa Park to draw.

13 October 1971, League Cup, Villa 2-0 Palace, Villa Park.

Andy Lochhead scores his tenth of the season, and sixth in the League Cup, as Villa beat first division Palace in the third round replay at Villa Park. Villa scored twice, had a clear penalty denied and Palace ‘keeper John Jackson had to make spectacular saves to keep Vic Crowe’s first division side at bay.

16 October 1971, Villa 2-3 Plymouth, Home Park.

Despite a strong start that saw Villa run rings around Plymouth for the first half hour, they were always chasing the game at Home Park once they fell behind, going on to suffer a 2-3 defeat and drop to joint fourth in the third division table, two points off leaders Bournemouth who are now joined by Villa’s victorious opponents Argyle at the summit.

20 October 1971, Villa 2-0 Tranmere, Villa Park.

Villa bounce back from successive, though unlucky, third division defeats to beat Tranmere at Villa Park and climb back to joint third, two points off leaders Bournemouth.

23 October 1971, Villa 0-3 Bournemouth, Dean Court.

Bournemouth, in front of their biggest crowd for ten seasons inflict Villa’s largest defeat in the third tier as Villa make it three third division defeats in their last four as they drop to joint fourth, four points off their victorious opponents after fourteen games.

26 October 1971, League Cup, Villa 1-4 Blackpool, Bloomfield Road.

Despite once again being in the ascendancy for 30 minutes, Villa falter and are beaten by three goals in ten second half minutes to be knocked out of the League Cup by second division Blackpool.

30 October 1971, Villa 4-1 Blackburn, Villa Park.

Veteran Dave Gibson comes in for his first game of the season and inspires Villa to a strong win over Blackburn to keep Villa fourth in the table and four points off leaders Bournemouth after 15 games.

6 November 1971, Villa 4-4 Vale, Vale Park.

Villa four two up with ten minutes to play capitulate and allow themselves to be overrun by Vale. Despite collecting just one point, Villa climb to joint third place with Swansea but are now five points behind leaders Bournemouth and four points behind second placed Notts County who Villa face in their next game.

13 November 1971, Villa 1-0 Notts County, Villa Park.

Villa win in front of the fourth biggest crowd of the day in the country behind only Everton, Manchester United and Arsenal. Despite beating second placed County however, Villa fall to fourth in the table, one point behind third placed Rotherham but close the gap to their opponents to two points whilst Bournemouth’s lead at the top of the table is cut to four.

20 November 1971, FA Cup, Villa 0-1 Southend, Roots Hall.

Villa lose to fourth division Southend in the first round of the FA Cup in a game that marks the final appearances of Tommy Hughes, Dave Gibson and Keith Bradley. For Hughes it is another difficult game after he drops the free kick that leads to Southend’s goal.

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Image Credit

Season Summary

Division	Final League Position	FA Cup Progress	EFL Cup Progress	Biggest Win
Division Three	1st	1st Round	4th Round	6-0 vs. Oldham Athletic (a), Division Three

Top Scorer	Most Appearances	Most Starts
25 \| Andy Lochhead	53 \| Andy Lochhead	53 \| Andy Lochhead

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	Vic Crowe	54	35	9	10	44	65%	19%	81%	50%	2.11

Manager	Chairman	Chief Executive
Vic Crowe	Herbert Douglas Ellis	Alan Bennett

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
54	35	9	10	100	47	53	1.73	1.85	1.07	27	50%	65%	19%	43	81%	2.11

Results - League

Pos	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD	GPG	CPG	GR	CS	CS%	W%	L%	U%	PPG
1st	46	32	6	8	85	32	70	53	1.85	0.7	2.66	26	57%	70%	17%	83%	2.22

Sequences

Wins in a Row	League Wins in a Row	Games Unbeaten	Games without a Win	Losing Run
5	5	11	3	2

League Table

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Aston Villa	46	32	6	8	85	32	53	70
2	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	27	11	8	82	47	35	65
3	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	46	23	16	7	73	37	36	62
4	Notts County	46	25	12	9	74	44	30	62
5	Rotherham United	46	20	15	11	69	52	17	55
6	Bristol Rovers	46	21	12	13	75	56	19	54
7	Bolton Wanderers	46	17	16	13	51	41	10	50
8	Plymouth Argyle	46	20	10	16	74	64	10	50
9	Walsall	46	15	18	13	62	57	5	48
10	Blackburn Rovers	46	19	9	18	54	57	-3	47
11	Oldham Athletic	46	17	11	18	59	63	-4	45
12	Shrewsbury Town	46	17	10	19	73	65	8	44
13	Chesterfield	46	18	8	20	57	57	0	44
14	Swansea City	46	17	10	19	46	59	-13	44
15	Port Vale	46	13	15	18	43	59	-16	41
16	Wrexham	46	16	8	22	59	63	-4	40
17	Halifax Town	46	13	12	21	48	61	-13	38
18	Rochdale	46	12	13	21	57	83	-26	37
19	York City	46	12	12	22	57	66	-9	36
20	Tranmere Rovers	46	10	16	20	50	71	-21	36
21	Mansfield Town	46	8	20	18	41	63	-22	36
22	Barnsley	46	9	18	19	32	64	-32	36
23	Torquay United	46	10	12	24	41	69	-28	32
24	Bradford City	46	11	10	25	45	77	-32	32

Matches

Select a row for detailed match reports

Competition	Date	Home		Away	W	D	L	Game
Division Three	14 Aug 1971	Aston Villa	3-1	Plymouth Argyle	W			3176
League Cup 1st Round	18 Aug 1971	Aston Villa	2-2	Wrexham		D		3177
Division Three	21 Aug 1971	Walsall	1-1	Aston Villa		D		3178
League Cup 1st Round Replay	23 Aug 1971	Wrexham	1-1	Aston Villa		D		3179
Division Three	28 Aug 1971	Aston Villa	2-0	Rochdale	W			3180
League Cup 1st Round Replay	31 Aug 1971	Aston Villa	4-3	Wrexham	W			3181
Division Three	4 Sep 1971	Bolton Wanderers	2-0	Aston Villa			L	3182
League Cup 2nd Round	8 Sep 1971	Chesterfield	2-3	Aston Villa	W			3183
Division Three	11 Sep 1971	Aston Villa	2-0	Brighton & Hove Albion	W			3184
Division Three	18 Sep 1971	Halifax Town	0-1	Aston Villa	W			3185
Division Three	22 Sep 1971	Aston Villa	0-1	Mansfield Town			L	3186
Division Three	25 Sep 1971	Aston Villa	2-0	Wrexham	W			3187
Division Three	28 Sep 1971	Barnsley	0-4	Aston Villa	W			3188
Division Three	2 Oct 1971	Bristol Rovers	0-1	Aston Villa	W			3189
League Cup 3rd Round	5 Oct 1971	Crystal Palace	2-2	Aston Villa		D		3190
Division Three	9 Oct 1971	Aston Villa	1-2	Rotherham United

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

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133 Seasons, 33 Managers, 983 Players, 5,671 Matches, Only One Aston Villa

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Season 83 | 1971-72