Football League 1985-86 | Villa in the 1980s

Season #97

| 1985-86 |

Games #3902 - #3956 |

1985-86 Club Summary

President | Trevor Gill

Chairman | Herbert Douglas Ellis

Manager | Graham Turner

Secretary | Steve Stride

1985-86 Season Summary

Manager | Graham Turner |
Games | #3902 - #3956 |

1985-86 Division One Table

| 14 | Southampton | P42 | W12 | D10 | L20 | F51 | A62 | GD-11 | Pts 46 |

| 15 | Manchester City | P42 | W11 | D12 | L19 | F43 | A57 | GD-14 | Pts 45 |

| 16 | Aston Villa | P42 | W10 | D14 | L18 | F51 | A67 | GD-16 | Pts 44 |

| 17 | Coventry City | P42 | W11 | D10 | L21 | F48 | A71 | GD-23 | Pts 43 |

| 18 | Oxford United | P42 | W10 | D12 | L20 | F62 | A80 | GD-18 | Pts 42 |

1985-86 Results

| 1 | 17 Aug | a | Manchester United | L | 0-4 |

| 2 | 21 Aug | h | Liverpool | D | 2-2 |

| 3 | 24 Aug | h | Queens Park Rangers | L | 1-2 |

| 4 | 27 Aug | a | Southampton | D | 0-0 |

| 5 | 31 Aug | h | Luton Town | W | 3-1 |

| 6 | 4 Sep | a | West Bromwich Albion | W | 3-0 |

| 7 | 7 Sep | a | Birmingham City | D | 0-0 |

| 8 | 14 Sep | h | Coventry City | D | 1-1 |

| 9 | 21 Sep | a | Ipswich Town | W | 3-0 |

| 10 | 25 Sep | a | Exeter City (LC R2 L1) | W | 4-1 |

| 11 | 28 Sep | h | Everton | D | 0-0 |

| 12 | 5 Oct | a | Arsenal | L | 2-3 |

| 13 | 8 Oct | h | Exeter City (LC R2 L2) | W | 8-1 |

| 14 | 12 Oct | h | Nottingham Forest | L | 1-2 |

| 15 | 19 Oct | a | West Ham United | L | 1-4 |

| 16 | 26 Oct | h | Newcastle United | L | 1-2 |

| 17 | 30 Oct | a | Leeds United (LC R3) | W | 3-0 |

| 18 | 2 Nov | h | Oxford United | W | 2-0 |

| 19 | 9 Nov | a | Watford | D | 1-1 |

| 20 | 16 Nov | h | Sheffield Wednesday | D | 1-1 |

| 21 | 19 Nov | h | West Bromwich Albion (LC R4) | D | 2-2 |

| 22 | 23 Nov | a | Chelsea | L | 1-2 |

| 23 | 26 Nov | a | West Bromwich Albion (LC R4 Replay) | W | 2-1 |

| 24 | 30 Nov | h | Tottenham Hotspur | L | 1-2 |

| 25 | 7 Dec | a | Liverpool | L | 0-3 |

| 26 | 14 Dec | h | Manchester United | L | 1-3 |

| 27 | 17 Dec | a | Queens Park Rangers | W | 1-0 |

| 28 | 26 Dec | a | Leicester City | L | 1-3 |

| 29 | 28 Dec | h | West Bromwich Albion | D | 1-1 |

| 30 | 1 Jan | h | Manchester City | L | 0-1 |

| 31 | 4 Jan | a | Portsmouth (FAC R3) | D | 2-2 |

| 32 | 11 Jan | a | Coventry City | D | 3-3 |

| 33 | 13 Jan | h | Portsmouth (FAC R3 Replay) | W | 3-2 |

| 34 | 18 Jan | a | Luton Town | L | 0-2 |

| 35 | 22 Jan | h | Arsenal (LC QF) | D | 1-1 |

| 36 | 25 Jan | h | Millwall (FAC R4) | D | 1-1 |

| 37 | 29 Jan | a | Millwall (FAC R4 Replay) | L | 0-1 |

| 38 | 1 Feb | h | Southampton | D | 0-0 |

| 39 | 4 Feb | a | Arsenal (LC QF Replay) | W | 2-1 |

| 40 | 12 Feb | h | Oxford United (LC SF) | D | 2-2 |

| 41 | 1 Mar | a | Everton | L | 0-2 |

| 42 | 8 Mar | h | Arsenal | L | 1-4 |

| 43 | 12 Mar | a | Oxford United (LC SF Replay) | L | 1-2 |

| 44 | 15 Mar | a | Nottingham Forest | D | 1-1 |

| 45 | 19 Mar | h | West Ham United | W | 2-1 |

| 46 | 22 Mar | h | Birmingham City | L | 0-3 |

| 47 | 29 Mar | a | Manchester City | D | 2-2 |

| 48 | 31 Mar | h | Leicester City | W | 1-0 |

| 49 | 5 Apr | a | Oxford United | D | 1-1 |

| 50 | 9 Apr | a | Newcastle United | D | 2-2 |

| 51 | 12 Apr | h | Watford | W | 4-1 |

| 52 | 16 Apr | h | Ipswich Town | W | 1-0 |

| 53 | 19 Apr | a | Sheffield Wednesday | L | 0-2 |

| 54 | 26 Apr | h | Chelsea | W | 3-1 |

| 55 | 3 May | a | Tottenham Hotspur | L | 2-4 |

1985-86 Season Review

To the surprise of no-one, except perhaps the boardroom, Graham Turner's second season as Villa boss saw their inevitable fall down the table. To be fair Villa weren't relegated - they finished in 16th place - and they did reach a League Cup Semi Final but it was clear that the club were moving in only one direction and that it was a matter of when, not if, Villa would lose their Division One status under Turner and Ellis.

The season itself started as it meant to go on - with a heavy defeat. Villa's first 10 league games however delivered 3 wins and 5 draws as a reaction to that opening day defeat was seen.

Villa then achieved their biggest win since November 1959 when they beat fourth division side Exeter City 8-1 at Villa Park. That cup triumph however came against a background of 4 league defeats as Villa were being beaten home and away. Throughout the early months of the season it was the League Cup fixtures that provided momentum yet outside of that competition losses were a permanent feature of the league landscape. Such was the contrast that after the win that had taken Villa into the League Cup quarter final they won just once in 10 league games, losing 6.

The League Cup however could only be a sticking plaster for so long and Villa's loss to unfancied Oxford United in the semi final came in the middle of another run of defeats.

Villa's best form of the season however came at the last. The final 12 games saw Villa win 5 and lose 3, enough to keep them in the top flight for another season. Only the most optimistic of people expected any improvement in 1986-87.

1985-86 Season Statistics

Games | 55 |

Won | 16 | 29% |
Drew | 19 | 35% |
Lost | 20 | 36% |

Unbeaten | 35 | 64% |

Goals Scored | 82 | 1.49 Goals per game |
Goals Conceded | 85 | 1.55 Goals per game |
Clean Sheets | 11 | 20% |

Average Home Attendance | 15,816 |

Longest winning run | 2 Games |

Games without a win | 5 Games |

1985-86 Transfers

1 July 1985 - 30 June 1986

Incoming | 9 |

#582 Andy Gray | Everton | £150,000 | Jul 85 | 29 |

#638 Steve Hodge | Nottingham Forest | £400,000 | Aug 85 | 22 |

#639 Simon Stainrod | Sheffield Wednesday | £250,000 | Sep 85 | 25 |

#640 Paul Elliott | Luton Town | £400,000 | Dec 85 | 21 |

#620 Andy Blair | Sheffield Wednesday | £100,000 | Mar 86 | 26 |

#641 Garry Thompson | Sheffield Wednesday | £450,000 | Jun 86 | 26 |

#642 Martin Keown | Arsenal | £200,000 | Jun 86 | 19 |

Outgoing | 7 |

#586 Gordon Cowans | Bari | £500,000 | Jul 85 | 26 |

#625 Steve McMahon | Liverpool | £350,000 | Sep 85 | 24 |

#605 Colin Gibson | Manchester United | £275,000 | Nov 85 | 25 |

#603 Brendan Ormsby | Leeds United | £65,000 | Feb 86 | 25 |

1985-86 Squad Changes

Debut Appearances | 3 |

#638 Steve Hodge | Tuesday, 27 August 1985 | Southampton (a) | 22 |

#639 Simon Stainrod | Saturday, 28 September 1985 | Everton (h) | 26 |

#640 Paul Elliott | Saturday, 7 December 1985 | Liverpool (a) | 21 |

Returning Players | 3 |

#582 Andy Gray | Saturday, 17 August 1985 | Manchester United (a) | 29 |

#620 Andy Blair | Saturday, 15 March 1986 | Nottingham Forest (a) | 26 |

#580 Steve Hunt | Saturday, 15 March 1986 | Nottingham Forest (a) | 29 |

Final Appearances | 5 |

#625 Steve McMahon | Saturday, 24 August 1985 | Queens Park Rangers (h) | 24 |

#624 Ray Walker | Saturday, 26 October 1985 | Newcastle United (h) | 22 |

#603 Brendan Ormsby | Saturday, 26 October 1985 | Newcastle United (h) | 25 |

#605 Colin Gibson | Saturday, 16 November 1985 | Sheffield Wednesday (h) | 25 |

#635 Darren Bradley | Saturday, 8 March 1986 | Arsenal (h) | 20 |

1985-86 Squad Statistics

Squad Size | 23 | -2 |

Average Age | 23.6 | -0.6 |

Average 1st XI Age | 24.21 | -0.74 |

Youngest 1st XI | 21.86 | Luton Town (h) | -1.02 |

Oldest 1st XI | 25.50 | Birmingham City (h) | -1.68 |

Youngest Player(s) | 17 |

Tony Daley | 18-Oct-1967

Oldest Player(s) | 29 |

Andy Gray | 30-Nov-1955

1985-86 Scorers

Goals Scored | 82 | League Goals | 51 | FA Cup Goals | 6 | League Cup Goals | 25 |

| 22 |

Simon Stainrod | Goals | 22 | League | 10 | FA Cup | 2 | League Cup | 10 |

| 13 |

Mark Walters | Goals | 13 | League | 10 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 3 |

| 11 |

Steve Hodge | Goals | 11 | League | 9 | FA Cup | 1 | League Cup | 1 |

| 7 |

Andy Gray | Goals | 7 | League | 5 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 2 |

| 6 |

Allan Evans | Goals | 6 | League | 3 | FA Cup | 1 | League Cup | 2 |

| 4 |

Paul Birch | Goals | 4 | League | 2 | FA Cup | 1 | League Cup | 1 |

| 3 |

Brendan Ormsby | Goals | 3 | League | 0 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 3 |

| 2 |

Gary Williams | Goals | 2 | League | 0 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 2 |

Tony Daley | Goals | 2 | League | 2 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 0 |

Colin Gibson | Goals | 2 | League | 2 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 0 |

Paul Kerr | Goals | 2 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 1 | League Cup | 0 |

Paul Elliott | Goals | 2 | League | 2 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 0 |

Steve Hunt | Goals | 2 | League | 2 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 0 |

| 1 |

Gary Shaw | Goals | 1 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 0 |

David Norton | Goals | 1 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 0 |

Dean Glover | Goals | 1 | League | 0 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 1 |

Tony Dorigo | Goals | 1 | League | 1 | FA Cup | 0 | League Cup | 0 |

1985-86 First Team Squad

#580 Steve Hunt | 29 |

#582 Andy Gray | 30 |

#598 Allan Evans | 28 |

#600 Gary Shaw | 23 |

#602 Gary Williams | 24 |

#603 Brendan Ormsby | 24 | LEFT FEBRUARY 1986

#605 Colin Gibson | 25 | LEFT NOVEMBER 1985

#615 Nigel Spink | 27 |

#620 Andy Blair | 26 |

#622 Mark Walters | 21 |

#624 Ray Walker | 21 |

#625 Steve McMahon | 24 | LEFT SEPTEMBER 1985

#626 Paul Birch | 22 |

#629 Dean Glover | 21 |

#631 Paul Kerr | 21 |

#632 Tony Dorigo | 19 |

#634 David Norton | 20 |

#635 Darren Bradley | 19 | LEFT MARCH 1986

#636 Kevin Poole | 22 |

#637 Tony Daley | 17 |

#638 Steve Hodge | 22 |

#639 Simon Stainrod | 26 |

#640 Paul Elliott | 21 |

1985-86 Appearances

| 53 |

| 50 |

| 48 |

| 46 |

| 42 |

| 38 |

| 34 |

| 31 |

| 27 |

| 26 |

| 21 |

| 16 |

| 13 |

| 12 |

| 11 |

| 8 |

| 3 |

1985-86 'Keepers

Kevin Poole | Appearances | 13 | Conceded | 16 | Ratio | 1.23 |

Nigel Spink | Appearances | 42 | Conceded | 69 | Ratio | 1.64 |

1985-86 Managerial Record

Graham Turner's second season as Villa boss saw the team fall to a 16th place finish in Division One.

Turner’s Villa had achieved a win rate of 33%, losing 38% of their 101 League and FA Cup matches under his leadership.

As a result Turner had returned 1.28 points per game* across his 101 games in charge of Villa. Turner was ahead of Tommy Cummings (1.06 in 67), Tommy Doherty (1.20 in 55) Dick Taylor (1.23 in 146) and Villa’s first professional manager Jimmy McMullan (1.24 in 99).

However Turner was behind the performances of his predecessors Eric Houghton (1.31 in 250), George Martin (1.42 in 119), Joe Mercer (1.51 in 282), Alex Massie (1.56 in 227), his immediate predecessor Tony Barton (1.56 in 137), Jimmy Hogan (1.59 in 124), Billy Smith’s 1.62 across 364 games, Vic Crowe’s (1.63 in 222), Ron Saunders (1.64 in 393) and George Ramsay’s performance of 1.69 across his 1,332 games.

*Rankings based on 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw in all competitions

1985-86 Season Results

Game #3902

D Allan Evans |

D Gary Williams |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

M Colin Gibson | SUB OFF |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Paul Birch |

M Steve McMahon |

CF Andy Gray |

F Gary Shaw |

F Mark Walters |

Substitute |
M Darren Bradley for M Colin Gibson |

On this day 17 August 1985
Villa had now lost 3 consecutive fixtures under Graham Turner conceding 6, scoring 1.
Further entrenching the bizarre and destructive transfer policy under Chairman Herbert Doug Eliis, centre forward Andy Gray made his first appearance for Villa aged 29 since rejoining from Everton in July 1985 for a fee of £150,000. Gray had been Villa's leading scorer under Ellis' previous tenure as Chairman before being sold in 1979. Gray's age, 29, was past that of a series of league and European Cup winning players who had been sold by Ellis (Ken McNaught, 28, David Geddis, 25, Tony Morley, 29, Eamonn Deacy, 25, and Gordon Cowans, 26) and was considerably older than Villa’s now departed leading scorer for the previous season Rideout (20). As a result, despite claims to the contrary, there was little evidence that it was due to restructuring an ageing squad that caused those players to be sold under Herbert Douglas Ellis' chairmanship.

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Game #3903

D Gary Williams |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

D Dean Glover |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Ray Walker |

M Paul Birch |

M Steve McMahon |

CF Andy Gray |

F Gary Shaw | GOAL |

F Mark Walters | GOAL |

Substitute |
W Tony Daley |

---

Game #3904

Scorers | Mark Walters |

Line Up |
GK Nigel Spink |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

D David Norton |

D Dean Glover |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Ray Walker | SUB OFF |

M Paul Birch |

M Steve McMahon | FINAL |

CF Andy Gray |

F Gary Shaw |

F Mark Walters | GOAL |

Substitute |
W Tony Daley for M Ray Walker |

On this day 24 August 1985

Villa had now not won in 5, losing 4.
Having sold Paul Rideout, fellow shining light of the 1984-85 season midfielder Steve McMahon made his final appearance for Villa aged 24 before moving on to Liverpool in September 1985 for a fee of £350,000. McMahon played for Villa between 1983-84 and 1985-86 making 91 appearances and scoring 7 goals. Under Herbert Douglas Ellis' Chairmanship Villa were now a 'selling' club.

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Game #3905

CD Brendan Ormsby |

D David Norton |

D Dean Glover |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Paul Birch |

M Darren Bradley |

M Steve Hodge | DEBUT |

W Tony Daley |

CF Andy Gray | SUB OFF |

F Mark Walters |

Substitute |
M Ray Walker for CF Andy Gray |

On this day 27 August 1985
Villa had now not won in the last 6 games and had failed to score in 2 of their 4 games so far this season.
Midfielder Steve Hodge made his Villa debut aged 22 after moving from Nottingham Forest earlier this month for a fee of £400,000.

---

Game #3906

CD Brendan Ormsby |

D David Norton | GOAL |

D Dean Glover |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Ray Walker |

M Paul Birch |

M Darren Bradley |

M Steve Hodge | GOAL |

W Tony Daley |

F Mark Walters | GOAL |

On this day 31 August 1985
Villa won for the first time this season and for the first time in 7.

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Game #3907

D Allan Evans | GOAL |

D Gary Williams |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Paul Birch |

M Darren Bradley |

M Steve Hodge |

W Tony Daley | GOAL |

F Mark Walters | GOAL |

CF Andy Gray |

---

Game #3908

D Allan Evans |

D Gary Williams |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Paul Birch |

M Darren Bradley | SUB OFF |

M Steve Hodge |

W Tony Daley |

F Mark Walters |

CF Andy Gray |

Substitute |
M Ray Walker for M Darren Bradley |

---

Game #3909

Scorers | Steve Hodge |

Line Up |
GK Nigel Spink |

D Allan Evans |

D Gary Williams |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Colin Gibson |

M Paul Birch |

M Steve Hodge | GOAL |

W Tony Daley |

F Mark Walters |

CF Andy Gray |

On this day 14 September 1985
Villa were now unbeaten in the last 5 games, winning 2.

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Game #3910

D Allan Evans |

D Gary Williams |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Colin Gibson |

M Paul Birch | GOAL |

M Steve Hodge | GOAL |

W Tony Daley |

F Mark Walters | GOAL |

CF Andy Gray | SUB OFF |

Substitute |
M Darren Bradley for CF Andy Gray |

On this day 21 September 1985
Villa were now unbeaten in the last 6 games, winning 3.

----

D Allan Evans |

D Gary Williams |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Colin Gibson |

M Ray Walker |

M Paul Birch |

M Darren Bradley |

M Steve Hodge |

F Mark Walters |

F Simon Stainrod | GOAL | GOAL | GOAL | GOAL |

On this day 21 September 1985
Villa were now unbeaten in the last 7 games, winning 4.
Forward Simon Stainrod made his Villa debut aged 26 after moving from Sheffield Wednesday earlier this month for a fee of £250,000. Stainrod scored all four goals in his debut game at Fourth Division Exeter City.

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Game #3912

D Allan Evans |

D Gary Williams |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Paul Birch |

M Darren Bradley |

M Steve Hodge |

F Mark Walters |

F Simon Stainrod |

CF Andy Gray |

On this day 28 September 1985
Villa were now unbeaten in the last 8 games, winning 4.

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Game #3913

D Allan Evans |

D Gary Williams |

CD Brendan Ormsby |

LB Tony Dorigo |

M Paul Birch |

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

AVFC History

Season #97

| 1985-86 |

Games #3902 - #3956 |