Game #2745
Aston Villa
Thursday, 23 May 1963
Lost
Final
Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟨 🟥
League Cup
Attendance: 31,580
Birmingham City
St Andrew's
In a patently unbalanced move, Villa are forced to play the first leg of the League Cup final just two days after the end of their League season after having become the last club to complete their campaign. Villa, have some players back fit but still the team features more youngsters than would be ideal as they attempt to win the Cup for the second time in three seasons. All things considered, Villa didn't need any more misfortune but that is exactly what they got. In a typically robust encounter Villa 'keeper Nigel Sims was injured early in the second half, ironically in a tangle with his own defender, that left him with an arm injury ahead of Birmingham hitting two goals. There's little doubt though that taking the game in isolation, Birmingham deserve their lead ahead of the second leg.
Birmingham City
3-1
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | Harry Burrows | 1-1 |
KEY MAN
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
Thursday, 23 May 1963
🥅 | 14' Goal, 0-1, (Birmingham City), Ken Leek
⚽ | Goal, 1-1, Bobby Thomson, Assist by Harry Burrows
🕒 | HT Birmingham City 1-1 Aston Villa
💥 | Player injured on field of play, Nigel Sims
🥅 | 52' Goal, 1-2, (Birmingham City), Ken Leek
💥 | Player injured on field of play, Vic Crowe
🥅 | 66' Goal, 1-3, (Birmingham City), Jimmy Bloomfield
🕒 | FT Birmingham City 3-1 Aston Villa
ON THIS DAY
Joe Mercer's Villa suffer a disappointing reverse against neighbours Birmingham in the first leg of the League Cup final at St Andrew’s to cede the advantage.
Villa’s latest fixture is their seventeen in fifty six days and comes just two days after their final League game after their wildly interrupted campaign delivered the inevitable fixture list congestion and required Villa to play once every three days in the final two months of the season.
Villa now had it all to do in the return leg at Villa Park to deliver a trophy in an otherwise barren season and win the League Cup for the second time in three seasons since its inauguration.
Aston Villa
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆
Last Trophy: 1960-61
Birmingham City
League Champions: ❌
FA Cup Winners: ❌
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: ❌
FIXTURE HISTORY
Birmingham City
Previous 5 vs. Birmingham: 🟨 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟩
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1962-63 |
Matchday | #52 |
Manager Game | #235 |
Tuesday, 21 May 1963
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Joe Mercer | 🏴 | Ellesmere Port, 1958-1964
Referee: Ernest Crawford | 🏴 | Doncaster, -1965
HT Score: 🟨 0-0
FT Result: 🟥 Lost
FT Score: 🟥 1-3
Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟨 🟥
MANAGERIAL RECORD
Joe Mercer | 🏴 |
GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME
🕒 235 | 🟩 | 108 🟨 49 🟥 78 | 1.59
Career Form:
Top 8
Joe Mercer | 🏴 |
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ernest Crawford | 🏴 | Doncaster, -1965
Previous 5:
Last Match:
Cards: None
Ernest Crawford
CARDS
Villa
None
Birmingham City
None
TEAM NEWS
John Sleeuwenhoek, Vic Crowe and Harry Burrows replace Alan Deakin, Tommy Ewing and Lew Chatterley for the first leg of the League Cup final.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 24.54 |
Oldest Player |
GK Nigel Sims | 🏴 | 31.81 |
Youngest Player |
F George Graham | 🏴 | 18.49 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Joe Mercer | 🏴 |
Gil Merrick | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Nigel Sims | 🏴 | 🚑 |
FB Gordon Lee | 🏴 |
FB Cammie Fraser | 🏴 |
LB Charlie Aitken | 🏴 |
CB John Sleeuwenhoek | 🏴 |
M Vic Crowe | 🏴 |
W Harry Burrows | 🏴 | 🔥 |
F Ron Wylie | 🏴 |
F George Graham | 🏴 |
F Alan Baker | 🏴 |
F Bobby Thomson | 🏴 | ⚽ |
Birmingham City
GK Jimmy Schofield | 🏴 |
FB Colin Green | 🏴 |
D Terry Hennessey | 🏴 |
CB Trevor Smith | 🏴 |
RB Stan Lynn (ex) | 🏴 |
LH Malcolm Beard | 🏴 |
M Bertie Auld | 🏴 |
M Jimmy Bloomfield | 🏴 | ⚽ |
W Mike Hellawell | 🏴 |
F Ken Leek | 🏴 | ⚽ | ⚽ |
CF Jimmy Harris | 🏴 |
SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions permitted in period
SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions Permitted in Period
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions permitted in period
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions Permitted in Period
SQUAD STATS
Villa XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
Birmingham XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
MATCHDAY SQUAD
UNAVAILABLE
Injured | 4 |
F Phil Woosnam | 🏴 |
F Derek Dougan | 🇬🇧 |
M Alan Deakin | 🏴 |
W Tommy Ewing | 🏴 |
UNAVAILABLE
Not Recorded
Player Positions:
GK : Goalkeeper
CB, D, B : Centre Back, Defender, Back
FB, LB, RB, WH : Full Back, Left Back, Right Back, Wing Back, Wing Half
M, CH, LH, RH : Midfielder, Centre Half, Left Half, Right Half
W, OL, OR : Winger, Outside Left, Outside Right
F, IF, IL, IR : Forward, Inside Forward, Inside Left, Inside Right, Second Striker, False 9
CF : Centre Forward
Match Symbols:
⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution
🟨 | Booking
🟥 | Sending off
🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game
DEBUT APPEARANCES
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE
PROGRAMME
MATCHDAY QUOTES
Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. With thanks to Trinity Mirror. Digitised by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited. All rights reserved. Source: British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)