If Villa were timid in the first leg they were downright petrified in the second as Joe Mercer's men fail to rise to the occasion at the end of this most extraordinary of seasons. Although Villa's preparation had been far from ideal, Birmingham, collecting their first ever trophy, were deserving winners over the two legs.

Joe Mercer's Villa can only secure a goal-less draw in the second leg of the League Cup final as their first leg defeat at St Andrew’s hands neighbours Birmingham their first ever trophy. Villa’s final fixture of the season is their eighteenth in just sixty days 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.