Villa two up are blown away by the Hammers in the second half to leave them teetering above the relegation places just a single point ahead of neighbours Birmingham.

Dick Taylor's Villa hopes of a desperately needed improvement in form suffer a further setback as they lose successive games to make it eleven wins, two draws and twenty one defeats in thirty four division one matches this season. At the same point in 1963-64, under former manager Joe Mercer, Villa had lost fifteen and won nine before going on to finish 19th, two places above relegation. In consequence, with eight games left to play, Dick Taylor needed a huge reversal in form if Villa were not going to fall to relegation at the end of his first season. 

Meanwhile, full back Gordon Lee made his final appearance for Villa before moving on to Shrewsbury Town in July 1966. Lee played for Villa between 1958-59 and 1964-65 making 142 appearances and scoring twice.