Villa end an at times wretched season.

Wretched luck. Wretched form. Wretched injuries and Wretched results all played their part to varying degrees and a second promotion in three seasons that had looked so inevitable evaporated into nothingness.

Overly defensive away football cost Villa points early in the season before dynamism was rewarded but a short-lived reign in second in the table gave way to a preposterously bad set of results in one of the most open divisions in seasons.

With three up three down implemented for the first time (if only it had been in place in 1972-73) the field was wide open throughout the campaign and despite Villa’s failings - they finished 14th - they were just eight points off the final promotion place come season end.

It was the end too for a great Villa man in Vic Crowe.

Having taken the unenviable job of stabilising Villa after the mismanagement of the Ellis / Docherty era and before that the poor performance under Tommy Cummings, Crowe had delivered strong success and will forever be remembered as key in Villa’s climb to the top of Europe over the next decade.

As ever though Ellis needed a scapegoat and Crowe was more convenient than most given the mistakes of the season.

Yet any manager and team losing their best player mid-season and not being provided with the funds to either plan for the departure or replace a player of Bruce Rioch’s calibre would struggle.

Ellis was once more in the black but Villa were once more facing a season in the second tier.