top of page

Game #3282

Friday, 3 May 1974

Attendance: 29,766

Drew

Division Two

14th (-)

Leyton Orient

LLWLD

Brisbane Road

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.

Leyton Orient

1-1

Aston Villa

Assist(s) | None |

KEY MAN

PREVIOUS MATCH

NEXT MATCH

MATCH TIMELINE

HT Orient 0-0 Aston Villa
52’ Goal, 1-0, Ray Graydon, pen
62’ Goal, 1-1, (Orient), Micky Bullock
FT Orient 1-1 Aston Villa

ON THIS DAY

Vic Crowe's Villa end a disappointing season with just one victory in the final eight matches and make it thirteen wins, fifteen draws and fourteen defeats for the season. The results, and failure to compete for promotion, cost Vic Crowe his job as Villa boss however the disappointment of 1973-74 could not overshadow Crowe's achievements in pulling Villa out of an almost decade long decline that culminated in relegation to the third tier for the first time in their history.

Aston Villa

Leyton Orient

FIXTURE HISTORY

Leyton Orient

Previous 5 vs. Orient: | 🟩 | 🟩 | 🟩 | 🟥 | 🟨 |

FIXTURE DETAILS

Season | 1973-74 |
Matchday | #47 |
League Match | #42 |
Manager Game | #222 |
Friday, 3 May 1974

MATCH SUMMARY

Manager | Vic Crowe |
FT Result | Drew |
FT Score | 1-1 |
Last 5 Games | LLWLD |

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Unknown

CARDS

Villa

None

Leyton Orient

🟨

Unknown

TEAM NEWS

Charlie Aitken and Jimmy Brown replace Bobby McDonald and Bobby Campbell.

TEAM STATS

Starting XI Average Age
| 26.20 |

Oldest Player |
LB Charlie Aitken | 32.03 |

Youngest Player |
F Brian Little | 20.45 |

MANAGER

MANAGER

Vic Crowe

Aston Villa

GK Jim Cumbes |
CB Chris Nicholl |
CB Ian Ross |
FB John Robson |
LB Charlie Aitken |
M Jimmy Brown
M Chico Hamilton |
M Pat McMahon |
W Ray Graydon |
F Brian Little |
F Sammy Morgan |

Leyton Orient

Goddard, Downing, Roffy, Allan, Hoadley, Walley, Fairbrother, Brierley, Bullock (g), Queen, Heppolette.

Manager: George Petchey.

SUBSTITUTES

None

SUBSTITUTES

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

F Keith Leonard |

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

SQUAD STATS

MATCHDAY SQUAD

SQUAD STATS

MATCHDAY SQUAD

UNAVAILABLE

Not recorded

UNAVAILABLE

Player Abbreviations:

GK : Goalkeeper

LB, RB, FB : Left Back, Right Back, Full Back

CB, D : Centre Back, Defender

M, W : Midfielder. Winger

F, CF : Forward, Centre Forward

🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game

Symbols:

⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution

🟨 | Booking

🟥 | Sending off

🆘 | Poor refereeing performance

DEBUT APPEARANCES

FINAL APPEARANCES

MATCH STATS

Not recorded

TABLE

2021-22 Matchweek 38.jpg

PROGRAMME

Quotation Marks.png

MATCHDAY QUOTES

*Birmingham Daily Post*
Saturday, 4 May 1974