Game #3378
Aston Villa
9-13-13, 31 PTS
Saturday, 20 March 1976
Drew
17th= (-1)
Last 5: 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟥 🟨
Division One
Attendance: 24,663
Leicester City
Filbert Street
10-16-9, 36 PTS
Leicester City
2-2
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | Brian Little | 40' | Chico Hamilton | 86' |
MATCH SUMMARY
Chris Nicholl scores all four goals in the two all draw at Filbert Street in an incredible game that leaves Villa, now 17th in the table, still without an away win in eighteen games on their return to the top flight.
KEY MAN
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
Saturday, 20 March 1976
🥅 | 14’ Goal, 0-1, (Leicester City), Chris Nicholl o.g.
⚽ | 40’ Goal, 1-1, Chris Nicholl, Assist by Brian Little
🕒 | HT Leicester City 1-1 Aston Villa
🥅 | 54’ Goal, 1-2, (Leicester City), Chris Nicholl o.g.
⚽ | 86’ Goal, 2-2, Chris Nicholl, Assist by Chico Hamilton
🕒 | FT Leicester City 2-2 Aston Villa
ON THIS DAY
Ron Saunders' Villa make it nine wins, thirteen draws and thirteen defeats in thirty five League games following their return to the top flight as Chris Nicholl scores all four goals in a 2-2 draw.
Aston Villa
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1974-75
Leicester City
League Champions: ❌
FA Cup Winners: ❌
League Cup Winners: 🏆
Last Trophy: 1963-64
FIXTURE HISTORY
Leicester City
Previous 5 vs. Leicester: 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟨
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1975-76 |
Matchday | #41 |
League Match | #35 |
Manager Game | #96 |
Saturday, 20 March 1976
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Ron Saunders | 🏴 | Birkenhead, 1974-1982
Referee: Ivan Smith | 🏴 | Accrington, 1970-1976
Kick off: 3.00pm
HT Score: 🟨 1-1
FT Result: 🟨 Drew
FT Score: 🟨 2-2
Last 5: 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟥 🟨
MANAGERIAL RECORD
Ron Saunders | 🏴 |
GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME
🕒 96 | 🟩 | 43 🟨 | 26 🟥 27 | 1.61
Villa Career Form:
Top 6
Ron Saunders | 🏴 |
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ivan Smith | 🏴 | Accrington, 1970-1976
Previous 5:
Last Match:
Cards:
Ivan Smith
CARDS
Villa
None
Leicester City
None
TEAM NEWS
Chico Hamilton replaces Leighton Phillips.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 25.31 |
Oldest Player |
CB Chris Nicholl | 🇬🇧 | 29.46 |
Youngest Player |
CF Andy Gray | 🏴 | 20.32 |
MANAGER
Ron Saunders | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK John Burridge | 🏴 |
FB John Robson | 🏴 |
CB Chris Nicholl | 🇬🇧 | ⚽ | ⚽ |
CB Ian Ross | 🏴 |
RB John Gidman | 🏴 |
M Dennis Mortimer | 🏴 |
M Chico Hamilton | 🏴 | 🔥 |
W Ray Graydon | 🏴 |
W Frank Carrodus | 🏴 |
F Brian Little | 🏴 | 🔥 |
CF Andy Gray | 🏴 |
MANAGER
Jimmy Bloomfield | 🏴 |
Leicester City
GK Mark Wallington | 🏴 |
LB Dennis Rofe | 🏴 |
CB Jeff Blockley | 🏴 |
D Alan Woollett | 🏴 |
D Stephen Whitworth | 🏴 |
M Steve Kember | 🏴 |
M Jon Sammels | 🏴 |
M Keith Weller | 🏴 |
W Brian Alderson | 🏴 |
F Frank Worthington | 🏴 |
CF Bob Lee | 🏴 |
SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions Made
SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions Made
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
LB Bobby McDonald | 🏴 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
W Lenny Glover | 🏴 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 12/12
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 12/12
MATCHDAY SQUAD
UNAVAILABLE
Injury | 3 |
CF Keith Leonard | 🏴 |
LB Charlie Aitken | 🏴 |
F John Deehan | 🏴 |
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
LEAGUE TABLE
MATCHDAY PROGRAMME
MATCHDAY QUOTES
"If the worst comes to the worst. I'll do the same next week.”
“When the ball comes into the six yard box you have to go for it.
“Only on very rare occasions would I deliberately leave alone a ball that was that close to goal. I might not always reach it but at least I’ve got to try.
“No goalkeeper would have stopped that [his second own goal]. It was a cracker.
"l was relieved when that one went in [the second equaliser].“
Chris Nicholl.
*Birmingham Daily Post*
Monday, 22 March 1976
Chris Nicholl would do it all over again in similar circumstances and not just to see his name in the record books.
Nicholl, scorer of all four goals in Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw at Leicester on Saturday, has to look back 33 years to find the last time the same thing happened in English football.
Twice he put Leicester ahead, twice he equalised the second time just four minutes from the whistle and from the way he spoke afterwards it seems we may not have to wait another 33 years for it to happen again. “If the worst comes to the worst. I’ll do the same next week,” he said. “When the ball comes into the six yard box you have to go for it. Only on very rare occasions would I deliberately leave alone a ball that was that close to goal. I might not always reach it but at least I’ve got to try.”
Nicholl thought his third goal was the best “no goalkeeper would have stopped that. It was a cracker” and his fourth the most satisfying - “l was relieved when that one went In” and his achievement must cast doubts on the merits of both sides as attacking forces.
The draw, welcome though it was, means that Villa have managed only one win in their last 12 matches and the eight points collected from those 24 at stake is more like relegation form than anything else.
There is little wrong with their approach. Their willingness to move forward at Filbert Street was a refreshing reminder of what football is all about but when the goals did not come they teetered on the brink of capitulation for long periods and without the constant harassing of Nicholl and lan Ross could easily have surrendered.
They did, in fact, relinquish the midfield almost without a struggle which meant that Andy Gray saw little of the ball while Brian Little and Frank Carrodus, after a bright opening, quickly faded.
A game that promised much rarely delivered and because of Nicholl it turned into an almost unreal exercise.
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)