Game #3426
Saturday, 2 April 1977
Attendance: 27,958
Drew
Division One
8th (-)
Bristol City
DDLWD
Ashton Gate
Villa are held to a goalless draw at Ashton Gate as they remain 8th in the table but with five games in hand on the leaders who are ten points ahead. Villa however should have had both points from the game but for a bizarre refereeing incident that saw a Bristol City handle on the line to prevent Charlie Young's header hitting the net only for Derek Nippard to visibly nod his approval and wave play on.
Bristol City
0-0
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | None
KEY MAN
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
HT Bristol City 0-0 Aston Villa
FT Bristol City 0-0 Aston Villa
Cards.
Booking, John Gidman
ON THIS DAY
Ron Saunders' Villa make it fifteen wins, five draws and eight defeats in twenty eight division one games this season.
Aston Villa
Bristol City
League Champions: ❌
FA Cup Winners: ❌
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: ❌
FIXTURE HISTORY
Bristol City
Previous 5 vs. Bristol City: | 🟨 | 🟩 | 🟥 | 🟩 | 🟩 |
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1976-77 |
Matchday | #41 |
League Match | #28 |
Manager Game | #144 |
Saturday, 2 April 1977
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager | Ron Saunders |
Referee | Derek Nippard, Christchurch |
FT Result | Drew |
FT Score | 0-0 |
Last 5 Games | DDLWD |
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Derek Nippard | 🏴 | Christchurch, 1967-1978 🆘
Previous 5:
Last Match:
Cards:
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
Chris Nicholl and Alex Cropley return in place of Gordon Cowans and Leighton Phillips.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 24.40 |
Oldest Player |
CB Chris Nicholl | 30.49 |
Youngest Player |
CB Charlie Young | 19.14 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Ron Saunders
Aston Villa
GK John Burridge |
CB Chris Nicholl |
CB Charlie Young |
RB John Gidman |
FB John Robson |
M Alex Cropley |
M Dennis Mortimer |
W Frank Carrodus |
F Brian Little |
F John Deehan |
CF Andy Gray |
Bristol City
Shaw, Collier, Merrick, Hunter, Gillies, Whitehead, Tainton, Sweeney, Mann, Gow, Fear (Garland). Manager: Alan Dicks.
SUBSTITUTES
None
SUBSTITUTES
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
M Gordon Cowans |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
SQUAD STATS
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
MATCHDAY SQUAD
UNAVAILABLE
None
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
PROGRAMME



MATCHDAY QUOTES
"We didn't play well at all.
“We had a couple of spells in the second half when we began to look interesting for a while but basically we never got started.
"For some reason we weren't doing the simple things well, as we normally do.
“We tried to hit the clever pass instead of the easy one when there was just no need.
“But we have a game on Tuesday [against Middlesbrough] which gives us an early chance to put things right."
Ron Saunders.
"We are in a difficult position.
“We have to survive in in the First Division and that means we have to contain first and attack later.
"That emphasis may mean that we are slow to break and that we are not a particularly entertaining watch.”
Bristol City manager Alan Dicks.
*Birmingham Daily Post*
Monday, 4 April 1977