Game #3449
Saturday, 17 September 1977
Attendance: 31,016
Lost
Division One
13th= (-3)
Nottingham Forest
WDWWL
City Ground
Villa crash at the City Ground just days after their best performance of the season to date against Fenerbahçe and Ron Saunders is in no mood for forgiveness.
Nottingham Forest
2-0
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | None
KEY MAN
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
6’ Goal, 0-1, (Nottingham Forest), Tony Woodcock
HT Nottingham Forest 1-0 Aston Villa
90’ Goal, 0-2, (Nottingham Forest), John Robertson
FT Nottingham Forest 2-0 Aston Villa
ON THIS DAY
Ron Saunders' Villa lose for the first time in five matches to make it two wins, one draw and three defeats in six division one games this season. Meanwhile, full back John Robson made his final appearance for Villa aged 27 before retiring from football after his contract was cancelled in November 1978. Robson had been diagnosed as being in the early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) and was forced to retire from playing. Robson played for Villa between 1972-73 and 1977-78 making 176 appearances, scoring once.
Aston Villa
Nottingham Forest
League Champions: ❌
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: 1958-59
FIXTURE HISTORY
Nottingham Forest
Previous 5 vs. Forest: | 🟨 | 🟩 | 🟩 | 🟩 | 🟩 |
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1977-78 |
Matchday | #8 |
League Match | #6 |
Manager Game | #167 |
Saturday, 17 September 1977
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager | Ron Saunders |
Referee | Alan Porter, Bolton |
FT Result | Lost |
FT Score | 0-2 |
Last 5 Games | WDWWL |
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Alan Porter | 🏴 | Bolton, 1973-1981
Previous 5:
Last Match:
Cards: None
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
Gordon Cowans replaces Andy Gray.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 24.96 |
Oldest Player |
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 29.62 |
Youngest Player |
M Gordon Cowans | 18.90 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Ron Saunders
Brian Clough | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Jimmy Rimmer |
CB Ken McNaught |
RB John Gidman |
FB John Robson |
M Leighton Phillips |
M Gordon Cowans |
M Alex Cropley |
M Dennis Mortimer |
W Frank Carrodus |
F John Deehan |
F Brian Little |
Nottingham Forest
Shilton, Barrett, Lloyd, Burns, Anderson, Bowyer, McGovern, Robertson (g), O’Neill, Woodcock (g), Withe (ex). Manager: Brian Clough.
SUBSTITUTES
None
SUBSTITUTES
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
FB Gordon Smith |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
SQUAD STATS
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
MATCHDAY SQUAD
UNAVAILABLE
None
UNAVAILABLE
Not Recorded
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
"I never criticise my players publicly because I do not think it is fair on them, but I know what the problem is and I shall be taking steps to do something about it.
"We have thrown away so many points this season and we did it again against Forest.
“It's obvious to me where the weaknesses lie and I shall be sorting things out with the players.
"We have too many good players but at the moment we haven't a good team."
Ron Saunders.
*Birmingham Daily Post*
Monday, 19 September 1977