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Game #3467

Aston Villa

Wednesday, 7 December 1977

Drew

3rd Round

Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟥 🟨

UEFA Cup

Athletic Bilbao

Attendance: 39,000

San Mamés Stadium

Athletic Bilbao

1-1

Aston Villa

Assist(s) | John Gidman | 43' |

MATCH SUMMARY

Villa take the lead at the San Mamés and hold it until the final five minutes on a ground where Bilbao had not lost a European tie in eleven years. Bilbao’s late equaliser though could not stop Villa progressing to the UEFA Cup quarter finals.

KEY MAN

Dennis Mortimer, scored to send Villa into the UEFA Cup Quarter Finals, Wednesday, 7 December 1977.

PREVIOUS MATCH

NEXT MATCH

2020-21 (h) Aston Villa Kit.gif
2020-21 (h) Aston Villa Kit.gif

Copyright Historical Football Kits and reproduced by kind permission.

MATCH TIMELINE

Wednesday, 7 December 1977

⚽ | 43’ Goal, 1-0, Dennis Mortimer, Assist by John Gidman
🕒 | HT Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Aston Villa
🥅 | 85’ Goal, 1-1, (Athletic Bilbao), Dani
🕒 | FT Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Aston Villa

🟨 | Booking, Gordon Smith, Dissent
🟨 | Booking, Andy Gray, Dissent

ON THIS DAY

Ron Saunders' Villa qualify for the UEFA Cup quarter finals.

Aston Villa

League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1976-77

Athletic Bilbao

La Liga Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
Copa del Rey Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1972-73

FIXTURE HISTORY

Athletic Bilbao

Previous 5 vs. Bilbao: 🟩

FIXTURE DETAILS

Villa.gif
2509-2.png

Season | 1977-78 |
Matchday | #26 |
Manager Game | #185 |
Wednesday, 7 December 1977

MATCH SUMMARY

Manager: Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Birkenhead, 1974-1982
Referee: Jean Dubach | 🇨🇭 | Nidau, 1972-1978 🆘
HT Score: 🟩 1-0
FT Result: 🟨 Drew
FT Score: 🟨 1-1
Aggregate Result: 🟩 Won
Aggregate Score: 🟩 3-1
Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟥 🟨

MANAGERIAL RECORD

Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME

🕒 185 | 🟩 | 89 🟨 | 47 🟥 49 | 1.70

Villa Career Form:

Top 6

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Jean Dubach | 🇨🇭 | Nidau, 1972-1978 🆘
Matches Officiated: 1
🟩 : 0
🟨 : 1
🟥 : 0
🆘 : 1
🆘 Bilbao's physical intimidation went unpunished, Villa's complaints about it did not.
Previous 5: None
Last Match: None
Cards: 🟨 🟨 🟨

ALL THE MATCHES REFEREED BY:

CARDS

Villa

🟨 🟨

Athletic Bilbao

🟨

TEAM NEWS

Ron Saunders names an unchanged line up.

TEAM STATS

Starting XI Average Age
| 24.67 |

Oldest Player |
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 29.84 |

Youngest Player |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 19.13 |

MANAGER

Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

Villa.gif

Aston Villa

GK Jimmy Rimmer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Ken McNaught | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |
FB Gordon Smith | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |
RB John Gidman | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Leighton Phillips | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M John Gregory | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Dennis Mortimer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
W Frank Carrodus | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
F Brian Little | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CF Andy Gray | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |

MANAGER

Koldo Aguirre | 🇪🇸 |

2509-2.png

Athletic Bilbao

GK José Ángel Iribar | 🇪🇸 |
LB Javier Escalza | 🇪🇸 |
D José María Lasa | 🇪🇸 |
D Daniel Astrain | 🇪🇸 |
CB José Ramón Alexanko | 🇪🇸 |
M Fernando Tirapu | 🇪🇸 |
M Javier Irureta | 🇪🇸 |
M Ignacio Churruca | 🇪🇸 |
W Dani | 🇪🇸 | ⚽ |
W José Mari Amorrortu | 🇪🇸 |
F Aitor Aguirre | 🇪🇸 | 🔁 |

Villa.gif

Not necessarily indicative of the actual matchday formation

SUBSTITUTES

Villa.gif

No Substitutions Made

SUBSTITUTES

2509-2.png

🔁 | F Aitor Aguirre | 🇪🇸 | (RB Ángel María Villar | 🇪🇸 |)

Villa.gif

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

Villa.gif

Not recorded

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

2509-2.png

Not Recorded

Villa.gif

SQUAD STATS

Villa.gif

1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 11/11

Squad:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 11/11

MATCHDAY SQUAD

Villa.gif

SQUAD STATS

2509-2.png

1st XI:
Home Nation 🇪🇸: 11/11

Squad:
Home Nation 🇪🇸 : 12/12

MATCHDAY SQUAD

2509-2.png

UNAVAILABLE

Villa.gif

Injury | 3 |
FB John Robson | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
F John Deehan | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Alex Cropley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |

UNAVAILABLE

Villa.gif

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

2021-22 Matchweek 38.jpg

MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

MATCH QUOTES

"Cropley is obviously my biggest worry. “We are leaving for Spain early and he will be receiving treatment right until the last possible moment. “There must be a slight chance for him. I would not be taking him if I didn’t think he might respond to treatment. “We realise that this is going to be a test of the side’s character and determination to succeed against a very experienced European club. “Bilbao have a ground advantage and they will also have the backing of their loyal Basque followers. “We know how fanatical their fans can be having played there in a pre-season triangular contest in early August.” Ron Saunders, Pre Match. --- “We were a bit special in the first half when we produced some of the best football we have played all season. “In the second half we let them play a bit but I was really thrilled with the way we performed. “Our midfield was magnificent and Mortimer and John Gregory were our stars.” Ron Saunders.

MATCH REPORT

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. With thanks to Reach PLC. Digitised by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited. All rights reserved. Source: British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

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