top of page

Game #3496

Saturday, 19 August 1978

Attendance: 43,922

Won

Division One

6th=

Wolverhampton Wanderers

WWWLW

Villa Park

Villa open the season with victory over Wolves as Andy Gray scores his 50th League goal before leaving the field injured.

Aston Villa

1-0

Wolves

Assist(s) | Gordon Smith | 60' |

KEY MAN

RELATED MATCHES

MATCH TIMELINE

1’ Debut, Gary Shelton
HT Aston Villa 0-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
60’ Goal, 1-0, Andy Gray, Assist by Gordon Smith
Sub off, Andy Gray, Sub on, John Gidman
FT Aston Villa 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

ON THIS DAY

Ron Saunders' Villa open the season with a derby win over Wolves as midfielder Gary Shelton made his first start for Villa after making an unused substitute appearance in 1977-78. Shelton had moved from Walsall in January 1978 for a fee of £60,000. Centre forward Andy Gray scores his 50th League goal in the 60' to win it for Villa.

Aston Villa

Wolverhampton Wanderers

FIXTURE HISTORY

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

FIXTURE DETAILS

Season | 1978-79 |
Matchday | #1 |
League Match | #1 |
Manager Game | #214 |
Saturday, 19 August 1978

MATCH SUMMARY

Manager: Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Birkenhead, 1974-1982
Referee: Clive Thomas | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 | Treorchy, 1966–1984
Kick off: 3.00pm
FT Result | Won |
FT Score | 1-0 |
Last 5 Games | WWWLW |

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Clive Thomas | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 | Treorchy, 1966–1984
Previous 5:
Last Match:
Cards: None

CARDS

Villa

None

Wolverhampton Wanderers

None

TEAM NEWS

Ron Saunders hands Gary Shelton his debut.

TEAM STATS

Starting XI Average Age
| 24.38 |

Oldest Player |
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 30.54 |

Youngest Player |
M Gordon Cowans | 19.82 |

MANAGER

MANAGER

Ron Saunders

Aston Villa

GK Jimmy Rimmer |
RB John Gidman |
CB Allan Evans |
CB Ken McNaught |
FB Gordon Smith |
M Gordon Cowans |
M Dennis Mortimer |
M Gary Shelton |
W Frank Carrodus |
CF Andy Gray |
F Brian Little |

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Bradshaw, Hazell, Parkin, Palmer, McAlle, Carr, Daley, Daniel, Hibbitt, Eves (Bell), Rafferty. Manager: Cyril Chung.

SUBSTITUTES

M John Gregory for CF Andy Gray |

SUBSTITUTES

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

None

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

SQUAD STATS

MATCHDAY SQUAD

SQUAD STATS

MATCHDAY SQUAD

UNAVAILABLE

Injury | 4 |
Alex Cropley |
Leighton Phillips |
John Deehan |
Tommy Craig |

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

2021-22 Matchweek 38.jpg

PROGRAMME

Quotation Marks.png

MATCHDAY QUOTES

*Birmingham Daily Post*
Monday, 21 August 1978

Two centre forwards with plenty to prove provided the most memorable opening day moments as Aston Villa and Wolves endeavoured to overcome a stifling, steamy heat which almost suffocated the players and the game.

Scottish international Andy Gray scored his 50th league goal which gave Villa their narrow 1-0 win to remind watching Scotland manager, Ally MacLeod the he still the best man for the dark blue international shirt.

And Wolves lanky striker Norman Bell, a 69th minute substitute for Mel Eves, misses an open goal which would have given the Molineux men a point that nobody could have begrudged them.

Macleod will shortly have to select his side for the European Championship game against Austria in three weeks time, and the 22-year-old Villa Park goal-ace could not have chosen a better occasion to reach his half century.

Gray timed his 60th minute run perfectly to connect with full back Gordon Smith’s left wing cross and put it over the line before Bob Hazell and John McAlle realised the danger.

In the process Gray injured his thigh, and was soon pulled off. But manager Ron Saunders is confident that he will be fit for Wednesday’s game at Tottenham.

It was a different story for the luckless Bell who toe-ended a 76 minute equalising chance high over Villa’s crossbar from just five yards out with only goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer to beat.

Apart from Gray’s goal there was little else to get excited about in Villa’s display after Wolves had won territorial advantage in the first half with their unusual 3-5-2 formation.