Game #3565
Saturday, 8 December 1979
Attendance: 41,160
Lost
Division One
9th (-2)
Liverpool
Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟨 🟨 🟥
Villa Park
Villa lose for the first time in twelve first division games as they are beaten at home by Liverpool to leave them in 9th place in the table.
Aston Villa
1-3
Liverpool
Assist(s) | None
KEY MAN
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
🟢 | 1’ Debut, Terry Bullivant
🕒 | HT Aston Villa 0-0 Liverpool
🥅 | 53’ Goal, 0-1, (Liverpool), Ray Kennedy
⚽ | 54’ Goal, 1-1, Brian Little
🥅 | 65’ Goal, 1-2, (Liverpool), Alan Hansen
🥅 | 74’ Goal, 1-3, (Liverpool), Terry McDermott
🔁 | 75’ Sub off, Terry Bullivant, Sub on, Colin Gibson
🕒 | FT Aston Villa 1-3 Liverpool
ON THIS DAY
Ron Saunders' Villa lose for the first time in twelve Division One games to make it five wins, nine draws and four defeats in eighteen League matches this season. As a result Villa fall back to ninth in the table. Meanwhile, Terry Bullivant made his Villa debut aged 23 after moving from Fulham in November 1979 for a fee of £220,000.
However Mike Pejic made his twelfth and final appearance for Villa aged 29 having only joined earlier in the season before being forced to retire from football due to injury.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: ❌
UEFA Cup / Europa League: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1976-77
Liverpool
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: 🏆🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: 1978-79
FIXTURE HISTORY
Liverpool
Previous 5 vs. Liverpool: 🟩 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟥
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1979-80 |
Matchday | #22 |
League Match | #18 |
Manager Game | #283 |
Saturday, 8 December 1979
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Ron Saunders | 🏴 | Birkenhead, 1974-1982
Referee: Clive Thomas | 🏴 | Treorchy, 1966–1984
Kick off: 3.00pm
HT Score: 🟨 0-0
FT Result: 🟥 Lost
FT Score: 🟥 1-3
Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟨 🟨 🟥
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Clive Thomas | 🏴 | Treorchy, 1966–1984 🆘
🆘 Apparently blind to the persistent fouling of Alan Hansen
Previous 5:
Last Match:
Cards: 🟨
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
Terry Bullivant comes in for his debut in place of the suspended Dennis Mortimer.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 25.02 |
Oldest Player |
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 🏴 | 31.85 |
Youngest Player |
F Gary Shaw | 🏴 | 18.06 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Ron Saunders | 🏴 |
Bob Paisley | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 🏴 |
RB Kenny Swain | 🏴 |
CB Ken McNaught | 🏴 |
CB Allan Evans | 🏴 |
LB Mike Pejic | 🏴 |
M Des Bremner | 🏴 |
M Terry Bullivant | 🏴 | 🟢 | 🔁 |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴 |
F Brian Little | 🏴 | ⚽ |
F Gary Shaw | 🏴 |
CF David Geddis | 🏴 |
Liverpool
GK Ray Clemence | 🏴 |
LB Alan Kennedy | 🏴 |
CB Alan Hansen | 🏴 | ⚽ |
CB Phil Thompson | 🏴 |
RB Phil Neal | 🏴 |
M Graeme Souness | 🏴 |
M Terry McDermott | 🏴 | ⚽ |
M Jimmy Case | 🏴 |
W Ray Kennedy | 🏴 | ⚽ |
CF Kenny Dalglish | 🏴 |
CF David Johnson | 🏴 |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | M Colin Gibson | 🏴 | for M Terry Bullivant | 🏴 | 75' |
SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions Made
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
None
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
CF David Fairclough | 🏴 |
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 |
M Alex Cropley | 🏴 |
M Frank Carrodus | 🏴 |
W Tony Morley | 🏴 |
Suspension | 1 |
M Dennis Mortimer | 🏴 |
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
M Terry Bullivant | 🏴 |
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE
PROGRAMME



MATCHDAY QUOTES
“We knew we were going to win."
Phil Thompson, Liverpool.
*Birmingham Daily Post*
Monday, 10 December 1979
Liverpool skipper Phil Thompson described Villa as "a very good side" after his team had run out 3-1 winners at Villa Park on Saturday. Then he added. "But we knew we were going to win."
The England international had contributed in full to a fascinating game that was played fractionally too fast for Liverpool's liking during the first half.
Villa looked almost the equal of the clinical league champions in that spell, but once their midfield trio, lacking the suspended Mortimer, had run themselves out, Liverpool took calm control and the chance of an upset disappeared minute by minute.
Complimented on their part in producing one of the most entertaining games seen at Villa Park this season. Thompson said: "A couple of years ago we used to get a lot of goalless draws away from Anfield and we used to take a lot of stick over it."
"That was in the days when everybody was talking about us in terms of machines and robots, but now it's changed and our entertainment value is very high."
Villa manager Ron Saunders agreed. "The first hour gave me tremendous satisfaction and everybody must have gone home thoroughly entertained."
Just for a while there was a possibility that Villa could stretch their 11-match unbeaten run still further. With McNaught playing probably his finest game in Villa's colours and with Evans also in top form, Liverpool's Dalglish and Johnson found it hard to make any worthwhile impression.
But Liverpool are where they are because they can capture something out of nothing and Ray Kennedy did just that after 53 minutes when he found himself temporarily alone about 25 yards out. A deceptively lazy swing of the left leg and the ball rocketed past a startled Rimmer to the corner of the net.
It was the first of three goals in five minutes. Villa took only 40 seconds to equalise through Little, but in the 60th minute Hansen restored Liverpool's lead when he got up unchallenged to head home a Case cross at the far post.
Effectively, that was the end of Villa's hopes. Liverpool slowed the game down to their own required pace, and added a third in the 74th minute when a mistake by Pejic his only one of the game left McDermott with plenty of time to beat Rimmer with an angled shot from about 18 yards.