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Game #3631

Saturday, 7 March 1981

Attendance: 27,278

Won

Division One

1st= (+1)

Sunderland

WWWWW

Roker Park

Villa climb back to the top of the first division table, level on points with Ipswich as they win for the seventh consecutive League game and eighth time in ten matches with both clubs now seven points clear of their nearest rivals. It isn’t all good news however as Peter Withe faces another suspension after his eighth booking of the season and Ken McNaught is stretchered off at Roker Park with his ankle in a cast after suspected ligament damage.

Sunderland

1-2

Aston Villa

Assist(s) | Tony Morley | 2' | Gordon Cowans | 19' |

KEY MAN

Allan Evans, opened the scoring after 2' to set top of the table Villa on the way to their seventh consecutive League victory, Saturday, 7 March 1981.

RELATED MATCHES

MATCH TIMELINE

2’ Goal, 1-0, Allan Evans, Assist by Tony Morley
19’ Goal, 2-0, Dennis Mortimer, Assist by Gordon Cowans
HT Sunderland 0-2 Aston Villa
68’ Goal, 2-1, (Sunderland), Joe Hinnigan
Sub off, Ken McNaught, Sub on, Colin Gibson
FT Sunderland 1-2 Aston Villa

ON THIS DAY

Ron Saunders, confined to his sick bed, hands over the reigns to Roy MacLaren as Villa win their seventh game in a row to make it twenty one wins, six draws and five defeats in thirty two League matches this season. As a result Villa go level on points with Ipswich at the top of the Division One table.

Aston Villa

Sunderland

European Cup / Champions League: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: 1972-73

FIXTURE HISTORY

Previous 5 vs. Sunderland: | 🟨 | 🟩 | 🟩 | 🟩 | 🟩 |

FIXTURE DETAILS

Season | 1980-81 |
Matchday | #36 |
League Match | #32 |
Manager Game | #349 |
Saturday, 7 March 1981

MATCH SUMMARY

Manager | Ron Saunders (Roy MacLaren, caretaker) |
FT Result | Won |
FT Score | 2-1 |
Last 5 Games | WWWWW |

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Unknown

CARDS

Villa

None

Sunderland

None

TEAM NEWS

Ron Saunders names the same line up for a fourth successive match.

TEAM STATS

Starting XI Average Age
| 26.21 |

Oldest Player |
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 33.09 |

Youngest Player |
F Gary Shaw | 19.30 |

MANAGER

Ron Saunders

MANAGER

Aston Villa

GK Jimmy Rimmer |
RB Kenny Swain |
RB Gary Williams |
CB Allan Evans |
CB Ken McNaught |
M Des Bremner |
M Gordon Cowans |
W Tony Morley |
M Dennis Mortimer |
CF Peter Withe |
F Gary Shaw |

Sunderland

Siddall, Chisholm, Hinnigan (g), Elliott, Hindmarch, Bolton, Arnott, Bowyer (Cooke), Ritchie, Rowell, Cummins. Manager: Ken Knighton.

SUBSTITUTES

M Colin Gibson for CB Ken McNaught |

SUBSTITUTES

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

None

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

SQUAD STATS

MATCHDAY SQUAD

SQUAD STATS

MATCHDAY SQUAD

UNAVAILABLE

Not recorded

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

“That's the most intense spell of pressure 23 have been under this season.

“I personally have never experienced an atmosphere like that, with the fervour of the crowd really carrying the Sunderland team forward.

"At half time I told the players not to be complacent and to think that it was still 0-0.

“We were expecting a bit of a Sunderland come back but nothing that strong.

"It needed every ounce of professionalism and character that Ron Saunders has built into Aston Villa in the last five years to withstand that bout of pressure."

Roy MacLaren.

*Newcastle Journal*
Monday, 9 March 1981