Graham Turner's Villa lose their final game of the season to make it fourteen wins in forty two League games, whilst losing sixteen. Villa, though, achieved a second successive 10th placed finish that had looked simply impossible pre Christmas 1984.

1985 proved a far more successful period however the nature of the performances and results being delivered by Graham Turner’s charges was of a very boom and bust nature with consecutive wins being followed by successive defeats through to the end of the campaign.

In truth, Herbert Douglas Ellis’ outrageous sacking of Tony Barton placed a cloud over the 1984-85 season before it even started. Few believed that the dignified Barton was really sacked for not delivering European football but even so that is a valuable measure with which to test Graham Turner’s success against.

Had Graham Turner achieved European football? No.
Had Graham Turner won more games than Tony Barton? No. 15 vs. 17
Had Graham Turner lost less games than Tony Barton? No.
Had Graham Turner delivered more points than Tony Barton? No. 56 vs. 60

Beyond the statistics however there was, as there often is, a fervent hope, a belief, if not an expectation that it could come good under Turner. Indeed in perhaps a handful of games in 1984-85 there was a suggestion that something better was possible, the vast majority of performances however suggested more struggles ahead.

Combined with the continued unnecessary and wilfully damaging loss of senior, influential and talented players. The fact that Turner’s management style and aura was not for every player. It was inevitable that Villa were immeasurably weaker in 1984-85 under Ellis and Turner than in 1983-84.

It’s probably difficult for a modern day fan to understand the influence the old, provincial football Chairman had over a club in the 1970s and 1980s but it was akin to a personal fiefdom. The enmity to the likes of Ellis wasn’t Villa’s alone but none of these self proclaimed Lords of the Manor had wreaked as much havoc as him, taking the Champions of Europe to rank poor mediocrity in two seasons.

First appearing in the 60’s, Ellis was immediately a de-stabilising and unlikable influence on Aston Villa, the 80’s however were where his real harm was done.

Those of us who lived it could, and would never, forgive Ellis as he held the club back throughout the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s…. The high-points experienced by Villa over that period were despite, not because of, Ellis, as greater talents, always for a short period of time, were able to inspire Villa to better things before Ellis stepped in to take the club backwards.

What was, and remains, unifying however was the concern at the Herbert Douglas Ellis policy of selling the club’s stars being extended to the most promising of youth players.

Ellis brought in one ageing foreign 'star' who lasted all of 6 months whilst overseeing the sale of seven first-teamers, including four who had won both the League and European Cup in the previous three seasons.

Also gone was 1984-85’s top goalscorer, Paul Rideout. Rideout make his final Villa appearance aged just 20 before being sold to Bari for a fee of £400,000 in June 1985.

Rideout played for Villa in 1983-84 and 1984-85 making 63 appearances and scoring 22 goals and the opportunity proved too tempting for Ellis to not cash in.

At the other end of the spectrum, Peter Withe made his final appearance for Villa aged 33 before moving on to Sheffield United in July 1985.

Withe was the tenth member of the fourteen man League title winning squad that had now left the club having played for Villa between 1980-81 and 1984-85 making 233 appearances and scoring 85 goals.

As a result of the departures, just three years after Villa had lifted the European Cup and four years since their League title win there were now just four players left on Villa’s books who had been the backbone of that all-conquering side.