Villa finish bottom of the first division, relegated ten points off safety something that had appeared inevitable since the early days of the Graham Turner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 regime three seasons earlier.

Villa had won just three times in thirty two games, losing eighteen

Villa's final defeat of the season is a heavy defeat at Old Trafford falling 0-3 behind in ten second half minutes.

In an unpleasant irony the goalscoring burst is started by Colin Gibson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 one of the many trophy winners jettisoned by the club under Herbert Douglas Ellis’ incompetent and damaging chairmanship. 

Chairman Herbert Doug Ellis’ predictably disastrous policies led Villa directly to this position - relegation to the second tier just five seasons after being crowned Champions of Europe.

Ellis was culpable in gutting the League and European Cup winning team and replacing it with lesser talents; selling players who performed well even in this fallow period; and his continued selection of poor managers that fitted his policy rather than the club's needs.

If anything summed this up any better it is hard to think than a record of fourteen wins in the last sixty nine League games losing thirty three under Ellis’ men Graham Turner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Billy McNeill 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

Left back Bernie Gallacher 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 20 makes his debut in a Villa shirt after graduating from the youth set up to become the 643rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Stuart Ritchie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 18 makes his sole appearance for Villa as a substitute after graduating from the youth set up to become the 644th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football. Ritchie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 left for Crewe Alexandra in June 1987 without making a further squad appearance.

Inevitably though Villa would face life in the second tier without a raft of players.

Left back Tony Dorigo 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 21 makes his 135th and final appearance for Villa (130 Starts) before being sold to Chelsea for a fee of £475,000. Dorigo left with a record of 🟩 W38 🟨 D41 🟥 L56, ⚽ 1 Goal and 🔥 7 Assists.

Centre forward Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 31 makes his 210th & final appearance in a Villa shirt before being sold to West Bromwich Albion for a fee of £8,000. Villa had bought Gray for his second spell with Villa two years earlier for a fee of £150,000 from Everton but it was not to prove a success with 9 goals in 69 games however Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 will always be fondly remembered for his early spell with the club starting as a 19 year old revelation becoming one of the most feared strikers in a generation before off field turmoil soured his final season with Villa leading to his premature departure aged 23 in 1979.

Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 left with a record of 🟩 W79 🟨 D63 🟥 L68, ⚽ 78 Goals and 🔥 29 Assists.

Midfielder Phil Robinson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 made his final appearance for Villa aged 20 before moving on to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee of £5,000 in July 1987. Robinson had made his debut for Villa in the 1986-87 season and made 3 appearances, scoring once. 

Centre back Dean Glover 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 23 makes his 39th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (36 Starts) before moving on to Middlesbrough for a fee of £50,000 in June 1987. Glover left with a record of 🟩 W9 🟨 D12 🟥 L18, ⚽ 1 Goal and 🔥 1 Assist.