Game #3967
Saturday, 15 August 1987
Attendance: 14,580
Drew
Division Two
Ipswich Town
🟩 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟨
Portman Road
Villa open their second division campaign with a draw at Portman Road despite dominating as Simon Stainrod misses a hat-trick opportunity to put a first win on the board.
Ipswich Town
1-1
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | None
KEY MAN
Kevin Gage, forced the first goal but Villa were pegged back.
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
🟢 | 1’ Debut, Steve Sims, Kevin Gage, David Hunt
⚽ | 29’ Goal, 1-0, Own Goal, Chris O’Donnell
🥅 | 37’ Goal, 1-1, (Ipswich Town), Nigel Gleghorn
🕒 | HT Ipswich Town 1-1 Aston Villa
🕒 | FT Ipswich Town 1-1 Aston Villa
🟨 | Booking, Mark Walters, Late tackle
🟨 | Booking, Neale Cooper, Ungentlemanly conduct
ON THIS DAY
Graham Taylor took change of Villa for the first time, after leaving First Division Watford - a team he had taken to ninth in the top flight the previous season - to take over freshly relegated and poorly resourced Villa.
Taylor embarked on a major restructure of the club to remedy the multiple poor decisions on and off the pitch since Chairman Herbert Douglas Ellis took over the club after the European Cup triumph in 1982.
Right back Kevin Gage made his Villa debut aged 23 after moving from Wimbledon in July 1987 for a fee of £110,000.
Central defender Steve Sims made his Villa debut aged 30 after joining from Watford in June 1987 for a fee of £50,000.
Midfielder David Hunt made his debut for Villa aged 28 after moving from Notts County in June 1987.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1981-82
Ipswich Town
European Cup / Champions League: ❌
UEFA Cup / Europa League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: 1980-81
FIXTURE HISTORY
Ipswich Town
Previous 5 vs. Ipswich: 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟥
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1987-88 |
Matchday | #1 |
League Match | #1 |
Manager Game | #1 |
Saturday, 15 August 1987
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Graham Taylor | 🏴 | Worksop, 1987-1990
Referee: Ray Lewis | 🏴 | Surrey, 1975-1993
FT Result | Drew |
FT Score | 1-1 |
Last 5 Games | WLLLD |
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ray Lewis | 🏴 | Surrey, 1975-1993
Previous 5: 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟥 🟨
Last Match: 🟨 21 February 1987, Villa 2-2, Liverpool, Villa Park.
Cards: 🟨 🟨
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
New boss Graham Taylor hands debuts to Kevin Gage, Steve Sims and David Hunt.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 24.78 |
Oldest Player |
CB Steve Sims | 🏴 | 30.14 |
Youngest Player |
M Warren Aspinall | 🏴 | 19.93 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Graham Taylor | 🏴 |
John Duncan | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Nigel Spink | 🏴 |
RB Kevin Gage | 🏴 |
CB Neale Cooper | 🏴 | 🟨 |
CB Martin Keown | 🏴 |
CB Steve Sims | 🏴 |
LB Bernie Gallacher | 🏴 |
M Warren Aspinall | 🏴 |
M Paul Birch | 🏴 |
M David Hunt | 🏴 |
W Mark Walters | 🏴 | 🟨 |
CF Simon Stainrod | 🏴 |
Ipswich Town
GK John Hallworth | 🏴 |
RB Frank Yallop | 🇨🇦 |
D Chris O'Donnell | 🏴 | 🔁 |
D Ian Cranson | 🏴 |
LB Graham Harbey | 🏴 |
M Mark Brennan | 🏴 |
M Romeo Zondervan | 🇳🇱 |
M Nigel Gleghorn | 🏴 | ⚽ |
M Jason Dozzell | 🏴 |
F Neil Woods | 🏴 |
F David Lowe | 🏴 |
SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions Made
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | D Chris O'Donnell | 🏴 | (M Mick Stockwell | 🏴 |)
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
W Steve Hunt | 🏴 |
W Mark Burke | 🏴 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
M Simon Milton | 🏴 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 13/13
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 9/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/13
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
RB Kevin Gage | 🏴 |
CB Steve Sims | 🏴 |
M David Hunt | 🏴 |
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE

PROGRAMME



MATCHDAY QUOTES
“The first thing we have to establish is that we are going to be a hard side to beat.
“I think we showed signs today.
“It might not have looked particularly pretty.
“But if we had scored a second goal at the right time, as we should have, then I believe we would have won comfortably.”
Graham Taylor.
*Birmingham Weekly Mercury*
Sunday, 16 August 1987
GRAHAM TAYLOR’S new look Aston Villa came within inches of marking their return to the Second Division with victory at Portman Road yesterday.
Only the width of post prevented Simon Stainrod from heading a 77th minute winner Ipswich Town happy about their late let-off.
It was still a smart Division Two return for Villa after their proud 12 year stay in the First Division.
They certainly deserved their point against the East Anglian outfit only just missed out in the Second Division play offs last season.
Villa played with tremendous discipline and determination and they made a dream start with Kevin Gage, their new £110,000 full back from Wimbledon forcing the opening goal after 29 minutes.
Gage crossed powerfully from the right and Ipswich defender Chris O’Donnell turned ball own past bemused goalkeeper Hallworth.
But Ipswich hit back with a clever equaliser minutes later from Nigel Gleghorn after brilliant right wing cross from new winger David Lowe.
Villa might well have been three up by interval if their finishing had matched their quick approach work towards their opponents penalty area.
Unsettled winger Mark Walters hooked a close range effort over the bar from four yards. Paul Birch forced a save from Hallworth and Stainrod dallied too long losing another opportunity before the interval.
But it was a different story afterwards with Ipswich changing their tactics and pushing Jason Dozzell more forward to assist strikers Neil Woods and Lowe.
Acting skipper Steve Sims was forced to sort out one or two tangles in Villa’s defence but they survived the Ipswich rally and then came back strongly themselves.
Stainrod’s header after brilliant run into the area and cross to the far post should have sealed it.
The chunky striker seemed to meet the ball perfectly but then held his head in his hands as he saw his effort crash against the post.
Stainrod, showing neat control and vision still found time to curl another shot over bar with Villa sensing that victory was in their grasp.