Game #4018
Aston Villa
Saturday, 27 August 1988
Drew
8th
Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟩 🟨 🟨
Division One
Attendance: 22,449
Millwall
Villa Park
Last season's second division promotion winners face off against each other at Villa Park as Villa recover from a two minute Tony Cascarino brace to earn a share of the points on the opening day.
Aston Villa
2-2
Millwall
Assist(s) | None
KEY MAN
Alan McInally, equaliser on top flight debut.
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MATCH TIMELINE
Saturday, 27 August 1988
🟢 | 1' Debut, Chris Price, Gordon Cowans
🥅 | 20’ Goal, 0-1, (Millwall), Tony Cascarino
🥅 | 22’ Goal, 0-2, (Millwall), Tony Cascarino
⚽ | 30’ Goal, 1-2, Stuart Gray (pen)
⚽ | 42’ Goal, 2-2, Alan McInally
🕒 | HT Aston Villa 2-2 Millwall
🔁 61’ Sub off, Andy Gray, Sub on, Garry Thompson
🔁 75’ Sub off, Paul Birch, Sub on, Tony Daley
🕒 | FT Aston Villa 2-2 Millwall
ON THIS DAY
Graham Taylor's Villa open the season with a draw against their rivals for promotion in the previous campaign and it finishes all square as future Villa record signing Tony Cascarino scores a brace in two minutes to shock Villa into a response.
Meanwhile, right back Chris Price made his Villa debut aged 28 after moving from Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £125,000 in May 1988. Price would go on to be a widely celebrated cult hero for the club over the coming seasons.
Midfielder Gordon ’Sid’ Cowans made his first appearance for Villa aged 29 after returning from Bari in July 1988 for a fee of £250,000. Chairman Doug Ellis had sold Cowans, then aged 25, to Bari for £500,000 at the end of the 1984-85 season as part of his nonsensical dismantling of Villa’s League and European Cup winning squad.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1981-82
Millwall
European Cup / Champions League: ❌
League Champions: ❌
FA Cup Winners: ❌
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: ❌
FIXTURE HISTORY
Millwall
Previous 5 vs. Millwall: 🟩 🟨 🟥 🟥 🟥
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1988-89 |
Matchday | #1 |
League Match | #1 |
Manager Game | #52 |
Saturday, 27 August 1988
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Graham Taylor | 🏴 | Worksop, 1987-1990
Referee: Roger Milford | 🏴 | Bristol, 1981-1994
Kick off: 3.00pm
HT Score: 🟨 2-2
FT Result: 🟨 Drew
FT Score: 🟨 2-2
Last 5: 🟨 🟩 🟩 🟨 🟨
MANAGERIAL RECORD
Graham Taylor | 🏴 |
GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME
🕒 52 | 🟩 | 26 🟨 | 13 🟥 13 | 1.75
Career Form:
Top 6
Graham Taylor | 🏴 |
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Roger Milford | 🏴 | Bristol, 1981-1994
Previous 5: 🟩 🟨 🟨 🟩 🟥
Last Match: 🟥 18 April 1987, Villa 0-1 Everton, Villa Park.
Cards: None
Roger Milford
CARDS
Villa
None
Millwall
None
TEAM NEWS
Graham Taylor hands a debut to Chris Price whilst Gordon Cowans makes his first appearance following his return to Villa.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 26.66 |
Oldest Player |
CB Allan Evans | 🏴 | 31.90 |
Youngest Player |
CB Martin Keown | 🏴 | 22.11 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Graham Taylor | 🏴 |
John Docherty | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Nigel Spink | 🏴 |
RB Chris Price | 🏴 | 🟢 |
CB Allan Evans | 🏴 |
CB Martin Keown | 🏴 |
RB Kevin Gage | 🏴 |
M Paul Birch | 🏴 | 🔁 |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴 | 🟢 |
M Andy Gray | 🏴 | 🔁 |
M David Platt | 🏴 |
M Stuart Gray | 🏴 | ⚽ |
CF Alan McInally | 🏴 | ⚽ |
Millwall
GK Brian Horne | 🏴 |
RB Danis Salman | 🏴 |
CB Dave Thompson | 🏴 |
D Alan McLeary | 🏴 |
LB Ian Dawes | 🏴 |
M Les Briley | 🏴 |
M Terry Hurlock | 🏴 |
M Kevin O’Callaghan | 🇮🇪 |
M George Lawrence | 🏴 |
CF Teddy Sheringham | 🏴 |
CF Tony Cascarino | 🇮🇪 | ⚽ | ⚽ |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 CF Garry Thompson | 🏴 | for M Andy Gray | 🏴 | 61’ |
🔁 W Tony Daley | 🏴 | for M Paul Birch | 🏴 | 75’ |
SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions Made
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
None
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
CB Steve Wood | 🏴 |
M Darren Morgan | 🏴 |
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 Positions:
GK : Goalkeeper
CB, D, B : Centre Back, Defender, Back
FB, LB, RB, WH : Full Back, Left Back, Right Back, Wing Back, Wing Half
M, CH, LH, RH : Midfielder, Centre Half, Left Half, Right Half
W, OL, OR : Winger, Outside Left, Outside Right
F, IF, IL, IR : Forward, Inside Forward, Inside Left, Inside Right, Second Striker, False 9
CF : Centre Forward
Match Symbols:
⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution
🟨 | Booking
🟥 | Sending off
🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game
DEBUT APPEARANCES
🟢 RB Chris Price | 🏴 |
🟢 M Gordon Cowans | 🏴 |
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE
PROGRAMME
MATCHDAY QUOTES
"We were pleased to get something out of this game as Millwall were first to the ball and calling most of the shots throughout the opening half.”
Graham Taylor.
*Sunday Tribune*
Sunday, 28 August 1988
TONY Cascarino gave Millwall the perfect start to their first division career with two well-taken goals against Aston Villa.
Millwall's first goal caught the Villa defence napping as fellow Irish international Kevin O'Callaghan's cross found the unmarked Cascarino who easily headed home.
Still reeling from that blow, Villa slipped further behind two minutes later.
Allan Evans, the Villa captain, lost the ball in his own penalty area and Cascarino punished the mistake with his second goal.
Desperate to find a way back into the game, Villa reduced the deficit in the 30th minute when Stuart Gray converted a penalty after Andy Gray had been brought down.
Villa's search for an equaliser was rewarded 12 minutes later when a mix up between the Millwall goalkeeper Brian Horne and his defender lan Dawes, enabled Alan Mclnally to slot the ball into an empty net.
Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. With thanks to Trinity Mirror. Digitised by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited. All rights reserved. Source: British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
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