Game #4064
Aston Villa
Saturday, 13 May 1989
Drew
17th (-3)
Last 5: 🟨 🟨 🟥 🟥 🟨
Division One
Attendance: 29,906
Coventry City
Villa Park
Villa secure a final day draw against a Coventry side who have never won at Villa Park but it is not enough to stop Villa finishing worst of the rest as they tumble to seventeenth in the table, one place and one point above the relegation zone.
Aston Villa
1-1
Coventry City
Assist(s) | Paul Birch | 18' |
KEY MAN
David Platt, brilliant 18th minute goal earns Villa a crucial point.
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
Saturday, 13 May 1989
⚽ | 18’ Goal, 1-0, David Platt, Assist by Paul Birch
🕒 | HT Aston Villa 1-0 Coventry City
🥅 | 68’ Goal, 1-1, (Coventry City), Gary Bannister
🔁 | 76’ Sub off, Alan McInally, Sub on, Ian Olney
🕒 | FT Aston Villa 1-1 Coventry City
ON THIS DAY
Graham Taylor's Villa draw their final game of the season to finish the season 17th in the table, one point clear of the final relegation place.
Villa’s first season in the top flight after one year in the second tier saw Graham Taylor’s side consistently in mid-table for much of the season but such was the tight nature of the League that they were rarely more than a defeat away from falling into the drop zone.
Conversely they were also rarely more than a win away from securing safety and had Alan McInally’s form from the first half of the season continued, would in all likelihood have finished far higher up the table.
As it was McInally scored just once after January, having scored twenty one in the first five months of the season.
Sadly Villa wouldn’t get to see McInally in a much improved squad for 1989-90 as he made his final appearance for Villa aged 26 before moving on to to Bayern Munich in July 1989 for a fee of £1,100,000.
McInally had played for Villa in 1987-88 and 1988-89 making 69 appearances and scoring 25 goals after his arrival from Celtic for £225,000 in July 1987.
Also moving on as part of Graham Taylor’s squad overhaul was long time defender Allan Evans who made his final Villa appearance aged 32 before moving on to Leicester City in August 1989.
Evans was the last of the League and European Cup winning team to leave Villa.
Evans played for Villa between 1977-78 and 1988-89 making 466 appearances and scoring 60 goals.
Centre back Martin Keown made his final appearance for Villa aged just 22 before moving on to Everton in July 1989 for a fee of £750,000.
Keown had played for Villa between 1986-87 and 1988-89 making 130 appearances and scoring 3 goals following his arrival from Arsenal for £200,000 in June 1986.
Central defender Steve Sims made his final Villa appearance aged 31 before moving on to Burton Albion in October 1990.
Sims played for Villa in 1987-88 and 1988-89 making 46 appearances.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1981-82
Coventry City
European Cup / Champions League: ❌
League Champions: ❌
FA Cup Winners: 🏆
League Cup Winners: ❌
Last Trophy: 1986-87
FIXTURE HISTORY
Coventry City
Previous 5 vs. Coventry: 🟨 🟨 🟩 🟩 🟥
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1988-89 |
Matchday | #47 |
League Match | #38 |
Manager Game | #98 |
Saturday, 13 May 1989
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Graham Taylor | 🏴 | Worksop, 1987-1990
Referee: Ron Bridges | 🏴 | Deeside, 1978-1989
Kick off: 3.00pm
HT Score: 🟩 1-0
FT Result: 🟨 Drew
FT Score: 🟨 1-1
Last 5: 🟨 🟨 🟥 🟥 🟨
MANAGERIAL RECORD
Graham Taylor | 🏴 |
GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME
🕒 98 | 🟩 | 41 🟨 | 24 🟥 33 | 1.50
Career Form:
Top 8
Graham Taylor | 🏴 |
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ron Bridges | 🏴 | Deeside, 1978-1989
Previous 5: 🟨 🟨 🟩 🟥
Last Match: 🟥 19 November 1988, Villa 1-2 Derby, Villa Park.
Cards: None
Ron Bridges
CARDS
Villa
None
Coventry City
None
TEAM NEWS
Allan Evans, Chris Price, Martin Keown, Paul Birch and Gordon Cowans replace Tony Daley, Ian Olney, Mark Lillis, Darrell Duffy and David Hunt.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 28.12 |
Oldest Player |
CB Allan Evans | 🏴 | 32.61 |
Youngest Player |
CB Martin Keown | 🏴 | 22.82 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Graham Taylor | 🏴 |
John Sillett | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Nigel Spink | 🏴 |
RB Chris Price | 🏴 |
CB Allan Evans | 🏴 | 🔴 |
CB Martin Keown | 🏴 | 🔴 |
CB Steve Sims | 🏴 | 🔴 |
M Stuart Gray | 🏴 |
M Paul Birch | 🏴 |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴 |
M David Platt | 🏴 | ⚽ |
W Nigel Callaghan | 🏴 |
CF Alan McInally | 🏴 | 🔁 | 🔴 |
Coventry City
GK Steve Ogrizović | 🏴 |
CB Brian Kilcline | 🏴 |
CB Trevor Peake | 🏴 |
RB Brian Borrows | 🏴 |
M David Smith | 🏴 |
M Tony Dobson | 🏴 |
M Dean Emerson | 🏴 |
M David Phillips | 🏴 |
CF David Speedie | 🏴 |
CF Gary Bannister | 🏴 | ⚽ |
CF Cyrille Regis | 🏴 |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 CF Ian Olney | 🏴 | 🔥 | for CF Alan McInally | 🏴 | 76' |
SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions Made
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
CB Derek Mountfield | 🏴 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
LB Greg Downs | 🏴 |
M Howard Clark | 🏴 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 13/13
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 13/13
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
FINAL APPEARANCES
🔴 CF Alan McInally | 🏴 |
🔴 CB Allan Evans | 🏴 |
🔴 CB Martin Keown | 🏴 |
🔴 CF Steve Sims | 🏴 |
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE
PROGRAMME
MATCHDAY QUOTES
"I can assure everyone that I am going nowhere.
"I don't think the manager Is going to let me go now I have scored 22 goals In my first season in the First Division."
Alan McInally.
*Sunday Tribune*
Sunday, 14 May 1989
ASTON Villa, who dominated most of the game, could only salvage a draw in their relegation battle with Coventry.
David Platt produced a brilliant 18th minute goal to give Villa the lead but then they were defied almost single-handed by Coventry's goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic.
Gary Bannister headed home for the equaliser to deny Villa the win they desperately required.
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)