Game #4181
Wednesday, 23 October 1991
Attendance: 6,447
Won
Zenith Data Systems 1st Round
1st Round
Coventry City
Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟩
Highfield Road
Loanee Alan McLoughlin puts in a superb cameo performance on debut to help Villa beat Coventry in the derided ZDS trophy.
Coventry City
0-2
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | Alan McLoughlin | 16' | Kevin Richardson | 72' |
KEY MAN
Paul McGrath, emphasised the difference between the two old rivals.
RELATED MATCHES
MATCH TIMELINE
⚽ | 16’ Goal, 1-0, Ian Olney, Assist by Alan McLoughlin
🕒 | HT Coventry City 0-1 Aston Villa
🟥 | 62’ Sending off, (Coventry City), Terry Butcher
⚽ | 72’ Goal, 2-0, Dwight Yorke, Assist by Kevin Richardson
🔁 | 78’ Sub off, Kevin Richardson, Sub on, Gordon Cowans
🕒 | FT Coventry City 0-2 Aston Villa
ON THIS DAY
Ron Atkinson's Villa beat Coventry in the latest version of the Full Member's Cup.
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
Previous 5 vs. Coventry: 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟥 🟥
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1991-92 |
Matchday | #16 |
Manager Game | #16 |
Wednesday, 23 October 1991
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Ron Atkinson | 🏴 | Liverpool, 1991-1994
Referee: Roger Wiseman | 🏴 | Hertfordshire, 1986–1994
HT Score: 🟩 1-0
FT Result: 🟩 Won
FT Score: 🟩 2-0
Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟩
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Roger Wiseman | 🏴 | Hertfordshire, 1986–1994
Previous 5: 🟥
Last Match: 🟥 24 January 1987, Villa 0-3 Chelsea, White Hart Lane.
Incidents: 🟥 🟨 🟨
CARDS
Villa
None
Coventry City
🟥 🟨 🟨
TEAM NEWS
Alan McLoughlin comes in for his Villa debut after his loan from Southampton.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 26.63 |
Oldest Player |
GK Les Sealey | 🏴 | 34.09 |
Youngest Player |
LB Bryan Small | 🏴 | 19.95 |
MANAGER
Ron Atkinson | 🏴 |
MANAGER
Terry Butcher | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Les Sealey | 🏴 |
RB Chris Price | 🏴 |
CB Shaun Teale | 🏴 |
CB Ugo Ehiogu | 🏴 |
LB Bryan Small | 🏴 |
M Mark Blake | 🏴 |
M Alan McLoughlin | 🇮🇪 | 🟢 | 🔥 | 🔴 |
M Kevin Richardson | 🏴 | 🔥 | 🔁 |
W Tony Daley | 🏴 |
CF Ian Olney | 🏴 | ⚽ |
CF Dwight Yorke | 🇹🇹 | ⚽ |
Coventry City
GK Steve Ogrizović | 🏴 |
RB Brian Borrows | 🏴 |
CB Andy Pearce | 🏴 |
CB Terry Butcher | 🏴 | 🟥 |
D Chris Greenman | 🏴 | 🔁 |
LB Paul Edwards | 🏴 |
M Stewart Robson | 🏴 |
M Lloyd McGrath | 🏴 |
W Kevin Gallacher | 🏴 |
CF Robert Rosario | 🏴 | 🔁 |
CF Paul Furlong | 🏴 |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 M Gordon Cowans | 🏴 | for M Kevin Richardson | 🏴 | 78’ |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | D Chris Greenman | 🏴 | (M Dean Emerson | 🏴 |)
🔁 | CF Robert Rosario | 🏴 | (CF Peter Ndlovu | 🇿🇼 |)
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
CF Cyrille Regis | 🏴 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
None
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 9/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/13
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 12/13
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
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE
PROGRAMME



MATCHDAY QUOTES
“We want to get into Europe if we can and our chances are though the League and the FA Cup.
“In the later stages, the Zenith becomes really interesting but it doesn’t carry a place in Europe.”
Ron Atkinson.
"It was so good finally to get the chance to prove myself, and I think I played well enough.
"It's all down to Ron Atkinson now. My loan period ends on Sunday and I suppose I'll know soon whether I have a future at Villa.”
Alan McLoughlin.
*Birmingham Evening Mail*
Thursday, 24 October 1991
BE prepared for a shock Villa appearance at Wembley this season by way of the Zenith Data Systems Cup.
It might sound an unlikely vehicle for a club with such a great tradition and history of Cup fighting. But even Ron Atkinson had to concede after this win that anything was possible.
In the same way that Birmingham City gained enormous credibility in the Leyland Daf Cup last season, so could their big City rivals at Villa achieve another piece of Wembley immortality.
Terry Butcher's 59th minute sending off for a professional foul on lan Olney scarcely affected the outcome of a contest that Villa always controlled.
After Olney had headed Villa in front after 16 minutes from Alan McLoughlin's right wing cross, the issue was seldom in doubt.
Coventry, who had defeated their Midlands rivals 1-0 in the League three weeks earlier, just never functioned as a team on a disappointing night for them.
Paul McGrath, emphasised the difference between the two old rivals. Villa were always on top, and ran out clear winners with skipper Kevin Richardson picking out Yorke for the second goal after 72 minutes.
Now Villa go into the hat again in a competition they ignored last season while they were enjoying their brief spell in Europe.
But Atkinson's main objective is still to finish high enough In the League to clinch a place back in Europe again next season.
If it means that they might also appear at Wembley in what might be regarded as a 'Micky Mouse' Cup, that will not deflect from the target.
"We got our tactics wrong for this game," confessed assistant manager Mick Mills afterwards.
And having gone behind the Sky Blues struggled desperately to make any impact.
Villa's fans gave player-manager Butcher, playing his first game in nine months, the 'hee-haw' donkey chant as he struggled to get to grips with the pace of Dwight Yorke and Tony Daley and the deceptive control of Olney.
For Villa, former Coventry goalkeeper Les Sealey had an easy time against a lightweight attack.