The truly woeful Graham Taylor reign comes to an end as Villa lose on the final day to leave them with twelve wins in thirty eight Premier League games and a 16th placed finish - their lowest since 1994-95. 

In truth it was an impossible task to expect a great man, wedded in a certain footballing ideal, to adjust to the modern footballing world.

Sadly the laziness, or incompetence, of the Villa board allowed the pain to continue far beyond its clear failure. 

With just 15 wins in 51 Premier League fixtures and 23 defeats, the football had not only been woeful but the results damaging. 

The inherited squad, ageing but occasionally still effervescent, was a shadow of itself within months, and but for the emergence of young prospects there was little to cheer. 

The unfathomable ostracism of players, not least Juan Pablo Ángel and Peter Crouch, robbed the squad of talent, and the bizarre recruitment policy burdened the team with players simply not up to the rigours and standards of Premier League football. 

Without question the worst season in over 25 years for Villa, the venerated Graham Taylor left with most people wishing to forget 2002-03 happened and with a desire to simply focus on that day at Goodison Park in May 1990. 

Midfielder and Villa great Ian Taylor, 34, makes his final appearance in a Villa shirt after 9 seasons with the club before moving on to Derby County on a free transfer in June 2003. Taylor was underused by his namesake in the final season of his Villa career despite a record of W120 D79 L92, 42 Goals, 17 Assists, 54 Bookings and 2 Red Cards between 1994-95 and 2002-03. Despite his age Taylor could still do a job for the club, like Merson, Stone, Kachloul, Wright and co. before him but Graham Taylor thought otherwise.

Midfielder Joey Guðjónsson, 22, makes his 11th and final appearance in a Villa shirt of his loan spell from Real Betis. Guðjónsson had brought ill-disciplined passion to Villa and proved both entertaining and flawed. In a better environment, surrounded by stronger team-mates and a more progressive manager, those raw characteristics may have been harnessed to create a good player however that wasn’t Villa in 2002-03 under Graham Taylor. Guðjónsson left with a record of W4 D2 L5, 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a rate of a card for every 2.20 games he played.

Midfielder Stephen Cooke, 20, makes his 4th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (0 Starts) before moving on to Bournemouth on a free transfer in July 2005. Cooke made his debut in 2000 and waited nearly 3 years for his second appearance before his final outing 3 months later to leave with a record of W1 D0 L3.

Peter Whittingham makes his 1st start in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance to make it W1 D1 L2 so far in his Villa career.

Stefan Postma concedes his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 9th appearance (8 Starts) to make it W3 D2 L4, 12 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.33 goals per game and 3 Clean Sheets (33%) so far in his Villa career.

Marcus Allbäck makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (12 Starts) to make it W10 D6 L9, 6 Goals, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.57 games played so far in his Villa career.