Player #474 for Aston Villa, Henry Burrows, known as Harry Burrows, played as a winger for the club in the outside left position.

Harry played for Villa between 1959-60 and 1964-65 making 181 appearances and scoring 73 goals.

Harry was born in Haydock, Merseyside on 17 March 1941 and made his debut appearance for Villa on Saturday, 26 December 1959 aged just 18.

Villa may have had an up and down time on the pitch during the 1950s however one thing the club got very right was their youth policy of which Harry Burrows was a key product. Dubbed ‘Mercer’s Minors’ the group included Alan Deakin, Charlie Aitken, John Sleeuwenhoek, Harry Burrows, Mike Tindall and Alan Baker.

Villa had signed Harry from Wigan Boys in April 1956 and he signed professional forms with the club on 17 March 1958.

A fast, physical player with a strong shot Harry soon became a terrace hero and as the designated penalty taker added goals to his game to further enhance his value and worth to the team.

Harry made just the one appearance as Villa took the Second Division Championship and won promotion back to Division One at the first attempt.

However from season 1961-62 through to his final season in 1964-65 Harry become a much more regular starter - becoming a semi permanent fixture in the Villa first team.

As well as helping Villa securing the second division championship, Harry won the 1960-61 League Cup and helped Villa to runners up in the League Cup final in 1962-63 and a semi final in 1964-65.

During Villa’s victorious League Cup campaign in 1960-61 Harry made 6 appearances and scored 3 as Villa went on to lift the trophy after vanquishing Rotherham United in the two legged final which was held over until the 1961-62 due to fixture congestion.

Harry played his final game for Villa in the 1964-65 season on Saturday, 27 February 1965 at the age of 23 before moving on to Stoke City the following month for a fee of £30,000.

If that move was questionable, Villa bore the full brunt of their own actions.

Villa’s manager Dick Taylor, who had replaced Joe Mercer at the club for the 1964-65 season brought a series of new players to the club on considerably improved terms than those of their counterparts already in the first team and inevitable acrimony followed.

The stupidity of the policy was laid bare as players left one by one disillusioned and disheartened with the new regime and predictably Villa’s form and fortune suffered and a succession of low league finishes saw Villa finish 21st in 1966-67 and relegated to Division Two as Villa began their spiral downwards to the third tier.

Harry played under Villa managers Joe Mercer and Dick Taylor.