Villa record their biggest win of the season, winning for the 1st time in 3 games under Graham Taylor. 

Villa make it 12 Premier League wins in 38 matches under Graham Taylor.

Joey Guðjónsson, 22, makes a goalscoring debut after joining from Real Betis on loan for the remainder of the season earlier this month to become the 769th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Darius Vassell scores a brace to collect his 30th goal in a Villa shirt on his 127th appearance (62 Starts) to make it W46 D30 L51, 30 Goals, 9 Assists, 12 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.26 games played so far in his Villa career.

Thomas Hitzlsperger contributes his 10th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 35th appearance (30 Starts) to make it W12 D7 L16, 5 Goals, 5 Assists and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Olof Mellberg secures his 20th win in a Villa shirt on his 67th appearance to make it W20 D20 L27, 1 Goal, 3 Assists and 3 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Jlloyd Samuel makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (56 Starts) to make it W26 D20 L29, 5 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Less than a month after being humiliated by the same opposition at home, Villa, apparently rejuvenated, put Blackburn to the sword to record successive victories and climb to 11th in the table under Graham Taylor.

Villa make it 10 wins in 26 Premier League games under Graham Taylor

Joey Guðjónsson contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 2nd appearance to make it W2 D0 L0, 1 Goal, 1 Assist and 1 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ulises de la Cruz contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 21st appearance (13 Starts) to make it W7 D2 L12, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the second time in four games to make it ten wins in twenty seven Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Villa lose for the second successive game and have now failed to score in 13 of 28 league matches under Graham Taylor this season.

As the fans finally lose patience, Graham Taylor records a 19th Premier League defeat in 41 games.

Alpay Özalan features for the first time in over 4 months and for only the 5th time in 50 games under Graham Taylor to belatedly make it 65 appearances in a Villa shirt, W25 D18 L22 and 17 Bookings. Özalan would not feature under Taylor again.

Alan Wright suffers his 100th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 326th appearance (321 Starts) to make it W140 D86 L100, 5 Goals, 26 Assists and 23 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the 3rd successive game having failed to score in 14 of 29 league matches under Graham Taylor 

Villa are beaten for the 20th time.in 42 Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

The once venerated manager is no longer the subject of deference as his defeatist, dismissive and self absorbed response to defeat exacerbates the chasm that this most torrid of seasons had begun to create.

Villa lose home and away to Birmingham for the first time since 1978.

Dion Dublin is sent off for the 2nd time in a Villa shirt on his 156th appearance (130 Starts) to make it W58 D43 L55, 54 Goals, 18 Assists, 15 Bookings and 2 Red Cards at a goal involvement 

Joey Guðjónsson is sent off for the 1st time in a Villa shirt on his 5 appearance to make it W2 D0 L3, 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a rate of a card every game he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa, without a win in 6 under Graham Taylor, record successive draws to make it 13 wins in 45 Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Öyvind Leonhardsen contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 18th appearance (12 Starts) to make it W7 D5 L6, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Ronny Johnsen makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (24 Starts) to make it W10 D5 L10 and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa record a third consecutive draw and are now winless in 7 Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Villa, without a win in 7, can only draw with relegation side West Ham.

Villa now have just 13 wins in 46 Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Darius Vassell contributes his 10th assist in a Villa shirt on his 135th appearance (70 Starts) to make it W47 D33 L55, 32 Goals, 10 Assists, 12 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.21 games played so far in his Villa career.

Olof Mellberg makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W21 D23 L31, 1 Goal, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

As if from nowhere Villa conjure up a first win in eight against 4th placed Chelsea with Marcus Allbäck, a player who had hitherto looked less than likely to score, hit a brace to deliver Graham Taylor his 14th top flight win in 47 matches since his return.

Villa make it 11 wins in 34 Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Marcus Allbäck contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 21st appearance (8 Starts) to make it W9 D5 L7, 4 Goals, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.20 games played so far in his Villa career.

Ronny Johnsen makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (26 Appearances) to make it W11 D5 L10 and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the first time in six to make it eleven wins in thirty six Premier League games under Graham Taylor.

Rob Edwards, 20, makes his 9th and final appearance in a Villa shirt (8 Starts) before moving on to Wolves for £203,000 in June 2004 having recorded W3 D3 L3 during his short Villa career. Edwards would go on to be a successful manager taking Luton Town from the third tier into the Premier League for the 2023-24 season.

Marcus Allbäck scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 23rd appearance (10 Starts) to make it W69 D6 L8, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.83 games played so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for the second time in four and have now lost just once in their last seven under Graham Taylor to secure their Premier League safety with a game to spare.

Villa now have 12 wins in 37 top flight games under Graham Taylor this season.

Marcus Allbäck scores his 4th in 4 to earn Graham Taylor a 15th win in 50 Premier League games since replacing John Gregory. 

Steve Staunton, 34, makes his final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Coventry City on a free transfer in August 2003. Staunton had played for Villa in two spells between 1991-92 and 2002-03 making a total of 348 appearances in a Villa shirt (332 Starts). That fantastic contribution to Villa however was sadly overshadowed by Staunton’s controversial decision to leave Villa on a Bosman free transfer in 1998. Without that there is no doubt Staunton would have been rated as one of the great Villa servants. As it is he will remain respected rather than admired for his record of W145 D92 L111, 20 Goals, 37 Assists, 28 Bookings and 2 Red Cards across his Villa career. Ironically, his career hiatus with Liverpool afforded him a significant increase in wealth but just 58 appearances across 3 seasons during which time in a Villa shirt he could realistically have moved into the top 10 all time appearance holders for Villa.   

Finnish goalkeeper Peter Enckelman, 26, keeps his 20th clean sheet on his 67th and final game in a Villa shirt before moving on to Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £194,000 in January 2004. Villa had paid TPS Turku £513,000 for Enckelman’s services in February 1999 and would prove a statistically strong ‘keeper but a less than confidence boosting presence between the sticks. Undoubtedly best known for the refereeing error he was on the end of in September 2002, Enckelman had the support of both his full time managers with Graham Taylor making him the club’s #1. Whether that was a good long term move or an accident waiting to happen is difficult to tell, what isn’t is that the incident at St Andrews’ meant Enckelman was always on borrowed time at Villa and his career stalled into a nose dive with just 45 appearances for Blackburn and Cardiff over the following 7 seasons. Enckelman left with a record of W23 D18 L26, 74 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.10 goals per game (1.19 in League football) and 20 Clean Sheets (20%) (25% League)

Midfielder Öyvind Leonhardsen, 32, makes his 23rd and final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to FC Lyn Oslo on a free transfer in July 2003. Leonhardsen was another of Taylor’s surprising signings and in truth he underwhelmed throughout his time with Villa to leave with a record of W9 D7 L7, 3 Goals, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings.

Joey Guðjónsson makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (8 Starts) to make it W4 D42 L4, 1 Goal, 2 Assists, 4 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

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.