On the cusp of greatness

99 Wins Ain't a Problem for Some

Last night’s win saw Unai Emery reach 99 wins for the club in 176 games, equalling Vic Crowe’s record, set in 1974.

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/5818

1970-74 Vic Crowe | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 |

Crowe achieved his feat across his first 220 games in charge of the club (he didn’t win his final two matches).

Emery has achieved 99 wins, not only in 24 fewer games than Crowe but also whilst playing exclusively top-flight football.

Crowe, by contrast, played only in the third, second and tiers of the Football League from 1970 through to 1974.

Full Manager Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/manager/vic-crowe

Emery, therefore, is on the cusp of winning his 100th game as Villa boss, needing just one more win to hit the historic milestone and become one of only five managers to have achieved the feat and the first since 1978.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

100 game-winning managers have only come around four times in Villa’s 152-year history: 1894, 1931, 1962, 1978 and now, 2026.

Before Emery, the most recent holder of the honour of leading Villa to 100 victories was Ron Saunders, who recorded his 100th victory on 29 April 1978 as Villa hammered Ipswich 6-1 at Villa Park.

1974-82 Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

That was Saunders’ 212th game in charge of Villa across a period that, like Crowe, included a season in the second tier, albeit a successful one as Saunders masterminded Villa’s 1974-75 second division promotion win.

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/3494

Full Manager Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/manager/ron-saunders

Saunders was the fourth and last man to achieve the feat, and it would be 52 years before Emery came along to match it, but it was just twelve years earlier that one of Saunders’ predecessors, Joe Mercer, with his ‘minors’, led Villa to their 100th win on 3rd December 1962.

1958-64 Joe Mercer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

It was to be East Anglia once again who suffered at the hands of a history maker as Norwich were dispatched 4-1 at Villa Park in Mercer’s 204th game in charge.

A quicker charge to the 100 than Saunders later achieved, and like Saunders, Mercer masterminded promotion out of the second tier during his spell, successfully achieving top-flight football after just one year away in 1959-60.

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2717

Full Manager Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/manager/joe-mercer

Mercer’s 1964 achievements came 33 years after his predecessor, and the final incumbent of the secretary/management committee structure that Villa so successfully adopted for their first sixty years, Billy Smith, who would become the second man to lead the club to the magic 100 wins.

1926-34 Billy Smith | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Management Committee

On 28 March 1931, Smith did so with another 4-1 at Villa Park, just like Mercer three decades later, only this time it was Blackpool who were put to the sword, in exactly the number of games that Mercer would go on to deliver the milestone, 204.

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/1570

Full Manager Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/manager/billy-smith

What set Smith apart from Saunders and Mercer’s achievements, however, was that his 100-game winning run was achieved as an exclusively top-flight club, just as his immediate predecessor had done thirty-seven years earlier in 1894.

1886-26 George Ramsay | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | Management Committee

That man was the remarkable George Ramsay, the first to lead Villa to 100 wins and who clinched his record-setting number of victories after 190 games, swatting aside Albion 3-1 at Wellington Road, Perry Barr on 13 October 1894: the earliest and fastest achieved to date.

That is, until Unai Emery arrived.

Full Match Report: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/216

Full Manager Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/manager/george-ramsay

2022- Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 |

So far ahead in Unai Emery of his predecessors that to fail to take the mantle from Ramsay for leading Villa to 100 wins in the fewest number of games, Emery would need to see Villa eliminated from the FA Cup in the fourth round on Saturday, the Europa League Round of 16 next month, and also to fail to win any of the rest of Villa’s 2025-26 Premier League fixtures before the final two games of the season.

The odds are then that Unai Emery will not only become the fifth Villa manager to achieve 100 wins during his tenure, he will also achieve it quicker than any of the legendary names that preceded him.

But Emery’s statistical domination doesn’t stop there.

Full Manager Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/manager/unai-emery

Playing the Percentages

Emery's 99 wins in 176 games had been done at a win rate of 56.25%, no other boss can even break the 50% barrier.

Vic Crowe achieved his 99 with a much lower win rate of 44.59%.

Ron Saunders hit 100 with 45.57%, Joe Mercer a paltry 35.29%, Billy Smith, 48.08% and even George Ramsay couldn't eclipse Emery’s 50%, instead doing it at a rate of 49.55%.

Emery is therefore ahead by a massive margin and will remain that way even if his 100th win takes another ten games to arrive.

A point to prove

If points per game is more your metric…

Emery has achieved his 99 wins at a rate of 1.86 points per game. Historically, that is nailed on top 4 levels, season-in, season-out.

By contrast, Vic Crowe earned a points per game rate of 1.62 to deliver his 99 wins. Mid-table at best.

Ron Saunders fared little better, hitting his 100 wins across a points per game rate of 1.64, but that was better than both Joe Mercer (1.50) and Billy Smith (1.63), but once again behind the record-setting 1.68 points per game under George Ramsay, 132 years ago.

That is, until Unai Emery arrived.

League of One

If Emery were to beat Leeds in Villa’s next league outing, he would have hit 70 top-flight wins in just 128 games.

Only Saunders, Smith and Ramsay will have won more top-flight games, with Saunders having taken 181 games to reach 70 top-flight wins, compared to Billy Smith’s 148 and Ramsay’s 142.

Should Villa collect three points next time out in the League, Emery will have achieved the feat 14 games quicker than any of the previous Villa greats.

A simply astonishing achievement.

Indeed, whatever way you cut it, in an age where trophies are the domain of but a few, Emery is statistically the greatest manager Villa have ever had.

Without silverware, the reverence may be muted in some quarters, but it is unequivocal that Emery is achieving things his predecessors simply couldn’t match, and it’s highly unlikely we’ll see another of his like again.

Unai Emery in numbers:

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Win percentage achieved across all competitions: 56.25%

Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Management Committee 49.55%

1982-84 Tony Barton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Highest Home Win percentage achieved across all competitions: 70.59%

Closest Rival: Unai Emery 🇪🇸 67.05%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Away Win percentage achieved across all competitions: 45.98%

Closest Rival: 2006-10 Martin O'Neill 🇬🇧 40.63%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Premier League Win percentage achieved 54.33%

Closes Rival: 1998-02 John Gregory 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 41.22%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest League Win percentage achieved 54.33%

Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Management Committee 48.14%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest Top Flight League Win percentage achieved 54.33%

Closest Rival: 1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Management Committee 48.14%

1886-26 George Ramsay 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Management Committee Highest FA Cup Win percentage achieved, leading the club 5 or more times in the competition, 62.50%

Closest Rival: Unai Emery 🇪🇸 60.00%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest European Win percentage achieved, leading the club 5 or more times in European competition 66.67%

Closest Rival: 1974-82 Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 50.00%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Highest European Cup / Champions League Win percentage achieved, leading the club 5 or more times in the competition, 66.67%

Closest Rival: 1982-84 Tony Barton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 54.55%

Unai Emery 🇪🇸 Lowest Loss percentage suffered across all competitions 26.01%

Closest Rival: 2006-10 Martin O'Neill 🇬🇧 26.32%

1958-64 Joe Mercer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Highest Post War Average Goals per Game Scored across all competitions 1.73

Closest Rival: Unai Emery 🇪🇸 1.70

Unai Emery's Wins

🟩 11 Feb 2026 Villa 1-0 Brighton, Villa Park

🟩 29 Jan 2026 Villa 3-2 RB Salzburg, Villa Park

🟩 25 Jan 2026 Villa 2-0 Newcastle, St James’

🟩 22 Jan 2026 Villa 1-0 Fenerbahçe, Şükrü Saracoğlu

🟩 10 Jan 2026 Villa 2-1 Spurs, Tottenham Stadium

🟩 3 Jan 2026 Villa 3-1 Forest, Villa Park

🟩 27 Dec 2025 Villa 2-1 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge

🟩 21 Dec 2025 Villa 2-1 United, Villa Park

🟩 14 Dec 2025 Villa 3-2 West Ham, London Stadium

🟩 11 Dec 2025 Villa 2-1 Basel, St. Jakob-Park

🟩 6 Dec 2025 Villa 2-1 Arsenal, Villa Park

🟩 3 Dec 2025 Villa 4-3 Brighton, AMEX

🟩 30 Nov 2025 Villa 1-0 Wolves, Villa Park

🟩 27 Nov 2025 Villa 2-1 Young Boys, Villa Park

🟩 23 Nov 2025 Villa 2-1 Leeds, Elland Road

🟩 9 Nov 2025 Villa 4-0 Bournemouth, Villa Park

🟩 6 Nov 2025 Villa 2-0 Maccabi Tel Aviv, Villa Park

🟩 26 Oct 2025, Villa 1-0 Manchester City, Villa Park

🟩 19 Oct 2025, Villa 2-1 Spurs, Tottenham Stadium

🟩 5 Oct 2025, Villa 2-1 Burnley, Villa Park

🟩 2 Oct 2025, Villa 2-0 Feyenoord, De Kuip

🟩 28 Sep 2025, Villa 3-1 Fulham, Villa Park

🟩 25 Sep 2025, Villa 1-0 Bologna, Villa Park

🟩 16 May 2025, Villa 2-0 Spurs, Villa Park

🟩 10 May 2025, Villa 1-0 Bournemouth, Vitality

🟩 3 May 2025, Villa 1-0 Fulham, Villa Park

🟩 19 Apr 2025, Villa 4-1 Newcastle, Villa Park

🟩 15 Apr 2025, Villa 3-2 PSG, Villa Park

🟩 12 Apr 2025, Villa 3-0 Southampton, St Mary's

🟩 5 Apr 2025, Villa 2-1 Forest, Villa Park

🟩 2 Apr 2025, Villa 3-0 Brighton, AMEX

🟩 30 Mar 2025, Villa 3-0 Preston, Deepdale

🟩 12 Mar 2025, Villa 3-0 Brugge, Villa Park

🟩 8 Mar 2025, Villa 1-0 Brentford, Gtech

🟩 4 Mar 2025, Villa 3-1 Brugge, Jan Breydel Stadium

🟩 28 Feb 2025, Villa 2-0 Cardiff, Villa Park

🟩 22 Feb 2025, Villa 2-1 Chelsea, Villa Park

🟩 9 Feb 2025, Villa 2-1 Spurs, Villa Park

🟩 29 Jan 2025, Villa 4-2 Celtic, Villa Park

🟩 15 Jan 2025, Villa 1-0 Everton, Goodison

🟩 10 Jan 2025, Villa 2-1 West Ham, Villa Park

🟩 4 Jan 2025, Villa 2-1 Leicester, Villa Park

🟩 21 Dec 2024, Villa 2-1 Manchester City, Villa Park

🟩 10 Dec 2024, Villa 3-2 Leipzig, Red Bull Arena

🟩 7 Dec 2024, Villa 1-0 Southampton, Villa Park

🟩 4 Dec 2024, Villa 3-1 Brentford, Villa Park

🟩 22 Oct 2024, Villa 2-0 Bologna, Villa Park

🟩 19 Oct 2024, Villa 3-1 Fulham, Craven Cottage

🟩 2 Oct 2024, Villa 1-0 Bayern, Villa Park

🟩 24 Sep 2024, Villa 2-1 Wycombe, Causeway

🟩 21 Sep 2024, Villa 3-1 Wolves, Villa Park

🟩 17 Sep 2024, Villa 3-0 Young Boys, Wankdorf Stadium

🟩 14 Sep 2024, Villa 3-2 Everton, Villa Park

🟩 31 Aug 2024, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power

🟩 17 Aug 2024, Villa 2-1 West Ham, London Stadium

🟩 21 Apr 2024, Villa 3-1 Bournemouth, Villa Park

🟩 14 Apr 2024, Villa 2-0 Arsenal, Emirates

🟩 11 Apr 2024, Villa 2-1 Lille, Villa Park

🟩 30 Mar 2024, Villa 2-0 Wolves, Villa Park

🟩 14 Mar 2024, Villa 4-0 Ajax, Villa Park

🟩 2 Mar 2024, Villa 3-2 Luton, Kenilworth Road

🟩 24 Feb 2024, Villa 4-2 Forest, Villa Park

🟩 17 Feb 2024, Villa 2-1 Fulham, Craven Cottage

🟩 3 Feb 2024, Villa 5-0 Sheffield United, Bramall Lane

🟩 6 Jan 2024, Villa 1-0 Boro, Riverside

🟩 30 Dec 2023, Villa 3-2 Burnley, Villa Park

🟩 17 Dec 2023, Villa 2-1 Brentford, Gtech

🟩 9 Dec 2023, Villa 1-0 Arsenal, Villa Park

🟩 6 Dec 2023, Villa 1-0 Manchester City, Villa Park

🟩 30 Nov 2023, Villa 2-1 Legia, Villa Park

🟩 26 Nov 2023, Villa 2-1 Spurs, Tottenham Stadium

🟩 12 Nov 2023, Villa 3-1 Fulham, Villa Park

🟩 9 Nov 2023, Villa 2-1 AZ, Villa Park

🟩 29 Oct 2023, Villa 3-1 Luton, Villa Park

🟩 26 Oct 2023, Villa 4-1 AZ, AFAS Stadion

🟩 22 Oct 2023, Villa 4-1 West Ham, Villa Park

🟩 5 Oct 2023, Villa 1-0 Zrinjski, Villa Park

🟩 30 Sep 2023, Villa 6-1 Brighton, Villa Park

🟩 24 Sep 2023, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge

🟩 16 Sep 2023, Villa 3-1 Palace, Villa Park

🟩 31 Aug 2023, Villa 3-0 Hibs, Villa Park

🟩 27 Aug 2023, Villa 3-1 Burnley, Turf Moor

🟩 23 Aug 2023, Villa 5-0 Hibs, Easter Road

🟩 20 Aug 2023, Villa 4-0 Everton, Villa Park

🟩 28 May 2023 Villa 2-1 Brighton, Villa Park

🟩 13 May 2023, Villa 2-1 Spurs, Villa Park

🟩 25 Apr 2023, Villa 1-0 Fulham, Villa Park

🟩 15 Apr 2023, Villa 3-0 Newcastle, Villa Park

🟩 8 Apr 2023, Villa 2-0 Forest, Villa Park

🟩 4 Apr 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power

🟩 1 Apr 2023, Villa 2-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge

🟩 18 Mar 2023, Villa 3-0 Bournemouth, Villa Park

🟩 4 Mar 2023, Villa 1-0 Palace, Villa Park

🟩 25 Feb 2023, Villa 2-0 Everton, Goodison

🟩 21 Jan 2023, Villa 1-0 Southampton, St Mary's

🟩 13 Jan 2023, Villa 2-1 Leeds, Villa Park

🟩 1 Jan 2023, Villa 2-0 Spurs, Tottenham Stadium

🟩 13 Nov 2022, Villa 2-1 Brighton, AMEX

🟩 6 Nov 2022, Villa 3-1 United, Villa Park