Villa's Prodigal Sons

Before this week, only seven players* in 152 years had made the return journey to Villa Park.

How did Villa's original Prodigal Sons fare? And what does it tell us about Tammy and Dougie's emotional returns to VP?

*Excluding loans and buy-back clauses

W Steve Hunt | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Aston Villa 1975-76, 1986-87

• July 1973: Aged 16, joined the Youth ranks at Villa under Vic Crowe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

• June 1977: Aged 20, sold to New York Cosmos 🇺🇸 under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for £26k

• March 1986: Aged 29, signed from West Bromwich Albion 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 under Graham Turner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for £90k

Full Career:

🕒 81 | ✅ 77 🔁 (4) | ⚽ 9 | 🔥 6 | 🇺 8 | #576 |

🟩 25 | 🟨 24 | 🟥 32 |

Cards 🟨 11 | 🟥 1 |

1st Spell:

🕒 9 Appearances

⚽ 1 Goal @ 9.00 Games Per Goal

🔥 2 Assists @ 4.50 Games Per Assist

🟩 3 Wins @ 33% Win Rate

2nd Spell:

🕒 71 Appearances

⚽ 8 Goals @ 8.88 Games Per Goal

🔥 4 Assists @ 17.75 Games Per Assist

🟩 22 Wins @ 31% Win Rate

Hit or Miss? Left under Saunders, Returned under Turner

The original returnee Steve Hunt sticks one away in his second spell

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/steve-hunt

CF Andy Gray | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | Aston Villa 1975-79, 1985-87

• October 1975: Aged 19, Signed from Dundee United 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 for a fee of £110,000 under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

• September 1979: Aged 23, Sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for a fee of £1,469,000 under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

• August 1985: Aged 29, Signed from Everton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for a fee of £150,000 under Graham Turner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Full Career:

🕒 210 | ✅ 206 🔁 (4) | ⚽ 78 | 🔥 29 | 🇺 0 | #578 |

🟩 79 | 🟨 63 | 🟥 68 |

Cards 🟨 18 | 🟥 0 |

1st Spell:

🕒 141 Appearances

⚽ 69 Goals @ 2.04 Games Per Goal

🔥 20 Assists @ 7.05 Games Per Assist

🟩 59 Wins @ 42% Win Rate

2nd Spell:

🕒 69 Appearances

⚽ 9 Goals @ 7.67 Games Per Goal

🔥 9 Assists @ 7.67 Games Per Assist

🟩 59 Wins @ 29% Win Rate

Hit or Miss? Let's be honest, no-one could repeat Andy's first spell

They say never go back, he probably wished he hadn't

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/andy-gray

M Gordon Cowans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Aston Villa 1976-85, 1988-91, 1993

• July 1974: Aged 15, joined the Youth ranks at Villa under Ron Saunders

• July 1976: Aged 17, promoted to the Villa first team squad

• July 1985: Aged 26, sold to SSC Bari under Graham Turner for £257k

• July 1988: Aged 29, signed from SSC Bari under Graham Taylor for £250k

• November 1991: Aged 32, sold to Blackburn Rovers for €230k under Ron Atkinson

• July 1993: Aged, 34, signed on a free transfer from Blackburn Rovers under Ron Atkinson

Full Career:

🕒 528 | ✅ 506 🔁 (22) | ⚽ 59 | 🔥 96 | 🇺 19 | #582 |

🟩 231 | 🟨 132 | 🟥 165 |

Cards 🟨 6 | 🟥 0 |

1st Spell:

🕒 323 Appearances

⚽ 50 Goals @ 6.46 Games Per Goal

🔥 50 Assists @ 6.46 Games Per Assist

🟩 150 Wins @ 46% Win Rate

2nd/3rd Spell:

🕒 205 Appearances

⚽ 9 Goals @ 22.77 Games Per Goal

🔥 46 Assists @ 4.45 Games Per Assist

🟩 81 Wins @ 40% Win Rate

Hit or Miss? Returned as a super-charged Assist King, twice

Sid, one of, if not Villa's greatest player, liked it so much he came back twice.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/gordon-cowans

M Andy Blair | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | Aston Villa 1981-84, 1985-88

• July 1981: Aged 21, Signed for £350k from Coventry City under Ron Saunders

• July 1984: Aged 24, Sold for £60k to Sheffield Wednesday under Graham Turner

• March 1985: Aged 26, Signed from Sheffield Wednesday under Graham Turner

Full Career:

🕒 69 | ✅ 54 🔁 (15) | ⚽ 2 | 🔥 10 | 🇺 21 | #616 |

🟩 31 | 🟨 13 | 🟥 25 |

Cards 🟨 3 | 🟥 0 |

1st Spell:

🕒 47 Appearances

⚽ 1 Goals @ 47.00 Games Per Goal

🔥 7 Assists @ 6.71 Games Per Assist

🟩 22 Wins @ 46% Win Rate

2nd:

🕒 22 Appearances

⚽ 1 Goal @ 22.00 Games Per Goal

🔥 3 Assists @ 7.33 Games Per Assist

🟩 9 Wins @ 41% Win Rate

Hit or Miss? Hardly had a sniff but still beat his numbers

Andy's semi-regular matchday attire under successive managers.

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/andy-blair

LB Steve Staunton | 🇮🇪 | Aston Villa 1991-98, 2000-03

• August 1991: Aged 22, Signed for £1.10m from Liverpool under Ron Atkinson

• July 1998: Aged 29, Released on a free transfer to Liverpool under John Gregory

• December 2000: Aged 31, Signed on a free transfer from Liverpool under John Gregory

Full Career:

🕒 348 | 332 (16) | ⚽ 20 | 🔥 36 | 🇺 22 | #675 |

🟩 145 | 🟨 92 | 🟥 111 |

Cards 🟨 33 | 🟥 2 |

1st Spell to Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿:

🕒 251 Appearances

⚽ 19 Goals @ 13.20 Games Per Goal

🔥 29 Assists @ 8.65 Games Per Assist

🟩 105 Wins @ 42% Win Rate

2nd Spell from John Gregory 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿:

🕒 97 Appearances

⚽ 1 Goal @ 97.00 Games Per Goal

🔥 8 Assists @ 12.25 Games Per Assist

🟩 9 Wins @ 41% Win Rate

Hit or Miss? Destroyed his legacy, but left nothing on the pitch, either time

He wasn't a footballer, he was a very naughty boy

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/steve-staunton

W James Milner | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Aston Villa 2005-06, 2008-10

• August 2005: Aged 19, Signed on loan from Newcastle United under David O'Leary before returning to parent club at the end of the 2005-06 season.

• August 2010: Aged 24, Sold to Manchester City for €22.00m

Full Career:

🕒 348 | 332 (16) | ⚽ 20 | 🔥 36 | 🇺 22 | #675 |

🟩 145 | 🟨 92 | 🟥 111 |

Cards 🟨 33 | 🟥 2 |

1st Spell:

🕒 33 Appearances

⚽ 3 Goals @ 11.00 Games Per Goal

🔥 9 Assists @ 3.66 Games Per Assist

🟩 13 Wins @ 39% Win Rate

2nd Spell:

🕒 93 Appearances

⚽ 19 Goals @ 4.90 Games Per Goal

🔥 24 Assists @ 3.87 Games Per Assist

🟩 44 Wins @ 47% Win Rate

Hit or Miss? Are you actually serious right now?

He cried his eyes out when he left the first time, it was our turn when he left the second time

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/james-milner

W Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Aston Villa 2007-11, 2021-23

• January 2007: Aged 21, Signed from Watford under Martin O'Neill for a fee of £11.88m

• June 2011: Aged 25, Sold to Manchester United for a fee of £16.20m

• 2021: Aged 35, Signed from Inter Milan on a free transfer under Dean Smith

Full Career:

🕒 247 | 222 (25) | ⚽ 39 | 🔥 64 | 🇺 24 | #797 |

🟩 107 | 🟨 68 | 🟥 72 |

Cards 🟨 46 | 🟥 2 |

1st Spell:

🕒 190 Appearances

⚽ 38 Goals @ 5.00 Games Per Goal

🔥 62 Assists @ 3.06 Games Per Assist

🟩 82 Wins @ 43% Win Rate

2nd Spell:

🕒 57 Appearances

⚽ 1 Goal @ 57.00 Games Per Goal

🔥 2 Assists @ 28.50 Games Per Assist

🟩 25 Wins @ 44% Win Rate

Hit or Miss? Left as a 25-year-old winger, Back as a 35-year-old full back, excelled at both

Wave Hello

Say Goodbye

Full Player Profile: https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/ashley-young

So what do Steve Hunt, Andy Gray, Gordon Cowans, Andy Blair, Steve Staunton, James Miner and Ashley Young tell us about Tammy Abraham and Douglas Luiz's returns? The pull of Villa never fades and a homecoming is just the start of a new AVFC adventure 💜💙

*Others:

Axel Tuanzebe: 2018 Loan 2018-19 Loan, 2021-22 Loan Tammy Abraham: 2018-19 Loan, 2026- Purchase Douglas Luiz: 2019-24 Purchase, 2026- Loan Ross Barkley: 2020-21 Loan, 2024- Purchase, Cameron Archer: Youth, 2024 Buy Back Clause created technical loan Jaden Philogene Bidace: Youth, 2024-25 Buy Back Clause created first refusal