Game #3518
Aston Villa
7-6-5, 20 PTS
Saturday, 9 December 1978


Won
9th= (-)
Last 5: 🟩 🟩 🟥 🟨 🟩
Division One
Chelsea
2-4-12, 8 PTS
Stamford Bridge
Attendance: 19,080
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
Chelsea
0-1

Aston Villa

Assist(s) | Gary Shaw | 15' |
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge


MATCH TIMELINE
Saturday, 9 December 1978
⚽ | 15’ Goal, 1-0, Allan Evans, Assist by Gary Shaw
🕒 | HT Chelsea 0-1 Aston Villa
🔁 | 82' Sub off, Gary Shaw, Sub on, Alex Cropley
🕒 | FT Chelsea 0-1 Aston Villa
Match Statistics
Not recorded
Goal ⚽, Assist 🔥, Goal Conceded 🥅, Injury 🚑, Booking 🟨, Sending off 🟥, Comment 🗒️, ❗ Villa Chance,❗❗Huge Villa Chance, 💥 Opposition action, 🎥 VAR, 🆘 Referee error, ❌ Missed pen, disallowed goal, player retires from field of play, 🟢 Debut, 🔴 Final appearance, 🕒 Half time, Full time, 🔁 Substitution
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge

ON THIS DAY
Saturday, 9 December 1978
Ron Saunders' 🏴 Villa 🟩 win for the first time in three to make it 🟩 seven wins, 🟨 six draws and 🟥 five defeats in 🕒 eighteen division one games this season.
A still injury ravaged Villa luck in at Stamford Bridge as they benefit from a curious power play between referee and linesman as Allan Evans 🏴 strikes from an offside position to put Villa ahead with the ultimately crucial winning goal.
Meanwhile, Ron Saunders 🏴 is away busy buying in new players to try and offset the injury crisis that has plagued the club since the start of the campaign.
Full back Gordon Smith 🏴 makes his final Villa appearance age 24 before moving on to Spurs in February 1979 for a fee of £150,000. Smith played for Villa between 1976-77 and 1978-79 making 96 appearances.
Centre back Ken McNaught 🏴 makes his 🕒 75th appearance in a Villa shirt.
Centre forward John Deehan 🏴 secures his 🟩 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 115th appearance.
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge

DEBUT APPEARANCES
None
FINAL APPEARANCES
🔴 FB Gordon Smith | 🏴 | 1976-78 🕒 96 | ✅ 92 🔁 (4) | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 6 | 🇺 6 | #583 |
Seasons | 🕒 Games | ✅ Starts (🔁 Subs) | ⚽ Goals | 🔥 Assists | 🇺 Unused | Player Number |
Aston Villa
UEFA Cup Winners Cup: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1976-77
Chelsea


UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆
Last Trophy: 1970-71
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
FIXTURE DETAILS


Season | 1978-79 |
Matchday | #23 |
League Match | #18 |
Manager Game | #236 |
Saturday, 9 December 1978
%20Aston%20Villa%20Kit_gif.png)
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
MATCH SUMMARY


Manager: Ron Saunders | 🏴 | Birkenhead, 1974-1982
Referee: Clive Thomas | 🏴 | Treorchy, 1966–1984
Kick off: 3.00pm
HT Score: 🟩 1-0
FT Result: 🟩 Won
FT Score: 🟩 1-0
Last 5: 🟩 🟩 🟥 🟨 🟩
MANAGERIAL RECORD

Ron Saunders | 🏴 | 1974-1982
🕒 236 | 🟩 | 109 🟨 | 62 🟥 65 | 1.65
Villa Career Form:
Top 6
Games 🕒, Won 🟩, Drew 🟨, Lost 🟥, Points per Game
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Clive Thomas | 🏴 | Treorchy, 1966–1984 🆘
Matches Officiated: 19
🟩 : 10
🟨 : 3
🟥 : 6
🆘 : 5
🆘 Thomas was accused of failing to consult his linesman for an offside flag for Villa's goal, that his decision was correct didn't take away from the perception that for Thomas it was always about his profile.
Previous 5: 🟩 🟩 🟥 🟥 🟩
Last Match: 🟩 19 August 1978, Villa 1-0 Wolves, Villa Park.
Cards: None
VAR PROFILE (from 2021)
CARDS

None
CARDS

None
Won 🟩, Drew 🟨, Lost 🟥, Notably poor performance 🆘, Cards 🟨 Booking, Cards 🟥 Sending off, Disallowed ❌ Goal disallowed, ⚽ Penalty for, 🥅 Penalty against, ❌ Penalty Disallowed
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge

TEAM NEWS
TEAM STATS
Gordon Smith replaces Gary Williams.
Starting XI Average Age
| 24.02 |
Oldest Player |
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 🏴 | 30.85 |
Youngest Player |
F Gary Shaw | 🏴 | 17.06 |
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
MANAGER
Ron Saunders | 🏴 | 1974-1982

Aston Villa
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 🏴 |
RB John Gidman | 🏴 |
FB Gordon Smith | 🏴 | 🔴 |
CB Allan Evans | 🏴 | ⚽ |
CB Ken McNaught | 🏴 |
M Tommy Craig | 🏴 |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴 |
M John Gregory | 🏴 |
M Dennis Mortimer | 🏴 |
F John Deehan | 🏴 |
F Gary Shaw | 🏴 | 🔥 | 🔁 |
MANAGER
Ken Shellito | 🏴 |

Chelsea
GK Bob Iles | 🏴 |
LB David Stride | 🏴 |
D Steve Wicks | 🏴 |
CB Ron Harris | 🏴 |
RB Graham Wilkins | 🏴 |
M Ray Wilkins | 🏴 |
M John Bumstead | 🏴 |
M Ian Britton | 🏴 |
M Gary Stanley | 🏴 |
CF Trevor Aylott | 🏴 |
CF Duncan McKenzie | 🏴 | 🔁 |
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
SUBSTITUTES

🔁 | M Alex Cropley | 🏴 | for F Gary Shaw | 🏴 | 82' |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | CF Duncan McKenzie | 🏴 | (W Clive Walker | 🏴 |)

🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

None
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

None
Player Positions:
GK : Goalkeeper
CB, D, B : Centre Back, Defender, Back
FB, LB, RB, WH : Full Back, Left Back, Right Back, Wing Back, Wing Half
M, CH, LH, RH : Midfielder, Centre Half, Left Half, Right Half
W, OL, OR : Winger, Outside Left, Outside Right
F, IF, IL, IR : Forward, Inside Forward, Inside Left, Inside Right, Second Striker, False 9
CF : Centre Forward
Match Symbols:
⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution
🟨 | Booking
🟥 | Sending off
🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge

MATCHDAY SQUAD BIOGRAPHIES
STARTING XI
SUBSTITUTES
Player | 🕒 | 🔁 | ⚽ | 🔥 | 🟩 | 🟨 | 🟥 | 🥅 | ⛔ | Yellow | Red |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M Alex Cropley | 🏴 | | 66 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 38 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
UNUSED
Player | 🇺 |
---|---|
Games 🕒, Starts ✅, Substitute 🔁, Goals ⚽, Assists 🔥, Won 🟩, Drew 🟨, Lost 🟥, Conceded 🥅, Clean Sheets ⛔, Unused Substitute 🇺
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
SQUAD STATS

1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 12/12
SQUAD STATS

1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 12/12
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
MATCHDAY SQUAD

MATCHDAY SQUAD

🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge
UNAVAILABLE

Injury | 4 |
W Frank Carrodus | 🏴 |
CF Andy Gray | 🏴 |
F Brian Little | 🏴 |
M Gary Shelton | 🏴 |
UNAVAILABLE

Not Recorded
LEAGUE TABLE



MATCHDAY PROGRAMME



🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge


MATCH QUOTES
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge


MATCH REPORTS
Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. With thanks to Reach PLC. Digitised by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited. All rights reserved. Source: British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)









Opens in New Window
🟩 9 Dec 1978, Villa 1-0 Chelsea, Stamford Bridge

