Villa open the season, their first without either Ron Saunders or Tony Barton in eleven years, with a win over Coventry at Villa Park.

Graham Turner takes charge of Villa for the first time following Herbert Douglas Ellis' sacking of Tony Barton in what as apparently the latest attempt to remove all traces of the League Title and European Cup winning seasons by the unpopular and allegedly bitter Chairman under whose watch success had been absent.

Turner arrives as a respected lower League manager having managed minnows Shrewsbury Town to relative success on a tight budget in recent seasons. Despite or maybe because of that his arrival is a shock and far from universally welcomed as a step forward from Barton and far from being of sufficient quality to succeed not only the great Ron Saunders / Tony Barton partnership but also before that the tireless work of Vic Crowe. Indeed this is an appointment more akin to the desperate days of the late 1960’s and not one of recent European champions. The appointment does however meet favour with the miserly intentions of the Chairman.

Gordon Cowans makes his first appearance in a Villa shirt in 15 months after missing the entirety of the 1983-84 campaign with injury.