Dick Taylor's Villa record successive losses to make it 20 points after nine wins, two draws and nineteen defeats in thirty division one matches this season. At the same point in 1963-64, under former manager Joe Mercer, Villa had lost fourteen and won eight, drawing eight, with 24 points before going on to finish 19th, two places above relegation. In consequence, with twelve games left to play, Dick Taylor needed a huge reversal in form if Villa were not going to fall to relegation at the end of his first season.