Last season's second division promotion winners face off against each other at Villa Park as Villa recover from a two minute Tony Cascarino brace to earn a share of the points on the opening day.

Graham Taylor's Villa open the season with a draw against their rivals for promotion in the previous campaign and it finishes all square as future Villa record signing Tony Cascarino scores a brace in two minutes to shock Villa into a response. 

Right back Chris Price, 28, makes his Villa debut after joining from Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £125,000 in May 1988 to become the 655th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football. Price would go on to be a widely celebrated cult hero for the club over the coming seasons. 

Midfielder Gordon ’Sid’ Cowans, 29, makes his first appearance for Villa of his second spell with the club after returning from Bari in July 1988 for a fee of £250,000. Chairman Doug Ellis had sold Cowans, then aged 25, to Bari for £500,000 at the end of the 1984-85 season as part of his nonsensical dismantling of Villa’s League and European Cup winning squad.