Villa open the season with victory over Wolves as Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ⚽ scores his 50th League goal before leaving the field injured.

Midfielder Gary Shelton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his debut appearance in a Villa shirt after moving from Walsall in January 1978 for a fee of £60,000 to become the 595th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Centre forward Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 contributes his ⚽ 🔥 80th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 123rd appearance at a rate of one every 1.54 games.

Goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 keeps his ⛔ 20th clean sheet in 🕒 55 appearances in a Villa shirt (36%) whilst conceding 🥅 57 Goals (1.04 per Game).

Villa make it successive 🟩 wins at the start of the season under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 to take top spot in the early first division table.

16 year old forward Gary Shaw 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 first appearance in the Villa squad after being promoted from the youth ranks.

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 125th appearance in a Villa shirt and contributes his 🔥 30th assist for the club.

Midfielder Gary Shelton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 2nd appearance.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa lose for the first time this season as they are accused of complacency when the League leaders fall to a shock defeat at Ashton Gate.

Forward Gary Shaw 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 16 makes his debut in a Villa shirt following promotion from the Youth Team to become the 596th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa overcome the ordeal of a thuggish Wednesday side from the third tier to progress in the League Cup.

Midfielder Gary Shelton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🟩 wins it for Villa as he scores his ⚽ 2nd goal in 🕒 4 games in a Villa shirt 

Right back John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 200th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Villa are 🟨 held at home by Southampton in a game they were expected to, and should have won, but a failure to take the chances on offer leaves Villa winless in two and 6th in the table.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa make it 🟩 two wins, 🟨 a draw and 🟥 a defeat in 🕒 four division one games so far this season as they are held by Newly promoted Southampton after former Villa stalwart Chris Nicholl 🇬🇧 struck for his new club.

Centre forward Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 🕒 125th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Right back John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 200th start in a Villa shirt.

A quality strike from Tommy Craig 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 equalises the score against Everton but Villa are 🟨 held for the second successive League game at Villa Park. 

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟨 draw at home to make it 🟩 three wins, 🟨 two draws and 🟥 a defeat in 🕒 six division one games so far this season.

Right back Gary Williams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 17 makes his debut in a Villa shirt to become the 598th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa lose on the road for the second time this season as an injury hit Villa are beaten at Loftus Road to sit 7th in the table.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose as David Evans makes his third and final appearance for Villa aged 20 before moving to Halifax Town in June 1979. As a result, Villa make it three wins, two draws and two defeats in seven division one games so far this season.

Amidst an injury crisis Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟥 lose a second successive game for the first time this season to make it 🟩 three wins, 🟨 two draws and 🟥 three defeats in 🕒 eight division one games with midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 injured during the match joining goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, centre back Allan Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, full backs John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Gordon Smith 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, midfielders Gary Shelton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Alex Cropley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, winger Frank Carrodus 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and centre forward Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 in the treatment room. 

Centre forward John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 100th start in a Villa shirt.

Injury ravaged Villa can only 🟨 draw with second division high flyers Palace in the League Cup third round ahead of a Selhurst Park replay.

Villa looked to be coasting to a comfortable win against second tier Palace when former ‘keeper John Burridge 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 who left the club seven months ago saved Tommy Craig’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 spot kick before the referee awarded a disputed hand ball penalty for Palace to equalise the score. 

The referee went on to clamp down on dissent but continually overlooked the brutal challenges on and off the ball that Palace were inflicting on the home players. 

Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 didn’t need any more ammunition for his post match outburst.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ 75th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 248th appearance (241 Starts) to make it 🟩 W114 🟨 D65 🟥 L69, ⚽ 75 Goals and 🔥 52 Assists at a rate of one goal every 3.31 games.

Villa, hardly in the best of form themselves, put four past Wolves at Molineux without reply to climb back to ninth in the first division table under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Villa 🟩 win for the first time in four make it 🟩 five wins, 🟨 five draws and 🟥 four defeats in 🕒 fourteen division one games this season.

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 141st appearance.

Midfielder Gary Shelton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ 3rd goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 10th appearance.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his ⚽ 🔥 130th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 255th appearance (248 Starts) and makes it 🟩 W117 🟨 D67 🟥 L71, ⚽ 75 Goals and 🔥 56 Assists at a rate of one every 1.95 games.

Villa win their first home game since the opening day with a brace of excellent goals from John Deehan and Gordon Cowans but the game is overshadowed by the thuggish play of the Bristol team who inflict GBH on Allan Evans before Joe Royle kicks the Villa defender in the back and walks off the pitch before being sent off.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟩 win consecutive matches to make it 🟩 six wins, 🟨 five draws and 🟥 four defeats in 🕒 fifteen division one games this season. 

Full back / midfielder Colin Gibson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 18 makes his debut appearance in a Villa shirt after graduating from the youth set up to become the 601st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa are beaten by two Southampton goals in 80 seconds before more injury woe requires a personnel shift. 

Devoid of rhythm, Villa need a second half Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 penalty save from Alan Ball to prevent an even bigger defeat.

Ron Saunders' Villa 🟥 lose for the first time in three to make it 🟩 six wins, 🟨 five draws and 🟥 five defeats in 🕒 sixteen division one games this season.

Goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 75th appearance in a Villa shirt.

A simply unbelievable refereeing performance gifts Derby an undeserved goalless draw. 

Kenny Swain legitimately puts Villa ahead from a John Deehan cross on 9’ but the ball exits the goal through a hole in the net. The referee, Derek Richardson - described as having an “undistinguished match” - delayed the game for two minutes, inspected the net, called for repairs, was surrounded by Derby players, consulted his linesman and ruled Swain's strike out for a non-existent offside. 

Richardson would refuse to discuss his performance and decisions following the game much to the chagrin of the gathered press corps.

Ron Saunders' Villa go four games unbeaten to make it seven wins, eight draws and five defeats in twenty division one games this season.

Villa miss out on their sixth away victory of the season as Everton hit a last gasp equaliser at Goodison despite being outplayed by Ron Saunders’ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 patchwork side. 

As the injury crisis continues unabated Villa played Allan Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 as centre forward alongside Kenny Swain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 but still were in the ascendancy throughout.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa go six games unbeaten in the league to make it 🟩 seven wins, 🟨 ten draws and 🟥 five defeats in 🕒 twenty two division one games this season.

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 150th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Villa concede a penalty at Old Trafford to hand Manchester United a lucky point - as they fall back to twelfth in the table.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to seven League games to make it 🟩 seven wins, 🟨 eleven draws and 🟥 five defeats in 🕒 twenty three division one games this season under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Villa have three and in some cases five games in hand over their rivals.

Forward Joe Ward 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 24 makes his 🕒 debut appearance in a Villa shirt after joining from Clyde 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 in December 1978 for a fee of £80,000 to become the 603rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 75th start in a Villa shirt (90 Appearances) to make it 🟩 W39 🟨 D23 🟥 L28, ⚽ 11 Goals and 🔥 7 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 5.00 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Forward Kevin Ready 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his sole appearance in the Villa squad after signing from Yarmouth for £2,000.

Right back Kenny Swain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ first goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 6th appearance.

The utter insanity of Villa’s injury ravaged season gains in intensity as right back John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 is hospitalised for a dressing room injury with fears he has severed an artery whilst centre back Ken McNaught 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 is forced to leave the field of play on 40’ for his own hospital visit for an x-ray on his ankle injury. 

Centre forward John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 has to line up in central defence just to keep Villa at XI in the second half. 

Against that backdrop Villa achieve the remarkable and remain joint 10th in the table with between three and five games in hand on those above them.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa record successive 🟩 victories to make it 🟩 twelve wins, 🟨 fourteen draws and 🟥 nine defeats in 🕒 thirty five division one games this season.

Midfielder Gary Shelton’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 strong start to his Villa career continues as playing his first game in two monthe he scores his ⚽ 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 16th appearance.

Midfielder Alex Cropley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 🕒 75th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Centre forward John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 125th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Ron Saunders' Villa record 🟩 three successive victories for the first time this season to make it 🟩 thirteen wins, 🟨 fourteen draws and 🟥 nine defeats in 🕒 thirty six division one games.

Villa climb to 9th in the table.

Midfielder Gary Shelton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores a hat-trick to make it 8 goals in 17th appearances in a Villa shirt as it looks like Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 has uncovered another gem.

Villa concede a lackadaisical early goal for the second successive game before once again fighting back in the second half to secure a fourth successive League win and climb back to 8th in the table.

Ron Saunders' Villa record four successive victories for the first time this season to make it fourteen wins, fourteen draws and nine defeats in thirty seven division one games.

For the third time this season Villa surrender a 2-0 lead as Ipswich fight back to take a point at Villa Park.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa make it five unbeaten and 🟩 four victories to make it 🟩 fourteen wins, 🟨 fifteen draws and 🟥 nine defeats in 🕒 thirty eight division one games.

Centre forward John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores his 50th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 128th appearance.

From the first game of the season to the last home game of the season, injuries had bedevilled Villa and this game was no different as Allan Evans was forced to leave the pitch with a gashed head, just days after Gordon Cowans had done leaving Villa with 10 men at champions Liverpool. Again Ron Saunders is forced into a mid match formation and tactical change as Villa lose for a second successive game and the end of the season can’t come soon enough, if for nothing else but to allow the squad recovery time ahead of 1979-80.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose a second successive game to make it fourteen wins, sixteen draws and eleven defeats in forty one division one games this season.

Villa open 1979-80 with a draw at Burnden Park.

Winger Tony Morley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 24 makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Burnley in June 1979 for a fee of £220,000 to become the 604th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ 15th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 108th appearance (93 Starts) to make it 🟩 W47 🟨 D29 🟥 L32, ⚽ 15 Goals and 🔥 9 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.50 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Meanwhile “Villa leave out £2m stars” is the headline from the Birmingham Daily Post as centre forward Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and right back John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 are told by Ron Saunders that their Villa careers are effectively over.

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 secures his 🟨 50th draw in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 168th appearance.

Villa open their campaign at Villa Park with 🟩 victory over Brighton to sit 7th in the early first division table.

 Midfielder Alex Cropley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 28 makes his 🕒 83rd & final appearance in a Villa shirt (81 Starts) before moving on to Portsmouth on a free transfer in September 1981. Villa had signed Cropley from Arsenal in September 1976 for a fee of £125,000 and his silky skills delivered 🟩 W45 🟨 D18 🟥 L20, ⚽ 7 Goals and 🔥 12 Assists before injury ended his Villa career.

Midfielder Lee Jenkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 first appearance in 11 months in what would be his 🕒 3rd and final appearance in a Villa shirt (0 Starts) before moving on to Port Vale in November 1980.

Midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his ⚽ 🔥 25th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 109th appearance (94 Starts) to make it 🟩 W48 🟨 D29 🟥 L32, ⚽ 15 Goals and 🔥 10 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.36 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Winger Tony Morley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores his first goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 second appearance.

An already depleted Villa lose for the first time this season as their injury list grows longer, ending the game with 10-men after Brian Little's early kidney injury and Gary Williams a second half casualty.

Villa lose for the first time this season as they are beaten at Villa Park by Bristol City.

Villa concede two goals to third tier Colchester in their League Cup second round match at Villa Park to leave the tie all square before Ron Saunders' men win through on penalties.

Ron Saunders' Villa need penalties to beat third division Colchester in the League Cup despite going into the tie with a two goal advantage.

Villa lose for the second time in three first division games as problems fester on and off the pitch. On the pitch an appalling and highly questionable refereeing performance hands the points to United and keeps Villa bay.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa lose heavily at home amidst acrimony and make it 🟩 one win, 🟨 two draws and 🟥 two defeats in 🕒 five League matches this season as they languish in 17th place.

Midfielder Gary Shelton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 25th appearance in a Villa shirt but is now without a ⚽ goal in his last 🕒 8 games following his hat-trick against Arsenal in April.

Villa record a narrow, and desperately needed, 🟩 win over second from bottom Sunderland to climb back to 14th in the table.

Villa 🟩 win for the first time in four League games to make it 🟩 six wins, 🟨 seven draws and 🟥 nine defeats after 🕒 22 matches of their title defence. 

Midfielder Gary Shelton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 first appearance for 29 months and his first 126 games as he makes his 🕒 26th and final appearance in a Villa shirt. Shelton would move on to Sheffield Wednesday in March for a fee of £50,000 and leave with a record of 🟩 W10 🟨 D10 🟥 L8, ⚽ 8 Goals and 🔥 3 Assists however all his ⚽ 🔥 goal involvements game in his first 🕒 17 games and all in the 1978-79 season, a start upon which he was unable to build.

Midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 225th start in a Villa shirt (240 Appearances) to make it 🟩 W110 🟨 D62 🟥 L68, ⚽ 33 Goals and 🔥 31 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.75 games he has played so far in his Villa career.