Villa make it four wins in five unbeaten games as Fulham draw with Preston. Villa move joint top of the table on fourteen points after ending Wrexham’s 42 game unbeaten home run, who miss a penalty, lose their goalkeeper to concussion and see a lenient refereeing performance that keeps Villa at eleven men.

Vic Crowe's Villa make it six wins, two draws and a defeat in nine division three games so far this season. 

Meanwhile, forward Dave Gibson made a goalscoring Villa debut aged 22 after moving from Leicester City earlier this month, whilst fellow former Foxes centre forward Andy Lochhead hit his fifth goal in four league games after failing to score in the previous 16 matches.

Dave Gibson delivers his third goal involvement in two games as Mick Wright proves a defensive hero after clearing off the line before leaving the field injured but despite Villa’s domination they can only draw with Rovers as future Villa winger Ray Graydon scores the equaliser to leave Vic Crowe’s side unbeaten in six but back to second in the table after Fulham’s win earlier in the week. 

Vic Crowe's Villa are held by Bristol Rovers at Villa Park to make it six wins, three draws and a defeat in ten division three games so far this season.

Villa, unbeaten in seven, struggle at Villa Park again to draw for the second successive game but Fulham are also held to leave the promotion chasing pacesetters first and second in the table with Villa trailing by a point. But Vic Crowe’s side have now played eleven third division fixtures, seven at home contributing nine points whereas their four away matches have amassed seven points suggesting improvement was needed in Villa’s home form if an immediate return to the second tier was going to happen.

Vic Crowe's Villa are held at Villa Park for the second consecutive game to make it six wins, four draws and a defeat in eleven division three games so far this season.

Villa are held by fourth division Northampton in the third round League Cup tie at the County Ground.

Vic Crowe's Villa are held in the League Cup by division four side Northampton Town.

Villa extend their unbeaten League run to eight but draw for the fourth successive game in all competitions to drop behind Bristol Rovers on goal difference and two points behind leaders Fulham. Villa though are the only side in the football league to remain unbeaten away from home and have lost just once this season.

Villa face Rochdale for the first time in competitive football, Rochdale become the 100th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football.

Vic Crowe's Villa are held once again to make it six wins, five draws and a defeat in twelve division three games so far this season.

Andy Lochhead scores his ninth goal in eleven games having failed to score in his first seventeen for the club as Villa sweep aside Northampton in the League Cup third round replay at Villa Park.

Vic Crowe's Villa beat division four side Northampton Town in the League Cup third round replay thanks to a brace from Andy Lochhead.

Villa draw for the fifth successive match in their nine game unbeaten League run to remain second in the table but they are now joined by Torquay and Bristol Rovers who all sit two points behind leaders Fulham.

Vic Crowe's Villa, although unbeaten in nine League games, and having lost just once this season are held for the fourth successive game to make it six wins, six draws and a defeat in thirteen division three games so far this season. As a result, Villa sit fourth in the table and outside of the promotion places. 

Meanwhile, midfielder Harry Gregory made his Villa debut aged 26 after moving from Charlton Athletic for a fee of £7,000 earlier this month.

Villa become the last team in the entire Football League to lose their unbeaten away record as they lose for the first time in ten third division games in poor conditions and poor discipline at Vale Park. Villa lose Mick Wright to injury at half time and are forced to reshuffle with new midfield signing Harry Godfrey moving to full back and miss out on moving into joint first place alongside leaders Fulham.

Vic Crowe's Villa fail to score for the second successive game and are beaten for just the second time this season but are now without a League win five as their indifferent form continues. As a result Villa make it six wins, six draws and two defeats in fourteen division three games so far this season.

Vic Crowe's Villa make it successive League victories for the first time since October to make it eleven wins, six draws and four defeats in twenty one division three games so far this season.

Villa win, Fulham lose and Rovers win to leave the Bristol team top of the table and Fulham and Villa joint second, two points behind. Villa’s victory comes courtesy of a third successive clean sheet and Chico Hamilton’s tenth goal of the season to make him Villa’s joint top scorer with Pat McMahon and Andy Lochhead.

Andy Lochhead scores his third goal in the League Cup in front of 10,000 travelling Villa fans, his first in eight games and picks up his third booking in 12 months meaning a trip to the FA Disciplinary Committee. Lochhead had scored after six minutes but refereeing bete noire David Smith disallowed the goal for a foul. Manchester United soon equalise but Villa were never over-awed by the first division side and deservedly booked a Villa Park replay.

Vic Crowe's Villa hold first division side United in the League Cup semi final first leg at Old Trafford as Andy Lochhead scores for the first time in nine games.

Villa are held at Plymouth but remain second in the table three points behind Bristol Rovers as Fulham lose again and drop to third. Villa though should have taken both points but another refereeing error saw a good goal disallowed as the unsighted officials ruled the ball had not crossed the line.

Vic Crowe's Villa return to League action but can only draw at Home Park to make it eleven wins, seven draws and four defeats in twenty two division three games so far this season.

Villa beat first division side Manchester United in the League Cup semi final replay to reach their third final in eleven seasons of the competition as they deservedly vanquish a tetchy, fouling United side shown extraordinary leniency by the match officials. 

Vic Crowe's Villa beat first division side United in the League Cup semi final second leg at Villa Park to win the tie on aggregate and qualify for their third League Cup final having won the trophy in 1960-61 and finished runners up in 1962-63 and in so doing become the first third tier club to ever reach an English Cup final.

Villa beat Shrewsbury to move two points clear of third placed Torquay and Preston and two points behind leaders Bristol Rovers.

As welcome as Villa’s win was, so was the return of Bruce Rioch after a 17 week absence following his double cartilage operation. Despite only playing 23 minutes, Rioch helped create Villa’s first goal and scored the second.

Villa face Shrewsbury Town for the first time in competitive football, Shrewsbury become the 104th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football.

Vic Crowe's League Cup finalists Villa play only their fifth League game in ten to make it twelve wins, seven draws and four defeats in twenty three division three games so far this season.

Villa suffer a shock defeat to fifth from bottom Walsall but remain second in the table, level on points with Fulham. 

Villa though are four points behind leaders Bristol Rovers - who they play next - and Torquay, two points behind now have two games in hand on Vic Crowe’s side.

 Villa’s defeat is however overshadowed by the news that ‘keeper John Dunn was involved in a car crash in West Bromwich the following day to leave him hospitalised.

Vic Crowe's League Cup finalists Villa open 1971 with a humiliation at Fellows Park as they fail to score for the first time in twelve games and are hammered by Walsall to make it twelve wins, seven draws and five defeats in twenty four division three games so far this season.

Villa - having scored only nine goals since January - are held to a fourth successive draw in the soaking conditions against relegation threatened neighbours Walsall. Villa remain joint third, four points off leaders Preston and three behind Fulham.

Vic Crowe's Villa draw for the fourth successive game to make it sixteen wins, twelve draws and seven defeats in thirty five division three games so far this season.

Villa win for the first time in eight third division games as Preston draw with Bristol Rovers whilst Fulham and Halifax win to leave Villa joint third with the Yorkshire side, three points off second with a game in hand.

Vic Crowe's Villa win for the first time in eight games to make it seventeen wins, thirteen draws and eight defeats in thirty eight division three games so far this season. As a result, Villa were now six points off leaders Preston North End and three behind Fulham in the second promotion spot.

Villa lose at the Goldstone to leave them with one third division win in their last nine and joint third in the table five points off the promotion places.

Vic Crowe's Villa, with one win in ten make it seventeen wins, thirteen draws and nine defeats in thirty nine division three games so far this season. As a result, Villa fall to fourth in the table behind Halifax in third on goal average, five points behind second place Fulham and six points adrift of leaders Preston North End.

Villa are held at home by relegation side Barnsley to leave them with one point from their three easter matches, one win in ten third division games and just eight points from their last 22 available having scored just nine goals in eleven matches. Villa remain joint fourth with Chesterfield, six points behind second placed Preston.

Vic Crowe's Villa have now won just once in the last eleven league games and make it seventeen wins, fourteen draws and ten defeats in forty one division three games so far this season to leave them in fifth place seven points off leaders Fulham (55) and behind Preston North End (54) Chesterfield (48) and Halifax (49).

Villa beat Rochdale - their second win in twelve third division games - and make fourth place their own but they are now five points off second placed Preston with eight points left available. Frank Upton, Villa’s youth team coach, leads the team as both Vic Crowe and Ron Wylie are a little bizarrely absent scouting new players. Villa face Preston next and must win to keep their feint hopes of a promotion place alive.

Vic Crowe's Villa win for the second time in twelve games to make it eighteen wins, fourteen draws and ten defeats in forty two division three games so far this season as they back back into fourth place and close the gap to the second promotion place to five points.

Villa’s game at Field Mill started with John Dunn knocking out Fred Turnbull and ended with their slim promotion hopes finally buried. Joint 4th, behind Bristol Rovers, Halifax, Preston and Fulham and six points off the promotion places, it’s another season in the third tier for Vic Crowe’s side.

Vic Crowe's Villa's terrible run of form since their League Cup final appearance continues having won once in thirteen games, losing four and drawing eight. As a result Villa have a record of eighteen wins, fifteen draws and eleven defeats in forty four division three games so far this season and promotion back to the second tier is now mathematically impossible.

Vic Crowe's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Villa 🟩 win for the second time in five games as they return to goalscoring form to dispatch Blackburn and make it 🟩 nine wins, 🟨 one draw and 🟥 five defeats in division three so far this campaign. 

Veteran centre forward Dave Gibson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 comes in for his first game of the season and inspires Villa to the 🟩 win to Villa fourth in the table and four points off leaders Bournemouth after 🕒 15 games.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 17 makes 🕒 his debut appearance in a Villa shirt as a 69' substitute for Gibson having impressed with the youth team to become the 555th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa four two up with ten minutes to play capitulate and allow themselves to be overrun by Vale. Despite collecting just one point, Villa climb to joint third place with Swansea but are now five points behind leaders Bournemouth and four points behind second placed Notts County who Villa face in their next game.

Vic Crowe's Villa score four for the second successive match, four away from home, but can only draw in a remarkable match with Vale. As a result Villa make it nine wins, two draws and five defeats in division three so far this campaign. 

Meanwhile, forward Mick Hoban made his debut appearance in the Villa squad debut aged 19 after joining from St. Chad's College.

Villa win in front of the fourth biggest crowd of the day in the country behind only Everton, Manchester United and Arsenal. Despite beating second placed County however, Villa fall to fourth in the table, one point behind third placed Rotherham but close the gap to their opponents to two points whilst Bournemouth’s lead at the top of the table is cut to four.

Vic Crowe's Villa score just the one but make it ten wins, two draws and five defeats in division three so far this campaign.

Villa lose to fourth division Southend in the first round of the FA Cup in a game that marks the final appearances of Tommy Hughes, Dave Gibson and Keith Bradley. For Hughes it is another difficult game after he drops the free kick that leads to Southend’s goal.

Villa face Southend United for the first time in competitive football, Southend become the 106th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football.

Vic Crowe's Villa lose in the FA Cup first round to fourth division side Southend. 

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Tommy Hughes made his final appearance aged 24, after a short, at times error strewn time with Villa. Hughes moved to Hereford United in August 1973 having made 23 appearances. 

Right back Keith Bradley also made his final Villa appearance aged 25 before moving to Peterborough in November 1972. Bradley played for Villa between 1964-65 and 1971-72 making 146 appearances and scoring twice. 

Also making their final appearance was forward Dave Gibson aged 23 before moving to Exeter in January 1972. Gibson played for Villa between 1970-71 and 1971-72 making 21 appearances and scoring once.