Villa play their 🕒 fourteenth game in 43 days as they beat Stoke through centre forward Andy Gray’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 first goal since March in the first of three Villa Park games to end the season. 

Villa climb back to fifth place in the table with two to play.

Wins in the final two games of the season will secure Villa’s highest finish since finishing runners up in 1932-33 having already recorded 🟩 twenty one wins, 🟨 six draws and 🟥 thirteen defeats in 🕒 forty division one games this season.

Midfielder Ivor Linton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 17 makes his debut appearance in a Villa shirt after graduating from the youth set up to become the 588th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa hammer Albion in their final game of the season as Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ⚽ scores a hat-trick to make it 29 goals in 1976-77 despite a barren two month spell. 

Andy Gray’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 final day ⚽ hat-trick means Villa finished 4th, one point off 3rd, in their best League standing since finishing runners up in 1932-33 under Billy Smith 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Villa's fourth placed finish comes despite having had to contend with significant injuries and being forced to cram fifteen games into just 50 days with little to no recovery time. 

Villa's title challenge had faltered late in the campaign but little could detract from their status as the outstanding footballing side in the division. 

Villa also end the season as record three time winners of the League Cup. 

This was just Ron Saunders’ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 third season in charge.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa finish the season with the sort of resounding win they were stacking up for fun earlier in the season. 

Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 wasn’t resting on his laurels however as he again began to reshape the squad ahead of 1977-78. 

Goalkeeper John Burridge 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 25 makes his final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Crystal Palace in March 1978 for a fee of £65,000. Although Burridge remained with the club for much of the following season he was out on loan for a period and made just a single, non-playing squad appearance. Burridge played for Villa in 1975-76 and 1976-77 making 80 appearances. 

Centre back Chris Nicholl 30 🇬🇧 makes his final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Southampton for a fee of £60,000 in June 1977. Nicholl, a fan favourite with his committed displays, played for Villa between 1971-72 and 1976-77 making 251 appearances and scoring 20 goals.

Centre forward Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 scores his ⚽ 40th goal and contributes his ⚽ 🔥 50th goal involvement in a Villa shirt after 🕒 81 appearances at a rate of one every 1.62 games.

Midfielder Alex Cropley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 contributes his ⚽ 🔥 10th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 40th appearance at a rate of one every 4.00 games.

Villa beat Fenerbahçe 🇹🇷 in the mud of Istanbul to secure a 6-0 aggregate win in the UEFA Cup but goalscorer John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 becomes the latest injury casualty after suffering concussion.

Midfielder Alex Cropley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 🕒 50th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Centre back Brendan Ormsby 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 17 and forward Adrian O'Dowd made their first appearances in a Villa squad.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his ⚽ 🔥 110th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 196th appearance (189 Starts) and makes it 🟩 W93 🟨 D51 🟥 L52, ⚽ 65 Goals and 🔥 45 Assists at a rate of one every 1.78 games.

Villa's Goodison nightmare continues as they lose successive games to Everton. 

Everton’s Terry Darracott tackles Andy Gray after 3’ to leave Villa’s No. 9 with torn knee ligaments, Gray returns on 6’ only to be hacked down by Everton’s Mark Higgins, leaving Gray with a gashed ankle, five stitches and out of the game after 8’. Neither player was cautioned. But Gordon Smith was. For a foul that didn’t remove someone from the game.

Villa make it nine wins, six draws and nine defeats in twenty four division one games this season under Ron Saunders.

Mick Buttress, 19, makes his final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Gillingham on a free transfer in March 1978. Buttress played for Villa between 1976-77 and 1977-78 making 3 appearances.

Gordon Cowans makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (36 Starts) to make it W23 D10 L17, 6 Goals and 3 Assists so far in his Villa career.

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.

Villa put in a below par performance as they 🟥 lose the midfield battle at lowly Boro.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟥 lose for the first time in 🕒 ten league games to make it 🟩 nine wins, 🟨 eleven draws and 🟥 six defeats in 🕒 twenty six division one games this season.

Midfielder Ivor Linton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his first appearance in 5 months to make it 🕒 7 appearances (3 Starts) in a Villa shirt.

Villa record their 🟩 tenth win of an injury hit season thanks to Allan Evans’ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ⚽ fourth goal of the campaign, a spectacular volley from Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and a John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 penalty but Villa have to overcome another thuggish opponent and poor refereeing to remain 8th in the table with five games in hand on 7th place.

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

Right back Gary Williams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 25th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Villa are held at home in a drab game to remain 11th in the table.

Villa make it ten wins, twelve draws and seven defeats in twenty nine division one games this season under Ron Saunders.

Gordon Cowans contributes his 20th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 96th appearance (81 Starts) to make it W42 D24 L30, 12 Goals and 8 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.80 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

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.

Villa’s Achilles heel of early concession strikes again as they concede after 47 seconds but there is no way back this time against a Liverpool side crowned champions by this victory. 

What doesn’t change however is that Villa lose a player, and are forced to play the last fifteen minutes with ten men after midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 is injured as this most injury ravaged of seasons continues to land cruel blows on Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and his squad.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose to leaders Liverpool to make it 🟩 fourteen wins, 🟨 sixteen draws and 🟥 ten defeats in 🕒 forty division one games this season.

Goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 100th appearance in a Villa shirt.

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.

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 recover from their defeat against Bristol City in their last first division match but are held by Everton at Goodison to leave them 14th in the table after four games.

Ron Saunders' Villa draw at Goodison Park and now have one win in four Division One matches this season.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 300th game in charge of Villa sees them lose in the quarter finals of the FA Cup to second division West Ham.

An injury ravaged Villa side bolstered by youngsters play for the draw but 'concede' a disputed last gasp penalty and are knocked out of the FA Cup as they pay the price for an unusual, but understandably, negative approach to the game from Ron Saunders.

Centre back Ken McNaught 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 🕒 125th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🥅 concedes his 150th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 140th appearance (1.07 per Game).

Midfielder Ivor Linton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his first appearance in 6 months to make it 🕒 15 appearances (6 Starts) in a Villa shirt.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 300th appearance in a Villa shirt (293 Starts) to make it 🟩 W136 🟨 D83 🟥 L81, ⚽ 81 Goals and 🔥 63 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one every 2.08 games.

Villa suffer a chastening defeat at home to Wolves just a couple of days after their FA Cup exit and now have one win in the last five in all competitions.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose successive matches for the first time since September to make it twelve wins, eleven draws and seven defeats in thirty League matches this season as they fall back to 8th in the table.

Injury hit Villa lose for the third successive game as their rivals for European football Southampton hit Ron Saunders’ side on the counter after having roughed Villa up in the early stages.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose three successive matches for the first time since September to make it twelve wins, eleven draws and eight defeats in thirty one League matches this season as they fall back to 8th in the table.

Villa’s difficult spell continues as the injury hit side loses for the fourth successive game in all competitions and have one win in seven. Such is the toll on the squad that Kenny Swain is forced to play the second half as striker after David Geddis becomes Villa’s latest injury victim.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose four successive matches for the first time this season to make it twelve wins, eleven draws and nine defeats in thirty two League matches this season.

Villa's injury crisis means they are forced to play centre back Allan Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and right back Kenny Swain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 up front but winger Tony Morley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 hits a screamer of a volley to earn Villa a point after three successive League defeats.

Villa's achilles heel of missed chances presents them taking a deserved win against the "heavily manned defence" presented by Ipswich.

Villa make it 🟩 twelve wins, 🟨 twelve draws and 🟥 nine defeats in 🕒 thirty three League matches this season under 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ron Saunders.

Midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 150th appearance in a Villa shirt (135 Starts) to make it 🟩 W63 🟨 D43 🟥 L44, ⚽ 18 Goals and 🔥 17 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.29 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Winger Tony Morley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his ⚽ 🔥 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 14th appearance at a rate of one every 2.80 games.

Injury hit Villa beat Norwich to record their 🟩 first win in 🕒 seven as they have to dip into the depths of the reserves, one of whom, Robert Hopkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 with the game already won is "sent on, more as a token gesture" in the 92' and astonishingly scores.

Villa make it 🟩 thirteen wins, 🟨 twelve draws and 🟥 nine defeats in 🕒 thirty four League matches this season. 

Left back Pat Heard 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 20 makes his debut in a Villa shirt after moving from Everton in October 1979 for a fee of £150,000 to become the 613th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Reserve team midfielder Robert Hopkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes a surprise debut in a Villa shirt from the subs bench as manager Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 looks to protect his charges from any further injuries. Happily Hopkins scores what is Villa's most unlikely goal until the appearance of Michael Boulding 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in 2002.

Centre back Ken McNaught 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 secures his 🟩 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 129th appearance.

Villa's injury hit squad continue to suffer as the threadbare side lose to Stoke but despite unfamiliar faces in the team and 🟩 one win in 🕒 seven first division games Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 side remain joint fifth in the table.

Villa 🟥 lose for the fifth time in seven to make it 🟩 thirteen wins, 🟨 twelve draws and 🟥 ten defeats in 🕒 thirty five League matches this season.

Due to the injury crisis Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 has to call on reserve team midfielder Robert Hopkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for the second successive squad and the player gets more than the single minute he took to score his unlikely goal last time out however his performance is far from impressive and he would disappear completely from view until another injury crisis two and half years later saw then manager Tony Barton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿hand the still reserve team player a third and final appearance.

As a result of his scant consideration for first team selection, Hopkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 holds the record for lowest appearance ratio of any player in the club's history having being played in just 2.34% of Villa's games played from his debut to his final appearance.

Villa, still amidst an injury crisis, beat reigning European champions Forest to jump ahead of Brian Clough’s side as the now sole incumbent of 5th place in the chase to qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟩 win for the second time in three to make it 🟩 fourteen wins, 🟨 twelve draws and 🟥 ten defeats in 🕒 thirty six League matches this season.

Midfielder Des Bremner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 scores his second ⚽ goal in a Villa shirt 🕒 34 games after his first.

Villa draw with woeful Manchester City despite utterly dominating a team searching for their first win in eighteen.

Villa have goalscorer David Geddis sent off in the final seconds as the game boils over at Maine Road due to the behaviour of perennial irritant Tueart. 

Despite dropping a point, Villa remain fifth in the table with five to play.Ron Saunders' Villa make it fourteen wins, thirteen draws and ten defeats in thirty seven League matches this season.

Villa 🟨 draw for the second successive game as their "inability to turn superiority into goals" strikes again but Ron Saunders' Villa are unbeaten in three to make it 🟩 fourteen wins, 🟨 fourteen draws and 🟥 ten defeats in 🕒 thirty eight League matches this season.

Villa remain 5th in the table with four to play.

Eamonn Deacy 🇮🇪 makes his first start and his 🕒 2nd appearance in a Villa shirt and his first in five months.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa lose for the first time in four to make it 🟩 fourteen wins, 🟨 fourteen draws and 🟥 eleven defeats in 🕒 thirty nine League matches this season but it's another shocking refereeing performance that decides the game.

The defeat however is all the more poignant as it proved to be the final game for Villa great Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

The game itself sees Villa suffer a sadly less than surprising Old Trafford refereeing injustice as Manchester United’s first goal is from a cross delivered from beyond the byeline by Steve Coppell. 

The goal comes before a thuggish Joe Jordan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 - scorer of both the home team’s goals - leaves his mark on Allan Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 

No punishment is forthcoming for the United player but Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 is eventually booked after trying to take out his retaliation. 

Villa remain fifth but have to share the place with Wolves who have played a game less than Ron Saunders’ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 side.

Centre back Brendan Ormsby 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 25th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Midfielder Des Bremner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 scores his ⚽ second goal in 🕒 four games having ⚽ scored once in his 🕒 previous 37.

Goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 150th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 26 makes his 🕒 303rd and final appearance in a Villa shirt (296 Starts) befpre retiring from football due to injury. Little was one of those players that few clubs are ever lucky enough to see and experience, an outstanding talent and servant for the club there is little doubt had injury not intervened that he would have gone on to make many 100s more appearances than the 300 with which he graced the club. Little would retire with a record of 🟩 W136 🟨 D84 🟥 L83, ⚽ 81 Goals and 🔥 63 Assists at a rate of one goal involvement every 2.10 games he played across his outstanding career.

Villa's injury crisis continues unabated as they are forced to raid the reserves again and field a side of whom seven are under the age of 21. 

Such is the desperate need for bodies that centre back Noel Blake 🇯🇲, 18, is selected to make his Villa debut after joining from Sutton Town in December 1978. Blake, on the very periphery of the youth set up becomes the 614th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football in one of the most unexpected promotions in Villa's history.

Villa 🟩 win for the second time in five and record their 🟩 first win in four to make it 🟩 fifteen wins, 🟨 fourteen draws and 🟥 eleven defeats in 🕒 forty League matches this season under Ron Saunders.

Villa remain joint 5th with five games to play, three points clear of 6th and three points behind fourth.

Midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ 20th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 157th appearance (142 Starts) to make it 🟩 W66 🟨 D45 🟥 L46, ⚽ 20 Goals and 🔥 18 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.13 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Colin Gibson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 50th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Villa's ongoing injury crisis sees a hugely edifying battle of youngsters unfold. 

Villa field a team with an average outfield age of 20, whilst Coventry have five under 21 players in their side - with both Midlands clubs eschewing the norm of imported and ageing squads. 

Both teams put on a fine attacking display that Villa 🟩 win to remain joint fifth in the first division table with one game left to play. 

Villa 🟩 win for the second game in succession and make it 🟩 sixteen wins, 🟨 fourteen draws and 🟥 eleven defeats in 🕒 forty one Division One matches this season under 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ron Saunders.

Colin Gibson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ second goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 51st appearance.

Villa finish the campaign with 🟩 sixteen wins, 🟨 fourteen draws and 🟥 twelve defeats in 🕒 forty two Division One matches under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿. 

Losing players of the calibre of Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 early in the season before losing John Deehan's goalscoring credentials 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 was always going to mean a challenging season.

But suffering an injury crisis in the latter stages of the campaign so severe that the club were forced to play peripheral reserve team players Robert Hopkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Noel Blake 🇯🇲 meant that any top ten finish was something to behold.

Villa actually sat 5th in the table on the final day but fixture congestion meant Forest and Wolves had games still to play and following their final round of matches Villa had fallen to 7th,

Right back Kenny Swain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 75th 🕒 appearance in a Villa shirt.

Villa face Berliner FC Dynamo 🇩🇪 for the first time in competitive football, Dynamo become the 118th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s seventh continental European opponents and their first from Germany 🇩🇪.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa win in Berlin thanks to two Tony Morley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 goals to take two crucial away goals and seize the advantage in the European Cup second round as Ivor Linton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 comes on as substitute to make his first appearance for Villa since Saturday, 3 May 1980.

Villa, unbeaten in twelve games in all competitions, secure a crucial first leg away win in Berlin in the second round of the European Cup as Tony Morley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores five minutes from the start and five from the end.

Forward Gary Shaw 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🔥 sets up Tony Morley’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ first goal to record his 50th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 86th appearance (84 Starts) at a rate of one goal involvement for every 1.72 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Winger Tony Morley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores his twentieth goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 80th appearance.

Midfielder Ivor Linton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his first appearance in 18 months and 61 games to make it 🕒 29 appearances (17 Starts) in a Villa shirt.

Reigning Champions Villa 🟥 lose for the second successive Division One game to make it 🟩 four wins, 🟨 seven draws and six 🟥 defeats in their title defence as surprise package Swansea go top of the table. By contrast Villa slump to seventeenth, fourteen points behind.

Midfielder Ivor Linton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 22 makes his first appearance in 2 months in what was to be his 30th & final appearance in a Villa shirt (17 Starts) before moving on to Peterborough United in July 1982. Linton had made 28 appearances in 1978-79 and 1979-80 but had to wait 61 games to make his 🕒 29th and penultimate appearances in 1981-82. Linton left with a record of 🟩 W11 🟨 D5 🟥 L14.