Ravaged by their injury list and another woeful refereeing performance, Villa's difficult start to the season on and off the pitch continues as they are well beaten by Palace to leave them nineteenth in the table.

Villa 🟥 lose for the second successive game and fail to score for the third consecutive match to make it 🟩 one win, 🟨 two draws and 🟥 three defeats in six League matches this season under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Left back Mike Pejic 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 29 makes his debut appearance in a Villa shirt after joining from Everton for a fee of £225,000 earlier this month to become the 605th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Forward Joe Ward 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 24 makes his 🕒 3rd and final appearance in a Villa shirt (2 Starts) before moving to Hibernian 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 later this month in a swap deal that brought Des Bremner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 to the club. 

Centre Forward John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 22 makes a 🕒 shock final appearance in a Villa shirt ahead of an unexpected move to West Bromwich Albion later this month for a fee of £500,000. Deehan made 140 appearances (135 starts) and not even in his prime was allowed to leave despite a record of 🟩 W58 🟨 D41 🟥 L41, ⚽ 51 Goals and 🔥 11 Assists at a rate of one goal involvement every 2.26 games.

Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 100th start in a Villa shirt (115 Appearances) to make it 🟩 W49 🟨 D30 🟥 L36, ⚽ 15 Goals and 🔥 10 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.60 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa extend their winless league run to five games as they are 🟨 held by Arsenal at Villa Park but Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 shines as Villa's new boys continue to settle in.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa fail to score for the fourth consecutive match and make it 🟩 one win, 🟨 three draws and 🟥 three defeats in 🕒 seven League matches this season as they slump to 21st place in the early Division One table. 

Midfielder Des Bremner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 27 makes his debut appearance in a Villa shirt after moving from Hibernian 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 for £275,000 plus forward Joe Ward 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 to become the 606th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Centre forward David Geddis 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 21 makes his debut appearance in a Villa shirt after joining from Ipswich Town 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for a fee of £300,000 to become the 607th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa fail to score for the fifth consecutive game but record a second successive 🟨 goalless draw as they are held by Everton in the third round of the League Cup. 

Happily however signs of form begin to show and mercifully a sensible refereeing performance is seen after weeks of woeful officiating.

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 175th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Centre back Ken McNaught 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 🕒 100th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa fail to score for the sixth consecutive match and make it 🟩 one win, 🟨 four draws and 🟥 three defeats in 🕒 eight League matches this season as they fall to 19th place in the early Division One table. 

Wantaway right back John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 25 finally and to the reflief of many, including his manager, makes his 243rd and final appearance in a Villa shirt (242 Starts) before being sold on to Everton for a fee of £650,000 in October 1979. Villa had signed Gidman from Liverpool as a trainee in August 1971 before he graduated through the youth ranks to leave behind transfer requests, discontent and a general failure to understand the team game and a record of 🟩 W101 🟨 D73 🟥 L69, ⚽ 9 Goals, 🔥 32 Assists and 🟥 3 red cards.

Centre back Ken McNaught 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 is 🟥 sent off for the first time in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 101st appearance.

Villa score for the first time in 🕒 seven games.

Villa 🟩 win for the first time in 🕒 seven League matches to make it 🟩 two wins, 🟨 four draws and 🟥 three defeats this season under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Villa climb 6 places to thirteenth in the table.

Midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 secures his 🟩 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 119th appearance (104 Starts) to make it 🟩 W50 🟨 D33 🟥 L36, ⚽ 15 Goals and 🔥 10 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.76 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Midfielder Des Bremner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 scores his ⚽ first goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 fourth appearance. 

Villa are somehow beaten as defensive howlers and an inability to take even the simplest chances sees them lose out in the League Cup third round replay at Goodison.

Right back Kenny Swain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 38th appearance.

A dominant performance by Villa but yet again goals are at a premium and another no-score draw results - their third in four league games - as Albion take a point at Villa Park to leave Ron Saunders' men 16th in the table.

Ron Saunders' Villa fail to score for the seventh time in nine games to make it two wins, five draws and three defeats in ten League matches this season as they sit in 16th place in the Division One table.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 275th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa win for the second time in three Division One games to make it 🟩 three wins, 🟨 five draws and 🟥 three defeats in eleven League matches this season to climb to 14th place in the table.

Villa extend their league unbeaten run to five.

Forward Gary Shaw 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 17 scores his first League ⚽ goal for the club on his 🕒 9th appearance (8 Starts).

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his ⚽ 🔥 50th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 180th appearance at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.60 games.

Ultra defensive Stoke are beaten at Villa Park as Ron Saunders' men extend their unbeaten league run to nine first division games. Stoke boss Alan Durban bemoans the outcome despite a series of horror tackles and negative play that was never designed to win a football match.

Ron Saunders' Villa make it nine games unbeaten in Division One to record five wins, seven draws and three defeats in fifteen League matches this season. As a result Villa climb to ninth in the table - their highest position of the season to date. 

Meanwhile, midfielder Terry Bullivant made his first appearance in the Villa squad aged 23 after his move from Fulham for a fee of £220,000 earlier this month.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his 🔥 60th assist in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 280th appearance.

Villa record their sixth goalless draw of the season to climb to 8th in the table after ten unbeaten first division games.

Ron Saunders' Villa make it ten games unbeaten in Division One to record five wins, eight draws and three defeats in sixteen League matches this season. As a result Villa climb to eighth in the table - their highest position of the season to date. 

Meanwhile, full back Eamonn Deacy made his first appearance in the Villa squad aged 21 after his move from Galway Rovers in February 1979.

An utterly shocking refereeing performance brings crowd trouble to Carrow Road and a gift of an equaliser against a dominant Villa side. 

Rightly condemned on all sides the referee, Tony Cox, would disappear from the Football League scene almost as quickly as he had appeared.

Villa draw a 🟨 second successive game to extend their unbeaten League run to eleven as they climb to a season high of 7th in the first division table.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa make it eleven games unbeaten in Division One to record 🟩 five wins, 🟨 nine draws and 🟥 three defeats in 🕒 seventeen League matches this season. 

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 is 🟥 sent off for the first time in a Villa shirt on 🕒 his 186th appearance.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 275th start in a Villa shirt.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟥 lose for the first time in 🕒 twelve Division One games to make it 🟩 five wins, 🟨 nine draws and 🟥 four defeats in 🕒 eighteen League matches this season. As a result Villa fall back to ninth in the table. 

Midfielder Terry Bullivant 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 20 makes his 🕒 debut appearance in a Villa shirt after moving from Fulham in November 1979 for a fee of £220,000 to become the 608th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Left back Mike Pejic 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 29 makes his 🕒 12th & final appearance in a Villa shirt having only joined earlier in the season before being forced to retire from football due to injury. Pejic left with a record of 🟩 W3 🟨 D6 🟥 L3.