Villa recover from their first leg defeat to beat Slaven on aggregate and reach the Intertoto semi final.

Goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, 38, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Sporting Lisbon on a free transfer earlier this month to become the 753rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Hassan Kachloul, 28, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Southampton on a free transfer earlier this month to become the 754th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Mustapha Hadji, 29, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Coventry City in exchange for forward Julian Joachim to become the 755th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Paul Merson contributes his 35th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 118th appearance (103 Starts) to make it W46 D36 L36, 16 Goals, 19 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.37 games played so far in his Villa career.

George Boateng scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 97th appearance (90 Starts) to make it W40 D31 L26, 5 Goals and 23 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie contributes his 32nd goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 148th appearance (109 Starts) to make it W63 D39 L46, 18 Goals, 14 Assists, 27 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.77 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Alan Wright secures his 125th win in a Villa shirt on his 287th appearance (283 Starts) to make it W125 D76 L86, 5 Goals, 24 Assists and 18 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Having started the season over a month earlier and already having played five competitive matches, Villa open the Premier League season with a goalless draw at White Hart Line.

Swedish international centre back and future Villa legend Olof Mellberg, 23, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Racing Santander earlier this month for a fee of £6,120,000 to become the 756th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Darius Vassell makes his 10th start in a Villa shirt on his 62nd appearance to make it W26 D13 L23, 8 Goals, 4 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career at a goal involvement rate of one for every 5.17 games played so far in his Villa career.

Villa see off Basel in the Intertoto final with a strong performance at Villa Park to secure a place in the UEFA Cup proper.

Villa's mid July start pays dividends as Juan Pablo Ángel and John Gregory lead them to UEFA Cup qualification as winners of the Intertoto Cup.

David Ginola scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 33rd appearance (17 Starts) to make it W11 D12 L10, 5 Goal, 8 Assists and 8 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.54 games played so far in his Villa career.

Juan Pablo Ángel scores his 3rd goal in a Villa shirt on his 10th start (13 Appearances) to make it W5 D3 L5, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.50 starts so far in his Villa career.

Mark Delaney makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (66 Appearances) to make it W25 D21 L20, 1 Goal, 2 Assists, 9 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it consecutive Premier League draws to open the season as they sit 14th in the early table under John Gregory.

An injury time own goal by Alpay Özalan costs Villa a first win since 1995 against Manchester United.

Croatian Forward Boško Balaban, 22, makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Dinamo Zagreb for an eye-watering fee of £7,020,000 in July and becomes the 757th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Darius Vassell scores his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 64th appearance (12 Starts) to make it W27 D14 L23, 10 Goals, 4 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.57 games played so far in his Villa career.

Villa record their first win of the Premier League season as they beat Liverpool at Anfield to climb to eighth in the table after three unbeaten games under John Gregory.

Paul Merson contributes his 20th assist in a Villa shirt on his 124th appearance (109 Starts) to make it W48 D39 L37, 17 Goals, 20 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.35 games played so far in his Villa career.

Darius Vassell contributes his 15th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 65th appearance (11 Starts) to make it W28 D14 L23, 11 Goals, 4 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.33 games played so far in his Villa career.

Olof Mellberg contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 3rd appearance to make it W1 D2 L0 and 1 Assist and 1 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to 4 games under John Gregory but can only draw to fall back to 10th in the early Premier League table.

Paul Merson makes his 125th appearance in a Villa shirt (110 Starts) to make it W48 D40 L37, 17 Goals, 20 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.38 games played so far in his Villa career.

After all their hard and early season work Villa lose in the home leg of the UEFA Cup 1st Round to leave them with it all do in Croatia.

Villa face Varteks Varaždin for the first time in competitive football, Varteks become the 147th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s 31st continental European opponents and their second from Croatia following their meeting with Slaven Belupo Koprivnica earlier in the season.

Despite a brace from Juan Pablo Ángel, Villa concede three away goals to Varteks Varaždin placing their UEFA Cup progress in the balance.

Juan Pablo Ángel scores his 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 12th start (15 Appearances) to make it W5 D4 L6, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.40 starts so far in his Villa career.

Steve Stone contributes his 15th goal involvement on his 95th appearance in a Villa shirt (70 Starts) to make it W36 D29 L30, 6 Goals, 9 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Hassan Kachloul makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (9 Starts) to make it W4 D4 L2, and 2 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it five 5 unbeaten in the League under John Gregory as they record their second win to climb to sixth in the early table.

Mustapha Hadji scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 9th appearance (3 Starts) to make it W4 D3 L2 and 1 Goals so far in his Villa career.

Dion Dublin contributes his 50th goal involvement in a Villa shirt before being sent off on his 105th appearance (95 Starts) to make it W40 D32 L33, 37 Goals, 13 Assists, 8 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.10 games played so far in his Villa career.

Hassan Kachloul makes his 10th start in a Villa shirt (11 Appearances) to make it W5 D4 L2, 2 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Despite Mustapha Hadji's injury time winner Villa are knocked out of the UEFA Cup on the away goals rule.

Mustapha Hadji makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (4 Starts) to make it W5 D3 L2 and 2 Goals so far in his Villa career.

Villa make it six unbeaten and three wins in the Premier League this season to climb to 4th in the table under John Gregory.

Juan Pablo Ángel scores his second league goal in as many games to send Villa fourth.

Peter Schmeichel makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W6 D3 L1, 7 Goals Conceded at a rate of 0.70 goals per game and 5 Clean Sheets (50%) so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie contributes his 36th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 159th appearance (120 Starts) to make it W69 D43 L47, 19 Goals, 17 Assists, 29 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.54 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Alpay Özalan makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W20 D16 L14 and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Dion Dublin scores on the stroke of half time to send Villa through to the 4th Round of the League Cup.

George Boateng makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (93 Starts) to make it W43 D31 L26, 5 Goals and 25 Bookings at a rate of a card every 4.00 games so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie secures his 70th win in a Villa shirt on his 160th appearance (121 Starts) to make it W70 D43 L47, 19 Goals, 17 Assists, 29 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.57 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Mark Delaney secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 74th appearance (58 Starts) to make it W30 D23 L21, 1 Goal, 2 Assists, 9 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa win a 3rd consecutive Premier League game to extend their unbeaten run to 7 top flight matches under John Gregor to remain 4th in the early table.

Alan Wright makes his 300th appearance in a Villa shirt (296 Starts) to make it W132 D80 L88, 5 Goals, 24 Assists and 21 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Mustapha Hadji contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 13th appearance (7 Starts) to make it W8 D3 L2, 2 Goals, 1 Assist and 3 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.33 games played so far in his Villa career.

Darius Vassell secures his 30th win in a Villa shirt on his 69th appearance (17 Starts) to make it W30 D15 L24, 13 Goals, 4 Assists, 8 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.06 games played so far in his Villa career.

Juan Pablo Ángel secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 16th start (20 Appearances) to make it W10 D4 L6, 7 Goals, 2 Assists and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.77 starts so far in his Villa career and making a mockery of those who had rendered him a failure after a 7 game goalless spell following his arrival in January 2001.Villa win a 3rd consecutive Premier League game to extend their unbeaten run to 7 top flight matches under John Gregory.

Villa lose for the first time in eight Premier League games this season to fall back to fifth in the table as the game ends in remarkable style with Villa 'keeper Peter Schmeichel scoring to reduce the deficit.

Former Villain Steve Watson opens the scoring for his new side, Villa fall three behind and Peter Schmeichel becomes the first goalkeeper to score for Villa in a professional fixture. 

Meanwhile, Schmeichel concedes three for the second time this season to make it 13 Appearances, W8 D3 L2, 1 Goal, 10 Goals Conceded at a rate of 0.77 goals per game and 7 Clean Sheets (54%) so far in his Villa career.

Alan Wright contributes his 25th assist in a Villa shirt on his 301st appearance (297 Starts) to make it W132 D80 L89, 5 Goals, 25 Assists and 21 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Jlloyd Samuel contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 21st appearance (10 Starts) to make it W9 D6 L6, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Steve Staunton makes his 275th start in a Villa shirt (286 Appearances) to make it W123 D76 L87, 19 Goals, 33 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Mark Delaney makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (59 Starts) to make it W30 D23 L22, 1 Goal, 2 Assists, 9 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa return to winning ways and rise to 3rd in the Premier League courtesy of Hassan Kachloul first goal for the club in the 9'.

Hassan Kachloul scores his 1st goal and secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 16th appearance (15 Starts) to make it W10 D4 L2, 1 Goal, 3 Assists and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Darius Vassell contributes his 5th assist in a Villa shirt on his 71st appearance (19 Starts) to make it W31 D15 L25, 13 Goals, 5 Assists, 8 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.94 games played so far in his Villa career.

Villa climb to the top of the table after securing a fifth win in six Premier League games under John Gregory and 1 defeat in 10 but Chairman Doug Ellis behaves pitifully again.

Steve Staunton secures his 125th win in a Villa shirt on his 288th appearance (277 Starts) to make it W125 D76 L87, 19 Goals, 34 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Peter Schmeichel secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 15th appearance to make it W10 D3 L2, 1 Goal, 12 Goals Conceded at a rate of 0.80 goals per game and 8 Clean Sheets (53%) so far in his Villa career.

Juan Pablo Ángel contributes his 12th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 18th start (22 Appearances) to make it W11 D4 L7, 9 Goals and 3 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.50 starts so far in his Villa career. 

Mustapha Hadji secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 16th appearance (10 Starts) to make it W10 D3 L3, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 3 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.00 games played so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie makes his 125th start in a Villa shirt (164 Appearances) to make it W73 D43 L48, 19 Goals, 17 Assists, 29 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.69 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa suffer their first real setback of the season under John Gregory as they lose in the League for only the second time in 11 games and fall back to third in the table. 

Alan Wright makes his 300th start in a Villa shirt (304 Appearances) to make it W134 D80 L90, 5 Goals, 25 Assists and 21 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Meanwhile, Peter Schmeichel concedes three for the third time this season on his 16th appearance to make it W10 D3 L3, 1 Goal, 15 Goals Conceded at a rate of 0.94 goals per game and 8 Clean Sheets (50%) so far in his Villa career.

Villa are held by Boro to make it just two defeats in twelve Premier League games under John Gregory but winless in the last two as Gareth Southgate once again demonstrates his lack of class.

Juan Pablo Ángel makes his 20th start in a Villa shirt (24 Appearances) to make it W11 D5 L8, 9 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.67 starts so far in his Villa career. 

From the sublime to the ridiculous, Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu return to Villa together for the first time since their moves away to "win trophies" at 13th placed Middlesbrough who narrowly avoided relegation in 2000-01. They paid well though.

Villa draw for the second successive game to make it two defeats in thirteen Premier League games under John Gregory.

Villa extend their winless run to 3 League games under John Gregory and fall to 5th in the table after 12 games.

Hassan Kachloul contributes his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 20th appearance (19 Starts) to make it W10 D7 L3, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie makes his 125th start in a Villa shirt (164 Appearances) to make it W73 D43 L48, 19 Goals, 17 Assists, 29 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.69 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

George Boateng makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (107 Appearances) to make it W46 D33 L26, 5 Goals and 25 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Steve Stone makes his 100th appearance in a Villa shirt (73 Starts) to make it W39 D31 L30, 7 Goals, 9 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Darius Vassell makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (23 Starts) to make it W32 D17 L26, 14 Goals, 5 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.95 games played so far in his Villa career.

Juan Pablo Ángel makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (21 Starts) to make it W11 D6 L8, 9 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.08 games played so far in his Villa career. 

John Gregory weakens his team too much to allow second tier side Wednesday to win at Villa Park and knock Villa out of the League Cup.

Villa fail to score for the 3rd time in 4 games under John Gregory as they're knocked out of the League Cup by first division Wednesday.

Olof Mellberg makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W3 D5 L2, 1 Assist and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie suffers his 50th defeat in a Villa shirt on his 168th appearance (129 Starts) to make it W73 D45 L50, 19 Goals, 17 Assists, 30 Bookings and 3 Red Cards so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose successive games in all competitions for the first time this season as Villa make it four Premier League games without a win under John Gregory after their fine start to the campaign.

Villa fail to score for the 4th time in 5 matches under John Gregory as they lose at home to second from bottom Leicester. 

Embarrassing as the result was, the match also, fittingly, featured the end of another wretched and embarrassing episode with the utterly ill-fitting and ill-disciplined David Ginola, 34, making his 41st and final appearance in a Villa shirt (19 Starts). Ginola had brought his melodrama to the club for a scarcely believable £3m and was as unwelcome and unwanted as his attitude was bad. Ginola, a classic example of the Herbert Douglas Ellis strategy of making a single ‘marquee’ signing, regardless of team fit, despite more pressing needs elsewhere in the squad, was released on a free transfer to Everton in February 2002. Ginola left with a record of W13 D14 L14, 5 Goals, 8 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.15 games played so far in his Villa career.

Steve Stone makes his 75th start in a Villa shirt (102 Appearances) to make it W39 D31 L32, 6 Goals, 9 Assists and 13 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Alpay Özalan makes his 60th and final appearance under John Gregory as injury puts paid to his season having made it W24 D18 L18 and 15 Bookings so far in his Villa career. Gregory would walk out on the club in February 2002 and his successor Graham Taylor would take a very different approach to the always combustible Özalan.

Villa record their first win in 7 league games under John Gregory as the Villa crowd's frustration with the parsimonious and counter productive Ellis regime was beginning to become all engrossing.

Steve Staunton contributes his 35th assist in a Villa shirt on his 294th appearance (282 Starts) to make it W126 D77 L91, 19 Goals, 35 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Paul Merson secures his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 131st appearance (115 Starts) to make it W50 D42 L39, 18 Goals, 21 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.36 games played so far in his Villa career.

Jlloyd Samuel secures his 10th win in a Villa shirt on his 24th appearance (12 Starts) to make it W10 D7 L7, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Right back Jonathan Bewers, 21, makes his 6th and final squad appearance for Villa as an unused substitute before moving on to Notts County on a free transfer in June 2004.

Villa's strange couple of months continues as they lose for the fourth time in eight Premier League games since taking top spot in late October to sit 8th in the table under John Gregory.

Despite Juan Pablo Ángel's third goal in two games Villa make it just one victory under John Gregory in the last 7.

To make matters more painful it is a malcontent from a previous season who does the damage but fair play to Benito Carbone who declines to celebrate after belatedly realising what he is missing.

Peter Schmeichel concedes 3 goals for the 4th time this season on his 22nd appearance to make it W11 D5 L6, 1 Goal, 23 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.05 goals per game and 9 Clean Sheets (41%) so far in his Villa career.

Dion Dublin makes his 100th start in a Villa shirt (119 Appearances) to make it W46 D34 L39, 39 Goals, 15 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 2.20 games played so far in his Villa career.

Juan Pablo Ángel contributes his 15th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 24th start (28 Appearances) to make it W12 D6 L10, 12 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.60 starts so far in his Villa career. 

Jlloyd Samuel makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (13 Starts) to make it W10 D7 L8, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

A questionable refereeing performance sees Villa beaten by a poor Liverpool outfit to make it one win in nine Premier League games and five defeats to sit 8th in the table.

Villa's dreadful run now extends to 10 games with 6 defeats and a single victory under John Gregory since the start of November.

Referee D'Urso gifts Liverpool the game and Villa get a shrug of the shoulders and John Gregory sent off after a Schmeichel clearance hits the referee, bounces to the Liverpool player, who fires the ball unchallenged into an empty net.

Peter Schmeichel concedes his 25th goal in a Villa shirt on his 23rd appearance and is now without a clean sheet in 6 games to make it W11 D5 L7, 25 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.09 goals per game and 9 Clean Sheets (39%) so far in his Villa career.

Juan Pablo Ángel makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (29 Starts) to make it W12 D6 L11, 12 Goals, 3 Assists and 2 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.67 starts so far in his Villa career.

Darius Vassell makes his 25th start in a Villa shirt (81 Appearances) to make it W33 D18 L30, 14 Goals, 5 Assists, 9 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.26 games played so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie scores his 20th goal in a Villa shirt on his 174th appearance (134 Starts) to make it W74 D46 L54, 20 Goals, 17 Assists, 31 Bookings and 3 Red Cards so far in his Villa career at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.83 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa end 2001 in 8th place in the Premier League table but with just one win in ten since topping the table in October.

Juan Pablo Ángel hits an injury time penalty but Villa can only draw meaning it is now 1 win in 11 under John Gregory.

Lee Hendrie makes his 175th appearance in a Villa shirt (135 Starts) to make it W74 D47 L54, 20 Goals, 17 Assists, 31 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.86 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa open 2002 as they ended 2001 with a draw to leave them down in ninth in the Premier League table after one win in eleven under John Gregory.

Late goals had proven a common theme under John Gregory and once again Villa conceded in the final minutes of a game to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory, as a result Villa extend their run to one win in twelve.

Peter Schmeichel makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W11 D7 L7, 27 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.08 goals per game and 9 Clean Sheets (36%) so far in his Villa career.

Hassan Kachloul makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (23 Starts) to make it W10 D9 L6, 2 Goals, 3 Assists and 3 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Darius Vassell contributes his 20th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 83rd appearance (27 Starts) to make it W33 D20 L30, 14 Goals, 6 Assists, 10 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.15 games played so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose in the FA Cup third round against Manchester United despite being two goals to the good with 13' left to play as the victors celebrate like they've won the League, Cup and Champions League treble on one night.

Villa go two goals up only to lose as heartbreak in the FA Cup causes seismic reactions around Villa Park. 

Peter Schmeichel concedes 3 goals for the 5th time this season on his 26th appearance and is now without a clean sheet in 9 games to make it W11 D7 L8, 1 Goal, 30 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.15 goals per game and 9 Clean Sheets (35%) so far in his Villa career.

Paul Merson makes his 135th appearance in a Villa shirt (119 Starts) to make it W50 D43 L42, 18 Goals, 22 Assists, 7 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 3.38 games played so far in his Villa career.

Villa record only their 2nd win in 14 games and 1st in 5 Premier League matches under John Gregory but rise back to 7th in the table.

Meanwhile, a frustrated Gregory makes a pointed dig at the 'speculative' way the club is run.

Ian Taylor contributes his 55th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 267th appearance (236 Starts) to make it W114 D70 L83, 39 Goals, 16 Assists, 47 Bookings and 2 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.85 games played so far in his Villa career.

Darius Vassell scores his 15th goal in a Villa shirt on his 85th appearance (29 Starts) to make it W34 D20 L31, 15 Goals, 6 Assists, 11 Bookings and 1 Red Card at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.05 games played so far in his Villa career.

Steve Staunton makes his 300th appearance in a Villa shirt (288 Starts) to make it W127 D79 L94, 19 Goals, 35 Assists, 16 Bookings and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Lee Hendrie secures his 75th win in a Villa shirt on his 178th appearance (138 Starts) to make it W75 D48 L55, 20 Goals, 17 Assists, 31 Bookings and 3 Red Cards at a goal involvement rate of one for every 4.94 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Having won just once in the previous 13 games, Villa, in typical John Gregory boom or bust style, had now won 2 in 2 thanks once again to striking duo Juan Pablo Ángel and Darius Vassell.

Yet there would be no more John Gregory as the manager’s relationship with the always difficult, and often incompetent, Ellis regime finally came to a head and Gregory walked. 

Gregory had taken Villa on a number of occasions to the top of the Premier League and always wanted that extra player to drive Villa on to the title - something that was never forthcoming from the Chairman.

Indeed Gregory’s early record as Villa boss saw him eclipse all his predecessors but a raft of dressing room fall outs, odd over priced signings and an apparently toxic relationship with the Chairman took the shine off Gregory’s reign and stymied his potential. 

Still however Gregory is looked on with great affection and his era can be reasonably viewed as the cross-over from club to player power and his reaction to the change - albeit understandable - wasn’t a recipe for dressing room harmony. 

The likes of Yorke, Southgate, Ehiogu and James are just a few of the names whose careers were created and or rescued by Villa only for them to bite the hands that fed them. 

Unsurprisingly the combustible Gregory gave such attitudes and players short shrift. 

Overall Gregory led Villa for 189 eventful games and left with a win rate of 44% delivering 1.58 points per game - the best record for a Villa boss since Graham Taylor - and the best top flight record since Ron Saunders.

In a different era John Gregory would and probably could have achieved significantly more.

As a result of Gregory's departure, Villa face a leadership vacuum and huge uncertainty as ironically the pressure ramps up on the individual responsible.

Juan Pablo Ángel scores his 15th goal in a Villa shirt on his 29th start (33 Appearances) to make it W14 D7 L12, 15 Goals, 4 Assists and 3 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.52 starts so far in his Villa career.

George Boateng contributes his 1st assist in a Villa shirt on his 118th appearance (110 Starts) to make it W49 D35 L34, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 26 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the first time since John Gregory's departure having drawn one and lost one under Graham Taylor but remain in 7th place.

Olof Mellberg makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it W6 D11 L8, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Mustapha Hadji makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt (17 Starts) to make it W12 D6 L7, 3 Goals, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Thomas Hitzlsperger comes off the bench to make his 2nd appearance in a Villa shirt 13 months after his debut.

The fall out from Doug Ellis' appalling own goal continues to rage as despite a first win in five since John Gregory's departure the game is overshadowed by reports that Villa scorer and much loved Juan Pablo Ángel wants out after becoming disillusioned with the running of the club.

Villa win for the 1st time in 5 to hand new boss Graham Taylor his 1st Villa victory since 1990 with Juan Pablo Ángel and Darius Vassell once again doing the damage.

George Boateng secures his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 123rd appearance (115 Starts) to make it W50 D38 L35, 5 Goals, 1 Assist and 27 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Juan Pablo Ángel contributes his 20th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 34th start (38 Appearances) to make it W15 D10 L13, 16 Goals, 4 Assists and 4 Bookings at a goal involvement rate of one for every 1.70 starts so far in his Villa career. 

Thomas Hitzlsperger makes his 1st start in a Villa shirt (3 Appearances) to make it W1 D0 L1 so far in his Villa career.