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.

Tony Barton's Villa 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, reigning European Champions, 🟥 lose to Notts County for the second successive game, and are this time hammered in the League to make it 🟩 four wins and 🟥 five losses in 🕒 nine League games this season. 

Villa fall back to 10th in the table with Peter Withe's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 penchant for dissent getting him in trouble yet again.

Centre forward Peter Withe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 is 🟥 sent off for the first time in 🕒 104 appearances in a Villa shirt and now has 🟥 one red card and 🟨 18 bookings to his name.

Left back Pat Heard 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 25th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Reserve team midfielder Robert Hopkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 gets a surprise call up to the first team for the first time in two and a half years and the first time in 127 games in what would proved to be his third & final appearance in a Villa shirt. Hopkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 would be shipped out by Tony Barton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in exchange for midfielder Alan Curbishley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 from Birmingham City and left with a record of 🟩 W1 🟨 D0 🟥 L2, ⚽ 1 Goal and 🔥 0 Assists. 

There were other records however - As a result of his scant consideration for first team selection, Hopkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 holds the record for the 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.

And Hopkins did have the memory of being the scorer of Villa's most unlikely goal until the appearance of Michael Boulding 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in 2002 after he made a 92’ appearance as a substitute "sent on, more as a token gesture”, scoring within a minute and seconds before the final whistle.