Graham Taylor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 takes change of Villa for the first time, after leaving First Division Watford - a team he had taken to ninth in the top flight the previous season - to take over freshly relegated. poorly resourced and run Villa under the dismantling regime of Herbert Douglas Ellis.. 

Villa open their second division campaign with a draw at Portman Road despite dominating as Simon Stainrod 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 misses a hat-trick of opportunities.

Graham Taylor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 embarks on a major restructure of the club to remedy the multiple poor decisions on and off the pitch since Chairman Herbert Douglas Ellis took over the club after the European Cup triumph in 1982. 

Midfielder David Hunt 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 28 makes his debut in a Villa shirt after moving from Notts County 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in June 1987 to become the 645th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Central defender Steve Sims 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 30 makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Taylor's former club Watford 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in June 1987 for a fee of £50,000 to become the 646th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Right back Kevin Gage 23 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his debut in a Villa shirt after moving from Wimbledon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in July 1987 for a fee of £110,000 to become the 647th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

With 52 fouls and five bookings it was a typical derby game but Villa were well beaten by the grittier, more motivated side.

Graham Taylor's Villa lose to near neighbours Birmingham for the third time in four derby games having not lost just once in the previous eight against the St Andrew's outfit.

Villa old boy Pat Heard 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores the opening goal for Hull from the spot, whilst future Villa midfielder Garry Parker 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 sets up the Tigers' winner as Villa slump to 22nd in the 23 team second division.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa find life in the second tier a real struggle as they record two defeats and no wins in the first three games of the season.

Winger Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 200th appearance in a Villa shirt (182 Starts).

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa remain winless in the second tier.

Villa put in an improved performance and take the lead through a 25 yarder from Kevin Gage 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 but are pegged back in the second half by fellow relegated side City to sit 20th in the second division table after four games.

Full back Kevin Gage 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ first goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 4th appearance.

Centre forward Simon Stainrod 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 28 makes his 82nd & final appearance in a Villa shirt (76 Starts) before moving on to Stoke City in December 1987 for £90,000 as Graham Taylor’s restructure began. Stainrod played for Villa between 1985-86 and 1987-88 and left with a record of 🟩 W20 🟨 D26 🟥 L36, ⚽ 26 Goals and 🔥 9 Assists.

Villa secure their 🟩 first win of the season as want-away winger Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 runs Leicester ragged and debut boy Mark Lillis 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 lobs the 'keeper to take three points from Filbert Street and climb to 16th in the second division table.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟩 win for the first time in the second tier, and first time in five.

Midfielder Mark Lillis 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 27 makes a ⚽ goalscoring debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Derby County 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 for £130,000 to become the 649th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Centre forward Malcolm Allen 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 20 makes his debut in a Villa shirt after joining on loan from Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 previous club Watford earlier this month to become the 648th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa follow their first win of the campaign with defeat to old Villa boy Bruce Rioch's Boro side who win courtesy of a second half strike from another former Villan, Paul Kerr. Villa sit 18th in the second division after 6 games.

Graham Taylor's Villa now have one win in their first six second tier games as an automatic return to the first division looks a long way off.

Villa have a headless Steve Hunt 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🟨 booked twice and 🟥 sent off within ten minutes necessitating a backs to the wall performance against a second placed Barnsley and could have even snatched all three points with ten on the pitch.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa now have 🟩 one win in their first seven second tier games as an automatic return to the first division looks a long way off.

Villa secure their 🟩 second win of the season as they make light work of Albion at the Hawthorns to climb to 16th in the second division after eight games thanks to a brace from Warren Aspinall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟩 win for only the second time in eight second tier games.

Centre back Martin Keown 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 50th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Villa record successive 🟩 wins for the first time this season and the first time under Graham Taylor 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 to climb to 11th in the second division table thanks to a 19' strike from bad boy against Barnsley, Steve Hunt.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa make it 🟩 three Division Two wins in nine.

Neale Cooper 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 23 makes his 🕒 22nd & final appearance (21 Starts) before moving on to Rangers in the summer of 1988 for a fee of £250,000. Villa had bought Cooper only 14 months earlier for £350,000 from Aberdeen and he would leave with a record of 🟩 W3 🟨 D10 🟥 L9, ⚽ 1 Goal and🔥 0 Assists.

Winger Steve Hunt 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (71 Starts).

Villa make it three successive wins in all competitions as they beat Middlesbrough at Ayresome Park in the first leg of the League Cup second round.

Graham Taylor's Villa win for the third successive game and for the third consecutive away game as they add a victory in the League Cup to two League wins.

Graham Taylor's Villa 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 make it five games unbeaten as they recover from a difficult start to life in the second tier - 🟩 one win and 🟥 three losses in their first six. 

Kevin Gage 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 hits two swerving free kicks over the Sheffield United wall, one scoring the other rattling the bar before Villa concede a second half penalty as hot-headed Martin Keown 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 errs.

Villa survive to extend their unbeaten run to five to sit 10th in the table after 10 second division games.

Centre forward Malcolm Allen 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 20 makes his 4th & final appearance in a Villa shirt before returning to Watford after his loan spell ended without him scoring.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa make it six games unbeaten - 🟨 drawing three and 🟩 winning three.

Alan McInally 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his much anticipated debut after six weeks out with injury since signing from Celtic 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 but Villa fail to 🟩 win at home for the sixth time this season as they climb a place to ninth in the second division table.

Centre forward Alan McInally 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 24 makes his debut in a Villa shirt following his move from Celtic 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 in July 1987 for a fee of £225,000 to become the 650th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Warren Aspinall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 after a slow start to his Villa career ⚽ scores his 8th goal in a Villa shirt to make it 10 goal involvements on his 🕒 23rd appearance at a rate of one every 2.30 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

An Alan McInally inspired Villa take the lead after just 70 seconds and never lose control as they climb to eighth in the table with their strongest win of the season to date.

Graham Taylor's Villa make it seven games unbeaten and win their fourth in six.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa make it eight games unbeaten and win their fifth in seven in all competitions as Paul Birch's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 goal settles the League Cup tie with Boro.

For the second successive game Villa ⚽ score within 80 seconds of the start but Alan McInally 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 is 🟥 sent off by a tetchy referee in the first half for refusing to give his name following a booking for a disputed foul.

Villa though hold on for the win to progress to the third round of the League Cup.

Centre forward Alan McInally 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 is 🟥 sent off on his 🕒 3rd appearance in a Villa shirt.

Midfielder Warren Aspinall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 25th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Villa 🟩 win six consecutive away games for the first time since the double winning season of 1896-97.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to nine as they climb to 6th in the table with a strong second half fightback against Leeds.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟩 win their sixth in eight.

Midfielder Warren Aspinall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 26th appearance (24 Starts).

Full back Kevin Gage 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 creates Warren Aspinall’s ⚽ second goal to contribute his 5th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 15th appearance.

Winger Steve Hunt 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 75th start in a Villa shirt (79 Appearances).

Villa become the first club to score 6,000 goals in League football 

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa make it ten games unbeaten as they draw with Bournemouth at Villa Park.

Villa fail to win at home for the seventh game as Nigel Spink 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 suffers a problematic day.

Winger Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores to contribute his 80th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 213th appearance (195 Starts) and make it 🟩 W80 🟨 D52 🟥 L81, ⚽ 45 Goals & 🔥 35 Assists at a rate of one goal involvement for every 2.66 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Villa take a second minute lead for the third time in five games as Palace are destroyed by a Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 hat-trick to send Villa 5th in the second division table.

Graham Taylor's Villa 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 make it eleven games unbeaten as they hammer Palace at Villa Park to record their 🟩 seventh win in ten. 

Winger Steve Hunt 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 31 makes his 81st & final appearance in a Villa shirt (77 Starts) before retiring from football. Hunt had played for Villa in two spells in 1975-76 and 1986-88 and left with a record of 🟩 W25 🟨 D24 🟥 L32, ⚽ 9 Goals and 🔥 6 Assists.

Winger Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores his first ever hat-trick in a Villa shirt and scores two or more goals in a game for the 5th time in 214 appearances (196 Starts).

Graham Taylor's Villa make it twelve games unbeaten.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to twelve as they climb to fourth in the second division table but are held at the Victoria Ground as tempers fray off the pitch as the Chairman once again is accused of idiotic interference in team matters.

Villa beat top flight Spurs 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in a rousing League Cup third round performance at Villa Park.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa make it thirteen games unbeaten as they record their eighth win in twelve. Villa's latest scalp is Tottenham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 who sit in eighth place in Division One.

Centre forward Alan McInally 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 scores his ⚽ first goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 7th appearance.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to thirteen as Andy Blair scores after a 14-month lay off with injury to help secure victory over Reading as Villa remain fourth in the second division table.

Graham Taylor's Villa make it fourteen games unbeaten as they record their ninth win in thirteen. 

Meanwhile, Mark Burke made his final appearance for Villa aged 18 before moving on to Middlesbrough in December 1987 for a fee of £50,000. Burke played for Villa in 1986-87 and 1987-88 making 7 appearances.

Despite a poor refereeing performance and being reduced to ten men, Villa climb to second in the second division table after equalling their best post war unbeaten run of fifteen games.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa record their 🟩 tenth win in fourteen.

Midfielder Andy Blair 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 contributes his 🔥10th assist on his 🕒 65th appearance in a Villa shirt (50 Starts).

Winger Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 is 🟥 sent off for the first time in his Villa career on his 🕒 217th appearance in a Villa shirt (199 Starts).

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa lose for the first time in sixteen games.

Martin Keown 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores from a Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 shimmy and cross on 25' but by that time Villa, unbeaten in their last fifteen, are two down to lowly Millwall on the way to their first defeat since September.

Winger Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 200th start in a Villa shirt (218 Appearances).

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa are hammered in the meaningless Simod Cup in front of a crowd so small it is barely worth recording.

Midfielder Paul Birch 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 150th appearance in a Villa shirt (141 Starts).

Midfielder Mark Burke 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 18 makes his 8th & final appearance in a Villa shirt (5 Starts) before moving on to Middlesbrough for £50,000 in December 1987. Burke left with a record of 🟩 W2 🟨 D2 🟥 L4, ⚽ 0 Goals and 🔥1 Assist.

Villa recover from their first defeat in thirteen League games to beat Oldham and climb back to fourth in the table having collected 23 points from a possible 30 away from home so far this season,

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa have now lost just once in fourteen Division Two games, winning eight.

Winger Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🔥 sets up Garry Thompson’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ second goal to record his 85th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 220th appearance (202 Starts).

Bernie Gallacher 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 25th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa lose in the League Cup to first division side Sheffield Wednesday. 

Thuggish first division Wednesday see the ever angry Gary Merson sent off for either his high dangerous kick at Paul Birch 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 or his forearm in the face of Mark Lillis 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 before Tony Galvin’s elbow on Andy Blair 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

The ten men though score a late winner created by Galvin, who wouldn’t, if a better referee than George Courtney was in charge, have been on the pitch. 

Full back Kevin Gage 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 25th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Central defender Steve Sims 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 25th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Midfielder Andy Blair 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 27 makes his 🕒 69th & final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Kidderminster Harriers in 1989. Blair played for Villa in two spells between 1981-82 and 1987-88 and finally left with a record of 🟩 W31 🟨 D13 🟥 L25, ⚽ 2 Goals and 🔥 10 Assists.

Villa beat leaders Bradford 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 to climb back to third in the division two table after 21 games.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa have now 🟥 lost just once in fifteen Division Two games, 🟩 winning nine as Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Stuart Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 make their debuts. 

Midfielder Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 23 makes his debut in a Villa shirt after arriving from Crystal Palace 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 earlier this month for a fee of £150,000 to become the 651st player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Stuart Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 27 makes a ⚽ goalscoring debut in a Villa shirt after joining from Barnsley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 earlier this month for a fee of £175,000 to become the 652nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa have now 🟥 lost just once in sixteen Division Two games, 🟩 winning ten.

Garry Thompson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his fourth in three games as he benefits from the burgeoning relationship being built between new signing Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Warren Aspinall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, as the former's forward thinking passing enables the winger to make angled runs into the penalty area of panicked opposition.

Centre forward Garry Thompson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ⚽ scores his 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 42nd appearance (41 Starts) to makes it 🟩 W11 🟨 D12  🟥 L19, ⚽ 11 Goals and 🔥 5 Assists so far in his Villa career at a Game per Goal rate of 3.82.

Garry Thompson hits a second successive brace to make it six in four games as Villa make it nine away victories out of twelve and remain third in the second division table, four points off first place.

Graham Taylor's Villa have now lost just once in seventeen Division Two games, winning eleven.

Villa extend their unbeaten League run to four but are held to a home goalless draw by Albion as they remain third in the division two table, three points off the top,

Graham Taylor's Villa have now lost just once in eighteen Division Two games.

Villa extend their unbeaten League run to five but are held for the second successive game to fall back to fourth in the division two table, four points off the top,

Graham Taylor's Villa have now lost just once in nineteen Division Two games, winning eleven but had now drawn seven including the last two.

Villa are held for the third consecutive game but climb back to third in the second division, three points off the top, as a notoriously poor referee, Paul Danson, loses control.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa end 1987 with three successive draws but had now lost just once in twenty Division Two games, winning eleven. 

Winger Mark Walters 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 23 makes his 225th & final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Glasgow Rangers later this month for a fee of £615,000. Having graduated from the Youth Team, Walters played for Villa between 1982 and 1987 leaving with a record of 🟩 W86 🟨 D56 🟥 L83, ⚽ 48 Goals and 🔥 7 Assists across his Villa career.

Graham Taylor's Villa dreadful end of the season run continues as they 🟥 lose for the sixth time in nine League games having lost just once in the previous twenty five. 

Villa take the lead only to be undone by a last minute Oldham strike, Villa however remain top by a single point.

Defender David Norton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 23 makes his 🕒 first appearance in three months, second under Graham Taylor and his 57th & final appearance in a Villa shirt before moving on to Notts County in July 1988 for a fee of £30,000. Following Norton’s promotion from the Youth Team he recorded 🟩 W18 🟨 D19 🟥 L20, ⚽ 2 Goals and 🔥 5 Assists.

Villa win successive games, beating third placed Bradford but as games in hand settle, Villa drop to third, one point and one place of the automatic promotion places and four points behind surprise champions Millwall.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa win successive games and have now lost seven in thirty seven League games winning twenty one with automatic promotion just one result away with one game to play.

Midfielder David Platt 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ 5th goal on his 🕒 10th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Full back Kevin Gage 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 50th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Full back Bernie Gallacher 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Graham Taylor's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa secure a 🟨 goal-less draw at the County Ground to earn promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt.

The Second Division Championship was however beyond them as a run of 🟥 one defeat in twenty five was followed by 🟥 six defeats in thirteen that let the title slip.

Having been first with four games to play and consistently top since January, Villa sneak through by the narrowest of margins.

Villa take second place level on points and goal difference with Boro but having scored more goals. 

Midfielder Warren Aspinall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 20 makes his 🕒 50th & final appearance for Villa before moving on to recently relegated Portsmouth in August 1988 for a fee of £350,000. Aspinall played for Villa in 1986-87 and 1987-88 after joining from Everton in February 1987 for a fee of £350,000 and left with a record of 🟩 W20 🟨 D15 🟥 L15, ⚽ 16 Goals and 🔥 4 Assists at a rate of one goal involvement every 2.50 games he had played across his Villa career.

A Tony Daley inspired Villa see Alan McInally score a brace to shock Arsenal at Highbury and climb to 5th in the early first division table under Graham Taylor.

Graham Taylor's Villa beat Arsenal at Highbury in only their second game since returning after a season out of the top flight. 

Alan McInally scores his third goal in two games as unbeaten Villa climb to 5th in the early table.