Villa return after a two week break between games which allows injury recovery to progress and offers an opportunity for a hopeful reset of relations with more competent officials. 

Happily for once there was no refereeing controversy but instead a “dismal” game enlightened by one John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 goal, dismal was preferable to what had gone before mind you.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa record only their 🟩 second League win in seven to make it 🟩 ten wins, 🟨 six draws and 🟥 nine defeats in 🕒 twenty five division one games this season. 

Midfielder Tommy Craig 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 🕒 debut appearance in a Villa shirt after moving from Newcastle United for a club record fee of £250,000 earlier this month.

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 secures his 🟩 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 104th appearance 

Villa record successive League wins for the first time since November to make it eleven wins, six draws and nine defeats in twenty six division one games this season under Ron Saunders.

Played in terrible conditions that only the referee - and apparently Ron Saunders - believed was appropriate for football, Villa secure victory to move back to 8th in the table for the first time since November.

Gordon Cowans secures his 25th win in a Villa shirt on his 52nd appearance (38 Starts) to make it W25 D10 L17, 6 Goals and 3 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Midfielder Gary Shelton makes his first appearance in the Villa squad aged 19 after joining from Walsall in January for a fee of £60,000.

Another three week lay off and Villa have the pleasure of a visit to neighbours Birmingham and to the shock of everyone present lose a game that saw the home side utterly outclassed. 

Villa hit the woodwork on no less than four occasions but still no breakthrough.

Ron Saunders' Villa make it eleven wins, six draws and ten defeats in twenty seven division one games this season.

John Gregory scores his first for Villa and the returning John Gidman nearly grabs the equaliser in the dying seconds but Villa are undone on the eve of their UEFA Cup Quarter Final by a disputed penalty at Carrow Road.

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

Villa win for the first time in three as Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ⚽ scores his third of the season from the penalty spot in the final seconds.

Villa beat Ipswich to make it 🟩 three wins, 🟨 a draw and 🟥 a defeat in five division one games so far this season under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Midfielder Lee Jenkins 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 17, makes his 🕒 debut appearance in a Villa shirt as a 70' substitute having graduated from the youth ranks to become the 597th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Gordon Cowans makes his 🕒 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (61 Starts) to make it 🟩 W36 🟨 D16 🟥 L23, ⚽ 10 Goals and 🔥 5 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 5.00 games he has played so far in his Villa career. 

Centre forward Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 🕒 125th start in a Villa shirt.

A quality strike from Tommy Craig 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 equalises the score against Everton but Villa are 🟨 held for the second successive League game at Villa Park. 

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟨 draw at home to make it 🟩 three wins, 🟨 two draws and 🟥 a defeat in 🕒 six division one games so far this season.

Right back Gary Williams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 17 makes his debut in a Villa shirt to become the 598th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Villa lose on the road for the second time this season as an injury hit Villa are beaten at Loftus Road to sit 7th in the table.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose as David Evans makes his third and final appearance for Villa aged 20 before moving to Halifax Town in June 1979. As a result, Villa make it three wins, two draws and two defeats in seven division one games so far this season.

Amidst an injury crisis Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟥 lose a second successive game for the first time this season to make it 🟩 three wins, 🟨 two draws and 🟥 three defeats in 🕒 eight division one games with midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 injured during the match joining goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, centre back Allan Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, full backs John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Gordon Smith 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, midfielders Gary Shelton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Alex Cropley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, winger Frank Carrodus 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and centre forward Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 in the treatment room. 

Centre forward John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 100th start in a Villa shirt.

Injury ravaged Villa can only 🟨 draw with second division high flyers Palace in the League Cup third round ahead of a Selhurst Park replay.

Villa looked to be coasting to a comfortable win against second tier Palace when former ‘keeper John Burridge 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 who left the club seven months ago saved Tommy Craig’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 spot kick before the referee awarded a disputed hand ball penalty for Palace to equalise the score. 

The referee went on to clamp down on dissent but continually overlooked the brutal challenges on and off the ball that Palace were inflicting on the home players. 

Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 didn’t need any more ammunition for his post match outburst.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ 75th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 248th appearance (241 Starts) to make it 🟩 W114 🟨 D65 🟥 L69, ⚽ 75 Goals and 🔥 52 Assists at a rate of one goal every 3.31 games.

With Villa’s injury crisis not improving the club applied to the League to postpone their weekend fixture with Arsenal only for the League’s Alan Hardaker to refuse the request out of hand. 

To compound the insult Hardaker visited Highbury to watch a decimated Villa, forced to field players carrying injury and barely fit, face off against a full strength Arsenal side. 

Happily for Villa, Arsenal were awful and John Gregory’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 late equaliser gave Villa a deserved point to help them climb to 10th in the table.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa end a run of two league defeats to make it 🟩 three wins, 🟨 three draws and 🟥 three defeats in 🕒 nine division one games this season.     

Meanwhile, 18 year old midfielder Ian Hendry 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his first appearance in the Villa squad having joined from Eastercraigs 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his ⚽ 🔥 40th goal involvement in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 134th appearance at a rate of one every 3.35 games.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa can't beat second division high flyers Palace in the League Cup third round at the second attempt but it's referee Mike Taylor who takes all the headlines.

The referee over-reacted to any transgression no matter how small leaving the whole game to play out on a tight-rope of tension. 

An already injury ravaged Villa side then lose Ken McNaught 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 before half time with cartilage damage before Taylor 🟥 sends off Allan Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 after 78 minutes. 

John Gregory 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 is forced to play as a striker as the game ends in a goalless draw meaning a second replay, this time at Highfield Road, and the cancellation of John Robson’s testimonial.

Centre back Brendan Ormsby 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 18 makes his debut appearance in a Villa shirt as a 38' substitute for Ken McNaught 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 having graduated through the youth ranks to become the 599th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

John Gregory hits a first half brace to put Villa two up but Manchester United make a second half comeback to hold Ron Saunders' side who post a fourth successive draw.

Ron Saunders' Villa make it three wins, four draws and three defeats in ten division one games this season as winger Willie Young makes his Villa debut aged 20 after moving from Arthurlie in July 1978 for a fee of £9,000.

Villa beat Palace in the League Cup third round at the third attempt as Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 hits a brace and John Gregory 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his fourth in four games with Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 running the show.

Gray's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 second goal something to behold - taking Tommy Craig's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 difficult ball on the edge of the area, hoodwinking the defender before unleashing a brilliant 18 yard strike.

Winger Frank Carrodus made his final appearance for Villa aged aged due to injury before moving on to Wrexham in December 1979. Carrodus played for Villa between 1974-75 and 1978-79 making 196 appearances and scoring 6 goals.

Centre back Ken McNaught 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 contributes his ⚽ 🔥 10th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 66th appearance.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 250th appearance in a Villa shirt (243 Starts) to make it 🟩 W115 🟨 D66 🟥 L69, ⚽ 75 Goals and 🔥 53 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one every 1.95 games.

Villa end their epoch making run of five successive defeats against neighbours Birmingham with victory at St Andrews’ as Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 once again combine to deliver Villa’s 🟩 second win in 🕒 six unbeaten games under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa make it 🟩 four wins, 🟨 four draws and 🟥 three defeats in 🕒 eleven division one games this season as they climb back to 8th in the table.

Goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 keeps his ⛔ 25th clean sheet in 🕒 69 appearances in a Villa shirt (36%) whilst conceding 🥅 68 Goals (0.99 per Game).

Villa suffer a shock defeat to an uncompromising Boro side in front of a Friday night gate of 32,614. Boro take the lead before having a player sent off and Andy Gray missing a penalty for Villa as Ron Saunders’ side couldn’t capitalise on their man advantage and seal a first defeat in seven.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose for the first time in seven to make it four wins, four draws and four defeats in twelve division one games this season. Meanwhile, Willie Young made his third and final appearance for Villa aged 22 just a fortnight after his debut before moving on to Torquay United in October 1981.

Villa are held at home to leave them with one League win at Villa Park this season as Ron Saunders’ already depleted squad suffers fresh injury trouble as Jimmy Rimmer needs treatment three times during the game before leaving the ground with a heavily strapped knee. John Gidman also suffered a hip injury in the same 44’ incident as Rimmer causing his late substitution but John Deehan’s first of the season puts Villa ahead before a penalty equaliser pegs them back for the draw.

Ron Saunders' Villa make it four wins, five draws and four defeats in thirteen division one games this season. Meanwhile, Leighton Phillips made his final Villa appearance aged 29 before moving to Swansea City later this month. Phillips played for Villa between 1974-75 and 1978-79 making 175 appearances and scoring 4 goals.

Villa are beaten at home by second division Luton in the fourth round of the League Cup after another injury ravaged night for Ron Saunders’ side who lost Andy Gray on 12’ with damaged knee ligaments as Luton record their first away victory in eleven months.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose to second division strugglers Luton in the League Cup having needed three attempts to get past fellow second tier side Palace in the previous round.

Villa are held at the Hawthorns in the 107th Villa-Albion game. It's a game they should have won as Dennis Mortimer runs the game and debutant Gary Shaw runs the home team ragged. Villa are pegged back by a questionable first half penalty only to then have a late penalty for a foul on Shaw refused.

Ron Saunders' Villa make it six wins, six draws and five defeats in seventeen division one games this season.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa 🟩 win for the first time in three to make it 🟩 seven wins, 🟨 six draws and 🟥 five defeats in 🕒 eighteen division one games this season. 

A still injury ravaged Villa luck in at Stamford Bridge as they benefit from a curious power play between referee and linesman as Allan Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 strikes from an offside position to put Villa ahead with the ultimately crucial winning goal. 

Meanwhile, Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 is away busy buying in new players to try and offset the injury crisis that has plagued the club since the start of the campaign.

Full back Gordon Smith 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his final Villa appearance age 24 before moving on to Spurs in February 1979 for a fee of £150,000. Smith played for Villa between 1976-77 and 1978-79 making 96 appearances.

Centre back Ken McNaught 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 makes his 🕒 75th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Centre forward John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 secures his 🟩 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 115th appearance.

An excellent debut from Kenny Swain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 promises much but a scarcely believable rearguard action from former Villa ‘keeper Kevin Keelan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 keeps Ron Saunders’ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿men at bay and they have to settle for a point against John Bond’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 woefully negative anti-football style.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa go three games unbeaten to make it 🟩 seven wins, 🟨 seven draws and 🟥 five defeats in 🕒 nineteen division one games this season. 

Right back Kenny Swain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 26 makes his 🕒 debut appearance in a Villa shirt after moving from Chelsea for a fee of £100,000 earlier this month to become the 602nd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

A simply unbelievable refereeing performance gifts Derby an undeserved goalless draw. 

Kenny Swain legitimately puts Villa ahead from a John Deehan cross on 9’ but the ball exits the goal through a hole in the net. The referee, Derek Richardson - described as having an “undistinguished match” - delayed the game for two minutes, inspected the net, called for repairs, was surrounded by Derby players, consulted his linesman and ruled Swain's strike out for a non-existent offside. 

Richardson would refuse to discuss his performance and decisions following the game much to the chagrin of the gathered press corps.

Ron Saunders' Villa go four games unbeaten to make it seven wins, eight draws and five defeats in twenty division one games this season.

Villa rush into a two goal lead after another brace from John Gregory but Eddie Gray and Leeds mount a second half comeback and a frustrating defensive game to take a point from a game Villa should have run away with.

Ron Saunders' Villa go five games unbeaten to make it seven wins, nine draws and five defeats in twenty one division one games this season.

Villa, denied two blatant penalties by referee Pat Partridge, have John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🟥 sent off in the final stages after two second half goals from Forest in 18 minutes dumps them out of the FA Cup.

Villa had appeared in the ascendancy before Forest’s opener and after Vic Anderson deliberately handled in the box, and Frank Clark committed a neck high tackle on Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in the area a strong whiff of injustice for the Ron Saunders’ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 injury hit squad bubbled ferociously in the background.

Centre forward John Deehan 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 is 🟥 sent off on his 🕒 119th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Villa miss out on their sixth away victory of the season as Everton hit a last gasp equaliser at Goodison despite being outplayed by Ron Saunders’ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 patchwork side. 

As the injury crisis continues unabated Villa played Allan Evans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 as centre forward alongside Kenny Swain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 but still were in the ascendancy throughout.

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

Midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 150th appearance in a Villa shirt.

Villa concede a penalty at Old Trafford to hand Manchester United a lucky point - as they fall back to twelfth in the table.

Villa extend their unbeaten run to seven League games to make it 🟩 seven wins, 🟨 eleven draws and 🟥 five defeats in 🕒 twenty three division one games this season under Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Villa have three and in some cases five games in hand over their rivals.

Forward Joe Ward 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 24 makes his 🕒 debut appearance in a Villa shirt after joining from Clyde 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 in December 1978 for a fee of £80,000 to become the 603rd player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Midfielder Gordon Cowans 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 75th start in a Villa shirt (90 Appearances) to make it 🟩 W39 🟨 D23 🟥 L28, ⚽ 11 Goals and 🔥 7 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one for every 5.00 games he has played so far in his Villa career.

Forward Kevin Ready 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his sole appearance in the Villa squad after signing from Yarmouth for £2,000.

Right back Kenny Swain 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ first goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 6th appearance.

Half fit Andy Gray and Brian Little return after their four month injury lay-offs to boost Villa as they record a narrow, but simple, victory over neighbours Birmingham at Villa Park,

Ron Saunders' Villa win for the first time in seven but go eight games unbeaten in the league to make it eight wins, eleven draws and five defeats in twenty four division one games this season.

As one returns - midfielder Alex Cropley 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 after 15 months out with a double leg fracture inflicted by referee Jim Bent and West Bromwich Albion - another drops out - midfielder Dennis Mortimer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 - but Villa overcome more injury woe with a convincing win over Bolton.

Centre forward Andy Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 hits his ⚽ first goal since his injury and operation in October and despite an overly fussy referee Villa walk off with the points in a game that could easily have ended in double figures but for Bolton ‘keeper McDonough.

It's successive wins for Villa to go 🕒 nine games unbeaten in the league with 🟩 nine wins, 🟨 eleven draws and 🟥 five defeats in 🕒 twenty five division one games this season.

Right back John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his 🔥 30th assist s in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 221st appearance at a goal involvement rate of one every 6.14 games.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 250th start 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.

Just as they had done so against Leeds, Villa open up a 2-0 cushion at half time only to succumb to a second half fightback but this time there is no point as they are beaten by Tottenham’s three goals in six minutes.

Ron Saunders' Villa lose for the second time in three to make it ten wins, eleven draws and seven defeats in twenty eight division one games this season.

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.

Villa hold their own in the first half without looking like they would threaten high flying Forest but are obliterated in the second half to leave them languishing in thirteenth in the table.

More worrying than the result and second half collapse were the murmuring behind the scenes of player problems.... not something Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 was ever going to allow to continue.

Ron Saunders' 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Villa suffer their 🟥 heaviest defeat of the season to make it 🟩 ten wins, 🟨 twelve draws and 🟥 eight defeats in 🕒 thirty division one games this season. 

Casualties abounded as the Forest debacle would prove to be centre forward Andy Gray’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 final Villa appearance. Villa had signed Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 from Dundee United 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 for a fee of £110,000 as a 19 year old and he went on to represent Villa between 1975-76 and 1978-79 but ended his time with the club out of favour with boss Ron Saunders 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in 1978-79 and ostracised completely in 1979-80 before his departure from the club to Wolverhampton Wanderers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in September 1979 for a fee of £1,469,000.

Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 left with a record of 🟩 W59 🟨 D41 🟥 L41 across 🕒 141 appearances (140 Starts) contributing ⚽ 69 Goals and 🔥 20 Assists at a rate of one every 1.58 games.

Gray 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 would return to the club in the 1984-85 season but would never manage to recreate the dynamism and success of his earliest years.

Also seeing his Villa career end was midfielder Tommy Craig 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 who made his final appearance aged 26 before moving on to Swansea City in July 1979 for a fee of £150,000. Villa had signed Craig from Newcastle United in January 1978 for £270,000 and he played for the club between 1977-78 and 1978-79 making 32 appearances and scoring twice.