Vic Crowe's Villa open the season with a win as midfielder Trevor Hockey makes a goalscoring debut aged 30 after moving from Norwich City in June 1973 for a fee of £38,000.

Villa leave it late but Vic Crowe’s side who just missed out on promotion last season record an opening day victory over Preston, just as they had done the previous year, as Trevor Hockey scores on debut. But Villa could have had plenty more as they peppered Preston’s goal in the first half as Geoff Vowden might have had a hat trick inside ten minutes and Brian Little, Bruce Bloch, Chris Nichol! and Allan Evans could all have scored before the interval.

Villa are 🟨 held at the Den in a bad tempered game littered with Millwall fouls and pettiness before the lack of spectacle is overshadowed by an assault on Villa 'keeper Jimmy Cumbes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 who is hit and injured by a missile thrown from the home end.

Villa sit joint fourth in the early second division table. 

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 scores his ⚽ 🔥 5th goal in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 24th appearance (21 Starts) to make it 🟩 W11 🟨 D9 🟥 L4, ⚽ 5 Goals and 🔥 3 Assists at a rate of one goal every 3.00 games.

Vic Crowe's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Villa remain unbeaten in the League this season with 🟩 two wins and 🟨 a draw to climb to joint first in the table alongside Swindon after 🕒 three games as midfielder Bruce Rioch 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ⚽ scores one and 🔥 creates another to see off a defensive minded Oxford side.

Forward Sammy Morgan 🇬🇧 26 makes his debut after moving from Port Vale in August 1973 for a fee of £22,222.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 25th appearance in a Villa shirt to make it 🟩 W12 🟨 D9 🟥 L4, ⚽ 5 Goals and 🔥 3 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.13 games.

Villa are held to a goalless draw at Selhurst to leave them with two wins and two draws to start the season. Villa show a different side to their game however as they appear happy to take a point on the road against lowly Palace and end up reliant on ‘keeper Jimmy Cumbes to come away with a point on a pitch reduced in width by spoiling manager Malcolm Allison. Villa remain joint top alongside next opponents Middlesbrough.

Vic Crowe's Villa remain unbeaten in the League this season with two wins and two draws.

Villa, once again adopting a safety first, defensive game on the road, are dominated by promotion rivals Middlesbrough but manage to record a second successive goalless draw. Villa’s latest stalemate - their third in five unbeaten second division games - leaves them still joint first in the table alongside a gaggle of four clubs - Bolton, Sunderland, Bristol City and opponents Boro.

Vic Crowe's Villa fail to score for the second successive match but remain unbeaten in the League this season with two wins and three draws.

Unbeaten Villa take the lead against Fulham after an astonishing shot from Bruce Rioch from 30 yards out which swerved and dipped beyond the bemused Fulham ‘keeper. Villa though concede a late goal to drop their first home points of the season and record their third successive draw and fourth in six as they fall back to second in the table.

Vic Crowe's Villa draw for the third successive game but remain unbeaten in the League this season with two wins and four draws. Villa's fourth draw in six matches leaves them in second place on Division Two a point behind leaders Bristol City.

Villa draw for the fourth successive game and fifth time in seven second division games as three goals in four first half minutes sees them pegged back after taking the lead through Bruce Rioch's blistering free kick after 67 seconds. Villa's disappointment is compounded by the petulant Alun Evans' behaviour as he leaves the field having been substituted in the second half by Vic Crowe.

Vic Crowe's Villa draw for the fourth successive game but remain unbeaten in the League this season with two wins and five draws. Meanwhile, a disgruntled Alun Evans is substituted on 63' and gesticulates at home fans as he leaves the field.

Villa drop to joint fifth in the table after their first defeat of the season leaves them with two wins in their first eight second division games under Vic Crowe. Ironically though, despite leaving without any points, Villa’s performance is an improvement on recent games but the surprise half time substitution of the captain suggested at the least that there was some confusion in the dug out as to how Villa wanted to play and who could best deliver.

Vic Crowe's Villa end a run of four successive draw with defeat as their seven game unbeaten run from the start of the season comes to an end.

Villa concede on 87’ as their conservative approach to games away from home costs them once again. Despite their approach however Villa still had the majority of chances and could have taken the points had they played with greater ambition.

Vic Crowe's Villa lose successive games to make it two wins, five draws and two defeats in nine League games this season. Successive defeats for the first time since March leave Villa languishing in 10th place in Division Two (Played 9, Points 9), 3 points off the promotion places occupied by Fulham (Played 9, Points 12) and Middlesbrough (Played 9, Points 13)

Villa 🟩 win for the second time in three games to make it 🟩 four wins, 🟨 five draws and 🟥 two defeats in 🕒 eleven League games this season.

Vic Crowe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 abandons stringing four midfielders across the park, plays three up front and promptly secures Villa's first 🟩 away win of the season to climb to joint sixth, one point off the final promotion place but already four points off leaders Middlesbrough.

Right back John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 17th appearance in a Villa shirt and his first in 11 months and 39 games.

Two Jimmy Cumbes’🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿  errors hand the opposition a first half advantage before a second half equaliser from winger Ray Graydon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 helps Villa to joint fourth - one point and one place of the final promotion position.

Vic Crowe's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Villa make it 🟩 four wins, 🟨 six draws and 🟥 two defeats in 🕒 twelve League games this season.

Right back John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 contributes his 🔥 first assist s in a Villa shirt on his 🕒 18th appearance.

Villa win a third consecutive game to consolidate second place in the table and are now unbeaten in six second division games after their slow start to the campaign.

Vic Crowe's Villa make it seven wins, six draws and two defeats in fifteen League games this season. Villa (Played 15, Points 20) were now unbeaten in the last 5 games, winning 4 opening a 2 point gap to Orient in third place (Played 15, Points 18).

Villa lose for the first time in eight league games as they concede a hugely deflected goal and a last minute strike as they chased the game. As a result of the dropped points they are in second place by Orient and are now five points behind leaders Boro. Bur after 16 games, Villa have 20 points, one fewer than in 1972-73 when they finished third in a season that only promoted the top two and the same as 1971-72 when the stormed the Third Division championship. With three teams promoted in 1973-74 Villa are still on course for a second promotion in three seasons.

Vic Crowe's Villa lose for the first time in seven division two matches to make it seven wins, six draws and three defeats in sixteen League games this season. Villa's defeat (Played 16, Points 20) saw Middlesbrough open up a 5 point lead at the top (Played 16, Points 25) and Orient move level with Villa (Played 16, Points 20).

Villa are held by mid-table Hull to fall to third in the table and the final promotion place, one point behind Orient and six behind leaders Boro. 

Vic Crowe's Villa make it seven wins, seven draws and three defeats in seventeen League games this season.

Villa concede a last minute goal and lose for the second time in three matches as they remain 3rd but are now without a win in three, outside the promotion places on goal difference and seven points behind leaders Middlesbrough.

Vic Crowe's Villa, without a win in three, make it seven wins, seven draws and four defeats in eighteen League games this season. Villa (Played 18, Points 21) fall back to fourth, three points off Orient (Played 18, Points 24) in the promotion places and 7 off leaders Middlesbrough (Played 18, Points 28).

Villa 🟥 lose to fellow promotion chasers Sunderland and slump to 10th in the table, winless in four, two points off the final promotion spot and now eight points behind the leaders.

Vic Crowe's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Villa make it 🟩 seven wins, 🟨 seven draws and 🟥 five defeats in 🕒 nineteen League games this season.

Right back John Gidman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 25th appearance in a Villa shirt.

As Charlie Aitken makes his 478th League appearance - to equal Billy Walker’s record - Villa lose for third successive game and are winless in three, five points off the final promotion place and twelve points off the leaders as they fall to twelfth in the table.

Vic Crowe's Villa, lose three successive games for the first time this season and are without a win in five, losing four to make it seven wins, seven draws and six defeats in twenty League games this season. Having Played 20, Points 21 Villa comprehensively fell out of the promotion places for 1973-74 with little sign of likely revival. Sitting in 12th place having been 2nd just weeks earlier, Villa were now six points behind Luton Town in the final promotion spot (Played 20, Points 27) and twelve behind leaders Middlesbrough (Played 21, Points 33) 

Meanwhile, Villa left back, Charlie Aitken, made his 478th League appearance for Villa - equalling Billy Walker's record.

Villa secure their first point in four games as the returning Bruce Rioch and Ray Graydon combine, albeit unconvincingly, to put Villa ahead before County equalise from the spot to leave Villa 13th, five points off the final promotion place and twelve points off the leaders.

Vic Crowe's Villa, stop a run of three losses to make it seven wins, eight draws and six defeats in twenty one League games this season.

Meanwhile, Charlie Aitken marked his 555th appearance for Villa and 479th league appearance by receiving a trophy from Mrs Billie Walker, widow of the late Villa player, and previous record holder, Billy Walker.

Villa and Albion play out their 99th meeting as Vic Crowe’s side are beaten for the fifth time in seven games to leave them fourteenth in the table, six points off the final promotion place and fourteen points behind the leaders.

Vic Crowe's Villa, without a win in seven, including five losses, make it seven wins, eight draws and seven defeats in twenty two League games this season. Villa slump to 14th (Played 22, Points 22) 7 points shy of the final promotion place as Villa and Vic Crowe's season fell apart.

Vic Crowe’s side are beaten for the sixth time in eight games to leave them fourteenth in the table, eight points off the final promotion place and sixteen points behind the leaders.

Vic Crowe's Villa, without a win in eight, including six losses, make it seven wins, eight draws and eight defeats in twenty three League games this season.

A terrible game at Deepdale sees Villa extend their winless League run to eleven games, scoring four goals. On the bright side Villa are unbeaten in three and climb to 11th in the table, seven points off the promotion places.

Vic Crowe's Villa, without a win in eleven second division games scoring just four goals make it seven wins, eleven draws and eight defeats in twenty six League games this season.

Ray Graydon scores after 68 seconds and Villa hold on for the next 88 minutes as they climb to joint fifteenth in the table but the one time promotion chasers are now ten points off the last promotion spot and nineteen points off the leaders.

Vic Crowe's Villa, win for the first time in thirteen second division games courtesy of just their fifth goal over that spel.

Villa make it eight wins, eleven draws and nine defeats in twenty eight League games this season. 

Despite Villa's rare victory (Played 28, Points 27) they were closer to a return to the Third Division (Sheffield Wednesday, 20th place, Played 31, Points 23) than promotion to the First (Blackpool, 3rd place, Played 31, Points 37).

Midfielder Pat McMahon 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 becomes the first Villa player to ⚽ score a league goal at Villa Park in 1975 but it’s not enough to record a second successive victory as they are pegged back by Bolton in the second half.

Vic Crowe's 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Villa go two games unbeaten after a torrid twelve game winless run to make it 🟩 eight wins, 🟨 twelve draws and 🟥 nine defeats in 🕒 twenty nine League games this season.

Forward Brian Little 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 makes his 🕒 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (45 Starts) to make it 🟩 W19 🟨 D17 🟥 L14, ⚽ 9 Goals and 🔥 6 Assists at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.33 games.

Villa fall back to sixteenth as they lose at home again to leave them nine points off the promotion places and another season in the second tier beckoning.

Vic Crowe's Villa return to losing ways and now have just one win and seven goals in fifteen division two games to make it eight wins, twelve draws and ten defeats in thirty League games this season. 

Meanwhile, Trevor Hockey made his final appearance for Villa aged 30 before moving to Bradford City in June 1974. Trevor had only joined Villa in June 1973 making 24 appearances and scoring once whilst spending considerable time suspended due to his propensity to attract regular bookings under the FA disciplinary system.