John Lerwill (John’s site) the writer behind the fabulous Villa Chronicles has written the following piece with his personal recollections of the 1957 FA Cup win.

Worth reminding everyone of this journey with the Carling Cup final on the horizon.

Thanks John for allowing me to post this on this blog.

Villa’s winning of the FA Cup in 1957, we then thought, would presage a new era of triumph in Villa’s history. It was then 37 years since Villa had last won a major trophy, but though we have achieved some wonderful triumphs since then it is astonishing to think that it is now 53 years since we last won ‘the Cup’ in those black and white days of 1957.

After overcoming Luton in the first round without too much difficulty, the Villa then encountered lower level opposition in the form of Bristol City and Middlesbrough, but even so, both those teams possessed England centre-forwards of the ilk of John Atyeo and Brian Clough. It was the magnificent Jimmy Dugdale that sufficiently subdued both those strikers to help pave the way towards the sixth round.

By this time, the players’ jerseys had been appended with the Villa crest for the first time that century, and someone had concocted a rather corny cup song (to the tune ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’), which was:-

It’s a long way to get to Wembley,
It’s a long way to go,
It’s a long way to get to Wembley,
But we’ll get there, I know!
Goodbye Bristol City,
Goodbye Middlesbrough,
It’s a long, long way to get to Wembley,
But we’ll get there, I know!

However, though the earlier opposition were not exactly pushovers, the sixth round onwards was tough going. For the first time in my life I traveled to see Villa play in an away match, this being to the ground of another claret and blue side, Burnley.

They possessed some fine players, and the great Jimmy McIlroy of Burnley wrote the following accurate account of their 1957 Cup encounter:

“Against the Villa, we took an early lead, and without playing really well, held it until a few minutes from the end of the game. Then, the most dangerous man in soccer at converting the pass to the far-post, Peter McParland, popped up to head the equaliser from his favourite position. But there should never have been any replay. In the first ten minutes or so, I squared two passes across the face of the goal, both taken by Ian Lawson in his stride. From very close range, Ian side-footed the ball wide each time.

The pitch at Villa Park [in the replay] was in a shocking state. There were pools of water on the surface, and where there was no water, there was mud – gallons of the stuff! In one corner, in fact, there was a patch of filth giving off a most nauseating odour, causing us to wonder if this famous football ground had been used for sewage disposal. Thus was the stage set in terrible conditions for one of the most vital Cup-ties in the history of either club. Aston Villa at that time were being assailed on all sides for their vigourous style of football. They tackled hard, used their weight to the maximum advantage, and generally bothered little with the frills of soccer: although their manager Mr Eric Houghton repeatedly refuted charges that Villa were over-robust, there is no denying they were formidable opposition. In marked contrast, Burnley were a team of flyweights, with one of the smallest forward lines in the entire League.

The Midlanders … with goals coming from Johnny Dixon and inevitably, my old Irish pal Peter McParland. … The match was not a classic, my main recollection of it being the rather odd-looking playing strip sported by the Burnley players. We wore navy blue shirts and navy blue shorts, and with the referee in his customary all-black outfit it was not surprising that he was given more passes than anyone in our team! We wondered at the time why return passes never came. Fortunately, he changed into a purple shirt at half-time, although I am still not certain whether this simplified or further confused the issue!”

Again I was able to travel to see the semi-final against Jimmy Dugdale’s old team – the Baggies – at Molineux. Jimmy had gained a cup-winner’s medal with them in ’54 and in this thrilling encounter again brought out the best from him and the entire Villa defence, especially Nigel Sims in goal. He was a wonder goalkeeper in those days and was accepted as being Villa’s best in that position since the great Sam Hardy.
The Baggies played some wonderful stuff … but it was again ‘Supermac’ that magnificently kept us in it to force a replay at St. Andrews the following Thursday. And there, with some help from Ronnie Allen’s injury, my father saw Villa get through thanks to Billy Myerscough, a latecomer to the centre-forward spot in place of the usual Derek Pace, who would miss the Final.

So, it was on to Wembley and the match with Manchester United; the great ‘Busby Babes’ – Edwards, Pegg, Charlton, Byrne and the others. I’d seen Villa lose in the league at home to the Babes 3-1 that season, but Villa had drawn at Old Trafford in the return fixture as their confidence picked up on a long Cup run. The scene was set for a great Final (we hoped).

The Final came round, and we prepared to watch it on ‘black and white’ TV. Manchester United had already won the league, and were going for the ‘double’. Villa had been the last club to win the double way back in 1896-97 (exactly 60 years before), and so we hoped that United would be stopped in their tracks. Peter McParland was at the height of his game at that time and had scored some explosive goals that season… Would he win it? Well, he did… he scored both Villa’s goals in the 2-1 win, but, very sadly, accidentally put out United’s goalkeeper after only 15 minutes of the match. United were effectively down to 10 men for 75% of the match in those days before substitutions. Nevertheless, Villa played some good football in the second half, and made their pressure and fitness tell.

Villa’s greatly loved captain, Johnny Dixon, was a worthy winner, and Villa’s only Brummie, Peter Aldis, revealed a smile that told all. That Villa side was not a classic side of old, but they were superfit, they were team men, and their key positions in that Cup run were filled by outstanding players – Sims, Dugdale, Dixon and McParland. In reality, though, they all played their hearts out and every one of them was a true winner.
In the space of four years I had actually seen both the Queen’s Coronation and the Villa win the FA Cup on the telly. Four years before, I hardly knew what TV was – and neither did many others!