Ron Saunders admitted that he was impressed with the contingent of players that he found at Villa Park on his arrival. He also has stated that he was limited on how much he could spend without selling, but in fact he did not sell at the start. He did, instead, make a significant signing for the start of the season—Frank Carrodus from Saunders’ previous club, Manchester City. Carrodus was a greyhound of a player, he would here there and everywhere in supporting the attack.

It was not long, however, before Saunders bought another player to add bite to the midfield—Leighton Phillips. And it was the signing of both Carrodus and Phillips that made a substantial difference as Villa’s ‘OK’ start gathered momentum. Nevertheless, it was not until the introduction of youngsters Bobby McDonald (in midfield) and Keith Leonard (striker) that Villa really showed their intent from January onwards. Before that, Villa’s position in the League was not a highly promising one for promotion.

In the last 18 League games of the season, Villa won 15 and drew two, thus losing only one match. They even won all their last eight matches, scoring 26 goals and only conceding three in that period. Brian Little scored 10 of those 26.

Each of those eight wins was as though it was a cancellation of each of the eight years away from the top-flight, and at that stage you felt that Villa were unbeatable; their confidence was so self-evident.

I was at Hillsborough to see Villa qualify for promotion in April by trouncing Wednesday 4-0, and one of those goals particularly stands out in my mind. Bobby McDonald received the ball on the left wing and on or just over the centre-line. He swiftly swung over a lovely centre to catch Brian Little coming through the middle on the run, whereupon, from fully 30 yards, Little cracked home a shot on the volley. The shot sped into the net having travelled barely three inches above the ground all the way. A wonderful goal, and one of two for Little that night. He had been a scoring success all season, and acquired 20 League goals. Graydon scored 19, yet those two players were very average in size. What they both lacked in inches was made up for by enthusiasm and enormous skill—Little in particular.

‘Chico’ Hamilton cracked 10 League goals, and under Saunders he became an even better player—certainly a more energetic one. Keith Leonard (on 7 goals in 22 games) was a player who could hold up the ball and play the ball off with great skill. Charlie Aitken, after 14 years a Villa player, played in every single match in that promotion season and was the sole survivor from the Villa’s last appearance in the top-flight under the old pre-Ellis regime. Under Saunders, he was serving his sixth Villa manager.

In also winning the League Cup, Villa obtained a form of ‘double’ that season. Their run started with the demolition of Everton on their ground in September, and finished by beating fellow promotion colleagues Norwich City at Wembley, but in an undistinguished match. Villa had largely held sway over the match but the former Bournemouth star—Ted McDougall—came closest to scoring when Ian Ross had to bundle the ball away off the line. The solitary goal that did come from Graydon was untidy—his penalty kick had rebounded to him from former Villa ’keeper Kevin Keelan. Thus, as a result of that win, Villa qualified for European competition for the first time in their history.

Already assured of promotion, the last match at home that season was against Sunderland, who also had a chance for promotion. They had stars such as Dave Watson, Dennis Tueart and Montgomery (in goal) and they were no mean side. It was a tremendous match with the ubiquitous 50,000-plus crowd urging Villa on to victory. The celebratory scenes in and around Villa Park following that win are indescribable; the pitch was covered by a mass of spectators.

Just to emphasise Villa’s supremacy, though, Villa beat Norwich 4-1 at their ground in the last match of the season, leaving Norwich as the third-place promotion team behind Villa and the champions, Manchester United.

What a season it had been—yet that success came with very few changes to the contingent of players that had been pulled together by Vic Crowe. The players had, however, become much sharper and fitter than before, and probably with a better sense of teamwork.

The return of Villa to the top-flight had come after considerable developments to Liverpool and Manchester United in the intervening years 1967-75. After Celtic had become the first British winners of the European Cup in 1967, Manchester United also won the European Cup in 1968 to become the first English winners of that trophy. However, after the retirement of Sir Matt Busby, United dipped, and in 1975 they returned to the First Division with Villa after dropping a rung.

© 2010 John Lerwill
Next week: The Stars Arrive – and Twinkle