1968–69 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 1968–69 English football season was Aston Villa's 69th season in the Football League, this season playing in the Football League Second Division. Villa had been in decline for several years; the club had an ageing five-man board "who had failed to adapt to the new football reality".[1] The club had neither developed a scouting network nor an effective coaching structure.[2]

Aston Villa
1968–69 season
Chairman(1) Norman Smith
(2) Doug Ellis
Manager(1) England Tommy Cummings
(2) Scotland Tommy Docherty
StadiumVilla Park
Second Division18th
FA CupFifth round
League CupSecond round
Second City Derby
31--23--23

Events on the pitch came to a head in November 1968. With Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two, the board sacked Cummings. On 21 November 1968 the problems in the boardroom were highlighted when board member George Robinson resigned. Following his resignation, the board issued a statement: "[The board] would make available, by their resignation, such seats as new financial arrangements might require".[2] Aston Villa F.C. was up for sale. After much speculation London financier Pat Matthews bought control of the club. He brought in local travel agent Doug Ellis as chair of the new board that was convened on 16 December 1968. Two days later Tommy Docherty was appointed as manager, his third club in six weeks, after his resignation from Rotherham United and a brief spell at Queens Park Rangers.[2]

In the Second City derby both teams won their home game.[3]

Second Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Derby County (C, P) 42 26 11 5 65 32 2.031 63 Promotion to the First Division
2 Crystal Palace (P) 42 22 12 8 70 47 1.489 56
3 Charlton Athletic 42 18 14 10 61 52 1.173 50
4 Middlesbrough 42 19 11 12 58 49 1.184 49
5 Cardiff City 42 20 7 15 67 54 1.241 47 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
6 Huddersfield Town 42 17 12 13 53 46 1.152 46
7 Birmingham City 42 18 8 16 73 59 1.237 44
8 Blackpool 42 14 15 13 51 41 1.244 43
9 Sheffield United 42 16 11 15 61 50 1.220 43
10 Millwall 42 17 9 16 57 49 1.163 43
11 Hull City 42 13 16 13 59 52 1.135 42
12 Carlisle United 42 16 10 16 46 49 0.939 42
13 Norwich City 42 15 10 17 53 56 0.946 40
14 Preston North End 42 12 15 15 38 44 0.864 39
15 Portsmouth 42 12 14 16 58 58 1.000 38
16 Bristol City 42 11 16 15 46 53 0.868 38
17 Bolton Wanderers 42 12 14 16 55 67 0.821 38
18 Aston Villa 42 12 14 16 37 48 0.771 38
19 Blackburn Rovers 42 13 11 18 52 63 0.825 37
20 Oxford United 42 12 9 21 34 55 0.618 33
21 Bury (R) 42 11 8 23 51 80 0.638 30 Relegation to the Third Division
22 Fulham (R) 42 7 11 24 40 81 0.494 25
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Cardiff City qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1968–69 Welsh Cup winners.

References
  1. Ward, Adam, p. 98
  2. Ward, Adam, p. 100
  3. "All Aston Villa's Matches". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.