1971–72 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 1971–72 English football season was Villa's 73rd season in the Football League, this season playing in the Football League Third Division. Under manager Vic Crowe[1] Aston Villa won promotion to the Second Division as champions with a record 70 points, and thus ended their two-year spell in the Third Division. By the end of the decade they would be firmly re-established as a First Division club.

Aston Villa
1971–72 season
ChairmanEngland Doug Ellis
ManagerWales Vic Crowe
StadiumVilla Park
Third Division1st
FA CupFirst round
League CupFourth round

In July 1971, Ray Graydon secured a £50,000 move from third division Bristol Rovers, with captain Brian Godfrey moving in the opposite direction.[2][3] Graydon missed just one of Villa's 46 league games in the 1971–72 season, scoring 14 goals as the club secured the Third Division title with a five-point margin over Brighton & Hove Albion.[4]

Willie Anderson's contribution included scoring a career high fifteen goals in all competitions with eight coming from penalties, helping him gain a reputation as a penalty taker specialist.[5]

Third Division

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Aston Villa (C, P) 46 32 6 8 85 32 2.656 70 Promotion to the Second Division
2 Brighton & Hove Albion (P) 46 27 11 8 82 47 1.745 65
3 Bournemouth 46 23 16 7 73 37 1.973 62
4 Notts County 46 25 12 9 74 44 1.682 62 Qualification for the Watney Cup
5 Rotherham United 46 20 15 11 69 52 1.327 55
6 Bristol Rovers 46 21 12 13 75 56 1.339 54 Qualification for the Watney Cup
7 Bolton Wanderers 46 17 16 13 51 41 1.244 50
8 Plymouth Argyle 46 20 10 16 74 64 1.156 50
9 Walsall 46 15 18 13 62 57 1.088 48
10 Blackburn Rovers 46 19 9 18 54 57 0.947 47
11 Oldham Athletic 46 17 11 18 59 63 0.937 45
12 Shrewsbury Town 46 17 10 19 73 65 1.123 44
13 Chesterfield 46 18 8 20 57 57 1.000 44
14 Swansea City 46 17 10 19 46 59 0.780 44
15 Port Vale 46 13 15 18 43 59 0.729 41
16 Wrexham 46 16 8 22 59 63 0.937 40 Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round
17 Halifax Town 46 13 12 21 48 61 0.787 38
18 Rochdale 46 12 13 21 57 83 0.687 37
19 York City 46 12 12 22 57 66 0.864 36
20 Tranmere Rovers 46 10 16 20 50 71 0.704 36
21 Mansfield Town (R) 46 8 20 18 41 63 0.651 36 Relegation to the Fourth Division
22 Barnsley (R) 46 9 18 19 32 64 0.500 36
23 Torquay United (R) 46 10 12 24 41 69 0.594 32
24 Bradford City (R) 46 11 10 25 45 77 0.584 32
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Diary
  • 20 November 1971: As a third division club Villa were required to compete in the first round joined those non-league clubs having come through the qualifying rounds.[6] Villa were knocked out by Fourth Division Southend.
  • 31 March 1972: Third Division table-toppers Aston Villa pull away from A.F.C. Bournemouth.[7]

References
  1. Saunders chosen as Aston Villa's new manager, 5 June 1974, The Times, Issue: 59107
  2. "Ray Graydon treasures his Aston Villa memories". Birmingham Mail. 27 February 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  3. "ABOUT Ray Graydon". www.lerwill-life.org.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  4. Abbott, Colin. "Villan on the Spot: Ray Graydon". www.avfc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  5. Kendrick, Mat (6 October 2017). "These are the Aston Villa wingers you loved watching". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  6. "FA Cup Trivia". The Football Association. 16 May 2003. Archived from the original on 6 January 2004.
  7. "Leeds lose chance of going to top". The Herald. Glasgow. 1 April 1972. p. 2. Retrieved 27 January 2018.


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