1896–97 Aston Villa F.C. season

1897 FA Cup final
Event	1896–97 FA Cup
Date	10 April 1897
Venue	Crystal Palace, London
Referee	J. Lewis
Attendance	65,891

First Division
Season	1896–97
Champions	Aston Villa; 3rd English title
Relegated	Burnley
Top goalscorer	Steve Bloomer; (22 goals)
Biggest home win	Derby County 8–1 West Brom; (25 December 1896); Sheffield United 7–0 Blackburn; (9 January 1897)
Biggest away win	Blackburn 1–5 Aston Villa; (28 November 1896)
Highest scoring	Derby County 7–2 Bury; (26 September 1896); Derby County 8–1 West Brom; (25 December 1896); Everton 6–3 West Brom; (17 April 1897)
Longest winning run	6 matches; Everton
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches; Aston Villa
Longest losing run	6 matches; Everton
Highest attendance	40,000; Everton 2–1 Liverpool; (3 October 1896)
Lowest attendance	1,000; Nottingham Forest 4–1 Burnley; (24 October 1896); Sheffield United 7–0 Blackburn; (9 January 1897)
Average attendance	7,734
	← 1895–96 1897–98 →

Aston Villa
1896–97 season
Manager	George Ramsay
Grounds	Wellington Road
First Division	Champions (3)
FA Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Fred Wheldon (18); All: Fred Wheldon (22)

The 1896-97 English football season was Aston Villa's 9th season in the Football League. Villa were champions for the third time matching Sunderland's three wins. For good measure, the FA Cup was also won, to make Villa the second team to complete "The Double" after Preston North End in 1888–89.

It was the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and the Council had organised celebrations for 22 June 1897. The programme headlined "The Villa with the Cup". To the acclaimation of the crowd, the players sat on two long benches, facing each self-consciously, as a horse-drawn wagonette proceeded through Aston with the FA Cup in the centre.^[2]

This was the season during which Villa moved from Wellington Road to their current home at Villa Park. With growing crowds, it became increasingly apparent that the existing ground was inadequate. Vice-President, Charlie Johnstone's invaluable foresight was pivotal in the acquisition of Villa Park.^[3] The land at the Wellington Road ground had initially been sub-let to the club for £5.00 a year but, as Villa became more successful, the rent kept rising and rising and the landlord would not grant a sufficiently long lease to justify the massive expenditure need to improve the facilities to match the club's ambition. Johnsone acquired an option at the Lower Grounds in Aston long before his other directors were persuaded of its merits.^[3] Together with Chairman Fred Rinder they secured the deal to enable the move Villa's new home ground.^[4] It was still referred to as 'Aston Lower Grounds' for some time.

The Ever-presents were Charlie Athersmith, Jimmy Cowan, and Fred Wheldon. Villa first reached the top on 28 Nov and used 17 players through out.John Campbell was not quite as productive as in the previous season, and the leading scorer honours went to Fred Wheldon. Fred had been signed in 1896 for £350 from local rivals Small Heath, who had been relegated the previous season.^[5] He was a good dribbler with the ball and won four caps for England. He played first class cricket for Worcestershire.

There were debuts for Fred Wheldon (123),^[6] Jimmy Whitehouse ^[7] and Albert Evans.^[8]^[9]

League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Aston Villa (C)	30	21	5	4	73	38	1.921	47
2	Sheffield United	30	13	10	7	42	29	1.448	36
3	Derby County	30	16	4	10	70	50	1.400	36
4	Preston North End	30	11	12	7	55	40	1.375	34
5	Liverpool	30	12	9	9	46	38	1.211	33

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions

A total of 16 teams competed in the 1896–97 Football League. Each team would play every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Two points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats.

The season got off to a slow start, with Villa recording only two wins in the first six games. An unbeaten run of 12 games took them to the top, where they finished with a lead of 11 points. The title was won when Derby County F.C. failed to win on 10 April; Villa had three games left to play, all of which were won.

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Note	Scorers
2 September 1896	Stoke	Wellington Road	2–1	—	Jack Cowan 20', Jack Devey ^[10]
5 September 1896	Albion	Stoney Lane	1–3	—	Jack Devey
12 September 1896	Sheffield United	Wellington Road	2–2	—	Fred Burton, Fred Wheldon
19 September 1896	Everton	Goodison	3–2	—	Johnny Campbell (3)
26 September 1896	Everton	Wellington Road	1–2	—	Jack Devey
3 October 1896	Sheffield United	Bramall Lane	0–0	—	—
10 October 1896	Albion	Wellington Road	2–0	—	Fred Wheldon, Johnny Campbell
17 October 1896	Derby	Baseball Ground	3–1	—	Fred Wheldon, Johnny Campbell, Jack Cowan
24 October 1896	Derby	Wellington Road	2–1	—	Jack Cowan, Fred Wheldon
31 October 1896	Stoke	Victoria Ground	2–0	—	Fred Wheldon, Steve Smith
7 November 1896	Bury	Wellington Road	1–1	—	Charlie Athersmith
14 November 1896	Wednesday	Olive Grove	3–1	—	Fred Wheldon, Johnny Campbell, Charlie Athersmith
21 November 1896	Wednesday	Wellington Road	4–0	—	Steve Smith, Charlie Athersmith, Jack Devey, Fred Wheldon
28 November 1896	Blackburn	Ewood	5–1	—	Jack Devey, Johnny Campbell, Charlie Athersmith, Steve Smith, Unknown
19 December 1896	Nottingham Forest	Wellington Road	3–2	—	Jack Reynolds 5', Jack Devey 15', Charlie Athersmith
25 December 1896	Liverpool	Anfield	3–3	—	Jack Cowan, Fred Wheldon, Charlie Athersmith
26 December 1896	Wolves	Molineux	2–1	—	Bob Chatt, Charlie Athersmith
2 January 1897	Burnley	Wellington Road	0–3	—	—
9 January 1897	Sunderland	Newcastle Road	2–4	—	Own Goal, Johnny Campbell
16 January 1897	Sunderland	Wellington Road	2–1	—	Fred Wheldon, Unknown
6 February 1897	Bury	Gigg Lane	2–0	—	Johnny Campbell (2)
8 February 1897	Burnley	Turf Moor	4–3	—	Johnny Campbell, Jack Devey (2), (fourth scorer)
22 February 1897	Preston	Wellington Road	3–1	—	Jack Devey, Charlie Athersmith
6 March 1897	Nottingham Forest	Town Ground	4–2	—	Jack Devey, Jack Cowan, Johnny Campbell, Fred Wheldon
13 March 1897	Liverpool	Wellington Road	0–0	—	—
22 March 1897	Bolton Wanderers	Wellington Road	6–2	—	Charlie Athersmith, Jack Reynolds, Johnny Campbell, Fred Wheldon, (others)
27 March 1897	Bolton Wanderers	Pike’s Lane	2–1	—	Johnny Campbell, Fred Wheldon
17 April 1897	Blackburn	Villa Park	3–0	—	Johnny Campbell, Fred Wheldon, Own Goal
19 April 1897	Wolves	Villa Park	5–0	—	Jimmy Cowan, Jack Devey, Jack Cowan, Johnny Campbell (2)
26 April 1897	Preston	Deepdale	1–0	—	Fred Wheldon ^[10]

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

References

^ "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
^ Maud Homer, Moseley (2 May 1957). "Villa Photo Awakens Memories". Birmingham Evening Mail. p. 12.
^ ^a ^b Mangan, J.A.; Hickey, C. (December 2008). "Early action: founding and furthering clubs". Soccer & Society. 9 (5). Taylor & Francis: 632–653. doi:10.1080/14660970802181327. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
^ "Charlie Johnstone Aston Villa Midfielder". AVFC History.
^ Tony Matthews (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Breedon Books. p. 133. ISBN 1-85983-010-2.
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/fred-wheldon
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/jimmy-whitehouse
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/albert-evans
^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
^ ^a ^b https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/matches/league/1896-97

External links

[topscorers-1] "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 October 2010.

[2] Maud Homer, Moseley (2 May 1957). "Villa Photo Awakens Memories". Birmingham Evening Mail. p. 12.

[SS-3] Mangan, J.A.; Hickey, C. (December 2008). "Early action: founding and furthering clubs". Soccer & Society. 9 (5). Taylor & Francis: 632–653. doi:10.1080/14660970802181327. Retrieved 6 February 2026.

[CJ6-4] "Charlie Johnstone Aston Villa Midfielder". AVFC History.

[Matthews-5] Tony Matthews (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Breedon Books. p. 133. ISBN 1-85983-010-2.

[6] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/fred-wheldon

[7] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/jimmy-whitehouse

[8] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/albert-evans

[9] "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

[avfc9697-10] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa/matches/league/1896-97

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Aston Villa F.C. seasons
1870s	1870–71 1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80
1880s	1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890s	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900
1900s	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
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1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

League

Matches

FA Cup

See also

References

External links