1931–32 Aston Villa F.C. season

First Division
Season	1931–32
Champions	Everton; 4th English title
Relegated	Grimsby Town; West Ham United
Matches	462
Goals	1,727 (3.74 per match)
Top goalscorer	Dixie Dean; (44 goals)
Biggest home win	Everton 8–1 Newcastle United; (31 October 1931); Everton 9–2 Leicester City; (28 November 1931); Bolton Wanderers 8–1 Liverpool; (7 March 1932)
Biggest away win	Blackburn 1–6 Sheffield Wed; (29 April 1932)
Highest scoring	Everton 9–3 Sheffield Wednesday; (17 October 1931)
	← 1930–31 1932–33 →

Aston Villa
1931–32 season
Manager	Billy Smith
Stadium	Villa Park
First Division	5th
FA Cup	Fourth round

The 1931–32 English football season was Aston Villa's 40th season in The Football League, Villa playing in the First Division. Billy Smith remained trophy-less going into his sixth season.^[2]

Aston Villa had ended the previous season with nine consecutive home wins. On 29 August, the first day of the season, Villa beat Leicester 3–2 at home.^[3] This was followed by home wins against Grimsby,^[4] West Ham^[5] and Bolton.^[6] In the Second City Derby Villa won 3–2 at home and drew 1–1 away.^[7] With a full programme of New Year fixtures across all four divisions, The Times highlighted in particular Aston Villa's clash with high-flying Newcastle United. Villa had recently beaten Newcastle 3–0.^[8]

There were debuts for Dai Astley, Danny Blair, Harry Morton, George H Stephenson,^[9] Billy Simpson^[10] and Tommy Moore.^[11]^[12]

Diary

31 August 1931: Aston Villa draw 1 – 1 away at Huddersfield in front of a crowd of 13,226.

First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
3	Sheffield Wednesday	42	22	6	14	96	82	1.171	50
4	Huddersfield Town	42	19	10	13	80	63	1.270	48
5	Aston Villa	42	19	8	15	104	72	1.444	46
6	West Bromwich Albion	42	20	6	16	77	55	1.400	46
7	Sheffield United	42	20	6	16	80	75	1.067	46

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

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Score	Notes	Scorers
29 Aug 1931	Leicester	Home	3–2	—	Eric Houghton 54'; Pongo Waring 71', 83'
31 Aug 1931	Huddersfield	Away	1–1	—	Pongo Waring 88'
5 Sep 1931	Liverpool	Away	0–2	—	None
12 Sep 1931	Grimsby Town	Home	7–0	—	Joe Beresford 4'; Eric Houghton 10', 64'; Jack Mandley 24', 51'; Pongo Waring 70'; Billy Walker 82'
19 Sep 1931	Chelsea	Away	6–3	—	Pongo Waring 20', 31', 75', 82'; Eric Houghton 32', 60'
26 Sep 1931	West Ham	Home	5–2	—	Pongo Waring 18', 21', 47', 78'; Eric Houghton 74'
3 Oct 1931	Sheffield Wednesday	Away	0–1	—	None
10 Oct 1931	Bolton	Home	2–1	—	Eric Houghton 31'; Billy Walker 69'
17 Oct 1931	Portsmouth	Away	3–0	—	Billy Walker 66'; Joe Beresford 84'; Dai Astley 89'
24 Oct 1931	Everton	Home	2–3	—	Eric Houghton 25'; Jack Mandley 46'
31 Oct 1931	Arsenal	Away	1–1	—	Pongo Waring 58'
7 Nov 1931	Blackpool	Home	5–1	—	Pongo Waring 8', 44', 85'; Eric Houghton 47'; Joe Beresford 87'
14 Nov 1931	West Bromwich Albion	Away	0–3	—	None
21 Nov 1931	Birmingham	Home	3–2	—	Billy Walker 5'; Pongo Waring 37', 65'
28 Nov 1931	Manchester City	Away	3–3	—	Tommy Smart 75' (pen); Pongo Waring 77', 84'
5 Dec 1931	Derby County	Home	2–0	—	Eric Houghton 30', 80'
12 Dec 1931	Sheffield United	Away	4–5	—	Jimmy Gibson 12'; Pongo Waring 2–5; Billy Walker 3–5; Eric Houghton 4–5
19 Dec 1931	Blackburn	Home	1–5	—	Billy Walker 63'
25 Dec 1931	Middlesbrough	Home	7–1	—	Eric Houghton 2', 12', 34'; Joe Beresford 29', 5–1, 6–1; Tommy Mort 7–1
26 Dec 1931	Middlesbrough	Away	1–1	—	Reg Chester 32'
28 Dec 1931	Newcastle	Home	3–0	—	Reg Chester 10'; Eric Houghton 83'; Pongo Waring 87'
1 Jan 1932	Newcastle	Away	1–3	—	Joe Beresford 30'
2 Jan 1932	Leicester	Away	8–3	—	George Brown 6', 23', 54', 82', 89'; Joe Beresford 24'; Billy Walker 33', 43'
16 Jan 1932	Liverpool	Home	6–1	—	Eric Houghton 21'; George Brown 26', 55', 62'; George Stephenson 53'; 6–1
30 Jan 1932	Chelsea	Home	1–3	—	Eric Houghton 84'
2 Feb 1932	Grimsby Town	Away	2–2	—	Jack Mandley 1–2; Pongo Waring 2–2
6 Feb 1932	West Ham	Away	1–2	—	Joe Beresford 86'
20 Feb 1932	Bolton	Away	1–2	—	Pongo Waring 1–2
24 Feb 1932	Sheffield Wednesday	Home	3–1	—	Billy Walker 24'; Eric Houghton 45'; Pongo Waring 3–1
27 Feb 1932	Portsmouth	Home	0–1	—	None
5 Mar 1932	Everton	Away	2–4	—	Dai Astley 58'; Pongo Waring 84'
19 Mar 1932	Blackpool	Away	3–1	—	Pongo Waring 15', 2–1; Eric Houghton 75' (pen)
25 Mar 1932	Sunderland	Away	1–1	—	Dai Astley 75'
26 Mar 1932	West Bromwich Albion	Home	2–0	—	Dai Astley 1–0; Eric Houghton 79'
28 Mar 1932	Sunderland	Home	2–0	—	George Brown 1–0; Eric Houghton 2–0
2 Apr 1932	Birmingham	Away	1–1	—	Eric Houghton 11'
9 Apr 1932	Manchester City	Home	2–1	—	Reg Chester 40' (pen); George Brown 83'
16 Apr 1932	Derby County	Away	1–3	—	Reg Chester 43'
23 Apr 1932	Sheffield United	Home	5–0	—	Alec Talbot 4'; Pongo Waring 20'; Dai Astley 38', 73'; Jack Mandley 76'
25 Apr 1932	Arsenal	Home	1–1	—	Jack Mandley 8'
30 Apr 1932	Blackburn	Away	0–2	—	None
7 May 1932	Huddersfield	Home	2–3	—	Pongo Waring 24'; Tommy Moore 84'

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

Appearances

Alec Talbot, 45 appearances
Tommy Smart, 39 appearances
Eric Houghton, 39 appearances
Pongo Waring, 38 appearances
Tommy Mort, 37 appearances
Jimmy Gibson, 37 appearances
Joe Tate, 35 appearances
Joe Beresford, 34 appearances
Jack Mandley, 33 appearances
Harry Morton, 31 appearances, conceded 50
Billy Walker, 31 appearances
George Brown, 17 appearances
Dai Astley, 15 appearances
Fred Biddlestone, 14 appearances, conceded 22
Reg Chester, 13 appearances
Tommy Wood, 13 appearances
Danny Blair, 10 appearances
Teddy Bowen, 5 appearances
George Stephenson, 4 appearances
Billy Simpson, 2 appearances
Billy Kingdon, 2 appearances
Tommy Moore, 1 appearance ^[2]

References

^ "English League Leading Goalscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
^ ^a ^b AVFC History: 1931–32 season Archived 23 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Aston Villa 3–2 Leicester City, 1931–32 Division One, 29 Aug 1931". AVFC History. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "Aston Villa 7–0 Grimsby Town, 1931–32 Division One, 12 Sep 1931". AVFC History. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "Aston Villa 5–2 West Ham United, 1931–32 Division One, 26 Sep 1931". AVFC History. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "Aston Villa 2–1 Bolton Wanderers, 1931–32 Division One, 10 Oct 1931". AVFC History. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
^ "All Aston Villa's Matches". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^ Association Football, The Times 1 January 1932
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/george-h-stephenson
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/billy-simpson
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/tommy-moore
^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

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

[avfc-2] AVFC History: 1931–32 season Archived 23 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine

[3] "Aston Villa 3–2 Leicester City, 1931–32 Division One, 29 Aug 1931". AVFC History. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[4] "Aston Villa 7–0 Grimsby Town, 1931–32 Division One, 12 Sep 1931". AVFC History. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[5] "Aston Villa 5–2 West Ham United, 1931–32 Division One, 26 Sep 1931". AVFC History. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[6] "Aston Villa 2–1 Bolton Wanderers, 1931–32 Division One, 10 Oct 1931". AVFC History. Retrieved 20 August 2024.

[7] "All Aston Villa's Matches". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.

[8] Association Football, The Times 1 January 1932

[9] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/george-h-stephenson

[10] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/billy-simpson

[11] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/tommy-moore

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

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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
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
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

Second City Derby
19—10—12