1948–49 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1948–49 season
Chairman	F.H. Normansell
Manager	Alex Massie
First Division	10th
FA Cup	Fourth round

The 1948–49 English football season was Aston Villa's 50th season in The Football League. Villa played in the First Division, the top-tier of English football.

At the start of the season The Times had tipped both Villa and Birmingham as Championship contenders.^[2] In the Second City derby both teams won their away fixtures.^[3]

Villa faced Wolves for the 1948 Christmas fixtures.^[4] On Christmas Day they were beaten 4–0 at the Molineux ^[5] before winning 5–1 at home two days later.^[6] Trevor Ford scored four with Syd Howarth adding the fifth.^[7]

There were debuts for Con Martin (194), Colin Gibson (158), Ivor Powell (79), Herbert Smith (54),^[8] Larry Canning (39), Miller Craddock (34),^[9] Jock Mulraney (12), and Syd Howarth (8).^[10]

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
8	Sunderland	42	13	17	12	49	58	0.845	43
9	Charlton Athletic	42	15	12	15	63	67	0.940	42
10	Aston Villa	42	16	10	16	60	76	0.789	42
11	Stoke City	42	16	9	17	66	68	0.971	41
12	Liverpool	42	13	14	15	53	43	1.233	40

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

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Score	Notes	Scorers
21 Aug 1948	Liverpool	Home	2–1	—	Trevor Ford 1', 44'
25 Aug 1948	Bolton	Away	0–3	—	None
28 Aug 1948	Blackpool	Away	0–1	—	None
30 Aug 1948	Bolton	Home	2–4	—	Jackie Martin 13'; John Graham 55'
4 Sep 1948	Derby County	Home	1–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 56' (pen)
8 Sep 1948	Newcastle	Away	1–2	—	Johnny Dixon 35'
11 Sep 1948	Arsenal	Away	1–3	—	George Edwards 85'
13 Sep 1948	Newcastle	Home	2–4	—	Johnny Dixon 9'; George Edwards 57'
18 Sep 1948	Huddersfield	Home	3–3	—	George Edwards 25'; Albert J Brown 64'; Les Smith 89'
25 Sep 1948	Manchester United	Away	1–3	—	George Edwards 3'
2 Oct 1948	Sheffield United	Home	4–3	—	Trevor Ford 3', 13'; George Edwards 7', 83'
9 Oct 1948	Portsmouth	Home	1–1	—	Jock Mulraney 72'
16 Oct 1948	Manchester City	Away	1–4	—	Les Smith 30'
23 Oct 1948	Charlton	Home	4–3	—	Jock Mulraney 1'; Dicky Dorsett 38', 82'; George Edwards 70'
30 Oct 1948	Stoke	Away	2–4	—	Dicky Dorsett 35' (pen); George Edwards 2–4
6 Nov 1948	Burnley	Home	3–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 24'; Les Smith 56'; Trevor Ford 68'
13 Nov 1948	Preston	Away	1–0	—	George Edwards 15'
20 Nov 1948	Everton	Home	0–1	—	None
27 Nov 1948	Chelsea	Away	1–2	—	Les Smith 22'
4 Dec 1948	Birmingham	Home	0–3	—	None
11 Dec 1948	Middlesbrough	Away	0–6	—	None
18 Dec 1948	Liverpool	Away	1–1	—	Eddie Lowe 27'
25 Dec 1948	Wolves	Away	0–4	—	None
27 Dec 1948	Wolves	Home	5–1	—	Syd Howarth 15'; Trevor Ford 46', 75', 78', 88'
1 Jan 1949	Blackpool	Home	2–5	—	George Edwards 21'; Billy Goffin 47'
22 Jan 1949	Arsenal	Home	1–0	—	Billy Goffin 7'
12 Feb 1949	Huddersfield	Away	1–0	—	Trevor Ford 7'
19 Feb 1949	Manchester United	Home	2–1	—	Johnny Dixon 49'; Trevor Ford 80'
26 Feb 1949	Sheffield United	Away	1–0	—	Syd Howarth 75'
5 Mar 1949	Portsmouth	Away	0–3	—	None
12 Mar 1949	Manchester City	Home	1–0	—	Billy Goffin 75'
19 Mar 1949	Everton	Away	3–1	—	Colin Gibson 44'; Johnny Dixon 52', 65'
26 Mar 1949	Chelsea	Home	1–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 66' (pen)
2 Apr 1949	Burnley	Away	1–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 24'
9 Apr 1949	Preston	Home	2–0	—	Les Smith 13'; Trevor Ford 63'
15 Apr 1949	Sunderland	Away	0–0	—	None
16 Apr 1949	Charlton	Away	2–0	—	George Edwards 1'; Dicky Dorsett 81'
19 Apr 1949	Sunderland	Home	1–1	—	Trevor Ford 1'
23 Apr 1949	Stoke	Home	2–1	—	George Edwards 5'; Johnny Dixon 46'
27 Apr 1949	Derby County	Away	2–2	—	Johnny Dixon 22'; Dicky Dorsett 51' (pen)
30 Apr 1949	Birmingham	Away	1–0	—	Miller Craddock 6'
7 May 1949	Middlesbrough	Home	1–1	—	Dicky Dorsett 80'

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

References

^ "4 Dec 1948, Villa 0-3 Birmingham, Villa Park". AVFC History.
^ Association Football, The Times, 21 August 1948
^ "Aston Villa 0-3 Birmingham City, 1948-49 Division One, 4 Dec 1948". AVFC History.
^ Boxing Day, The Times, 24 December 1948
^ "Wolves 4-0 Aston Villa, 1948-49 Division One, 25 Dec 1948". AVFC History.
^ Association Football, 28 December 1948, The Times
^ "Aston Villa 5-1 Wolves, 1948-49 Division One, 27 Dec 1948". AVFC History.
^ "1948–49 Aston Villa F.C. season". avfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
^ "1948–49 Aston Villa F.C. season". avfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

[1] "4 Dec 1948, Villa 0-3 Birmingham, Villa Park". AVFC History.

[2] Association Football, The Times, 21 August 1948

[3] "Aston Villa 0-3 Birmingham City, 1948-49 Division One, 4 Dec 1948". AVFC History.

[4] Boxing Day, The Times, 24 December 1948

[5] "Wolves 4-0 Aston Villa, 1948-49 Division One, 25 Dec 1948". AVFC History.

[6] Association Football, 28 December 1948, The Times

[7] "Aston Villa 5-1 Wolves, 1948-49 Division One, 27 Dec 1948". AVFC History.

[8] "1948–49 Aston Villa F.C. season". avfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-25.

[9] "1948–49 Aston Villa F.C. season". avfchistory.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-02-25.

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

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

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

Table

Matches

FA Cup

See also

References