1961–62 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1961–62 season
Manager	Joe Mercer
Stadium	Villa Park
First Division	7th
FA Cup	x
League Cup	Runner-up

The 1961–62 English football season was Aston Villa's 63rd season in The Football League. Villa played in the First Division.

In the Second City derby both teams won their away fixtures.^[1]

Winning the 1961 Football League Cup Final was the pinnacle for Villa. They finished seventh in 1961–62, the following season saw the beginning of a decline in form.^[2]

There were debuts for Derek Dougan (51), Tommy Ewing (39), Ken Fencott (3), Wilson Briggs (2), Allan Jones (1),^[3]^[4] and Ralph Brown.^[5] Lew Chatterley who began his career as an apprentice at Aston Villa, turned professional this season, with his league debut coming the following season. He remained at Villa Park for over 9 years, making 153 league appearances and scoring 26 goals.

Derek Dougan joined Villa in July 1961 for a fee of £15,000.^[6] The 23-year-old was signed by manager Joe Mercer as a replacement for Gerry Hitchens, who had been sold on to Inter Milan earlier in the summer for £85,000.^[7] Teammate Peter McParland later commented that "when Derek came to us at Aston Villa I think it was at a time when he was not taking the game particularly seriously".^[8] After returning from watching his "Villans" teammates win the 1961 League Cup Final at Villa Park on 5 September, Dougan was a passenger in a car accident which killed fellow passenger Malcolm Williams and left Dougan with a broken arm and head injuries; driver and teammate Bobby Thomson was charged but found 'Not Guilty' of careless driving.^[9] In November 2010 – three years after Dougan's death, Thomson claimed that Dougan had drunkenly pulled a deerstalker hat over his eyes, causing him to crash the car.^[10] Dougan recovered after three months on the sidelines and ended the 1961–62 season with 12 goals in 27 matches.^[11]

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
5	Sheffield United	42	19	9	14	61	69	0.884	47
6	Sheffield Wednesday	42	20	6	16	72	58	1.241	46
7	Aston Villa	42	18	8	16	65	56	1.161	44
8	West Ham United	42	17	10	15	76	82	0.927	44
9	West Bromwich Albion	42	15	13	14	83	67	1.239	43

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

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Notes	Scorers
19 Aug 1961	Everton	A	0–2	—	— ^[12]
26 Aug 1961	Chelsea	H	3–1	—	Bobby Thomson, Harry Burrows, Jimmy MacEwan ^[13]
28 Aug 1961	Wolves	A	2–2	—	Derek Dougan (2) ^[14]
2 Sep 1961	Sheffield United	A	2–0	—	Harry Burrows, Derek Dougan ^[15]
9 Sep 1961	West Ham United	H	2–4	—	Vic Crowe, Peter McParland ^[16]
16 Sep 1961	Blackburn Rovers	A	2–4	—	Mike Tindall, Harry Burrows ^[17]
18 Sep 1961	Manchester United	H	1–1	—	Peter McParland ^[18]
23 Sep 1961	Blackpool	H	5–0	—	Harry Burrows (2), Peter McParland (3) ^[19]
30 Sep 1961	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–1	—	— ^[20]
2 Oct 1961	Wolves	H	1–0	—	Jimmy MacEwan ^[21]
7 Oct 1961	Fulham	A	1–3	—	Jimmy MacEwan ^[22]
16 Oct 1961	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–0	—	Peter McParland
21 Oct 1961	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–1	—	Own goal
28 Oct 1961	Birmingham City	H	1–3	—	Peter McParland
4 Nov 1961	Burnley	A	0–3	—	—
11 Nov 1961	Arsenal	H	3–1	—	Harry Burrows, Peter McParland, Bobby Thomson
18 Nov 1961	Bolton Wanderers	A	1–1	—	Bobby Thomson
25 Nov 1961	Manchester City	H	2–1	—	Harry Burrows, Peter McParland
2 Dec 1961	Leicester City	A	2–0	—	Ron Wylie, Derek Dougan
9 Dec 1961	Ipswich Town	H	3–0	—	Peter McParland (2), Bobby Thomson
16 Dec 1961	Everton	H	1–1	—	Bobby Thomson
23 Dec 1961	Chelsea	A	0–1	—	—
26 Dec 1961	Cardiff City	A	0–1	—	—
13 Jan 1962	Sheffield United	H	0–0	—	—
15 Jan 1962	Manchester United	A	0–2	—	—
20 Jan 1962	West Ham United	A	0–2	—	—
3 Feb 1962	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–0	—	Derek Dougan
10 Feb 1962	Blackpool	A	2–1	—	Jimmy MacEwan, Jimmy McMorran
21 Feb 1962	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–0	—	—
24 Feb 1962	Fulham	H	2–0	—	Jimmy MacEwan, Harry Burrows
3 Mar 1962	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–3	—	—
14 Mar 1962	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–0	—	Harry Burrows
17 Mar 1962	Birmingham City	A	2–0	—	Harry Burrows, Ron Wylie
24 Mar 1962	Burnley	H	0–2	—	—
31 Mar 1962	Arsenal	A	5–4	—	Bobby Thomson (2), Derek Dougan, Vic Crowe, Tommy Ewing
7 Apr 1962	Bolton Wanderers	H	3–0	—	Tommy Ewing, Bobby Thomson, Derek Dougan
14 Apr 1962	Manchester City	A	0–1	—	—
21 Apr 1962	Leicester City	H	8–3	—	Bobby Thomson (3), Derek Dougan (2), Own goal, Alan Baker, Harry Burrows
23 Apr 1962	Nottingham Forest	H	5–1	—	Harry Burrows (2), Bobby Thomson, Tommy Ewing, Own goal
24 Apr 1962	Nottingham Forest	A	0–2	—	—
28 Apr 1962	Ipswich Town	A	0–2	—	—
1 May 1962	Cardiff City	H	2–2	—	Own goal, Derek Dougan

FA Cup

League Cup

Second leg

5 September 1961

Aston Villa	3 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Rotherham United
O'Neill 67' Burrows 69' McParland 109'

Villa Park, Birmingham

Attendance: 31,202

Referee: C.W. Kingston

Aston Villa

Rotherham United



1	Geoff Sidebottom
2	John Neal
3	Gordon Lee
4	Vic Crowe (c)
5	Jimmy Dugdale
6	Alan Deakin
7	Jimmy MacEwan
8	Alan O'Neill
9	Peter McParland
10	Bobby Thomson
11	Harry Burrows
Manager:
Joe Mercer



1	Roy Ironside
2	Peter Perry
3	Lol Morgan
4	Roy Lambert (c)
5	Peter Madden
6	Ken Waterhouse
7	Barry Webster
8	Don Weston
9	Ken Houghton
10	Alan Kirkman
11	Keith Bambridge
Manager:
Tom Johnston

References

Tossell, David (2012), In Sunshine Or In Shadow: A Journey Through the Life of Derek Dougan, Pitch, ISBN 978-1-908051-39-4

^ "All Aston Villa's Matches". AVFC History.
^ Ward, Adam, p. 97, "Mercer began to suffer ill health and in 1964 he left the club."
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/allan-jones
^ "Allan Jones, Villa Winger, 1961-62".
^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
^ "Wolves legend Dougan dies aged 69". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
^ Tossell 2012, p. 92
^ Tossell 2012, p. 93
^ Tossell 2012, p. 94
^ "Wolverhampton Wanderers legend Derek Dougan 'caused Cup Final death crash' says Aston Villa hero". Sunday Mercury. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
^ Tossell 2012, p. 96
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2643
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2645
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2646
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2647
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2649
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2651
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2652
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2653
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2654
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2655
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2656

[1] "All Aston Villa's Matches". AVFC History.

[2] Ward, Adam, p. 97, "Mercer began to suffer ill health and in 1964 he left the club."

[3] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/allan-jones

[4] "Allan Jones, Villa Winger, 1961-62".

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

[death-6] "Wolves legend Dougan dies aged 69". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 June 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2013.

[page_92-7] Tossell 2012, p. 92

[page_93-8] Tossell 2012, p. 93

[page_94-9] Tossell 2012, p. 94

[10] "Wolverhampton Wanderers legend Derek Dougan 'caused Cup Final death crash' says Aston Villa hero". Sunday Mercury. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2016.

[page_96-11] Tossell 2012, p. 96

[12] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2643

[13] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2645

[14] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2646

[15] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2647

[16] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2649

[17] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2651

[18] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2652

[19] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2653

[20] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2654

[21] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2655

[22] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2656

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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