1973–74 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1973–74 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	Vic Crowe
Stadium	Villa Park
Second Division	14th
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Second round

The 1973–74 English football season was Aston Villa's 75th season in the Football League, this season playing in the Football League Second Division. Under manager Vic Crowe Aston Villa won promotion 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. But Vic Crowe was sacked in April 1974. Ron Saunders was appointed manager in June 1974.^[1]

The New Year's Day fixture saw Villa draw 0–0 with Millwall before a home crowd of 20,905 leaving Villa in 13th position.^[2] Within the month, Arsenal fall at the feet of Sammy Morgan.^[3]

There were debut appearances for Sammy Morgan (40), Trevor Hockey (24), Jake Findlay (14) and Bobby Campbell (10) and Roy Stark (2).^[4]^[5]

Second Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
12	Millwall	42	14	14	14	51	51	1.000	42
13	Fulham	42	16	10	16	39	43	0.907	42
14	Aston Villa	42	13	15	14	48	45	1.067	41
15	Portsmouth	42	14	12	16	45	62	0.726	40
16	Bristol City	42	14	10	18	47	54	0.870	38

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

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Note	Scorers
25 August 1973	Preston	H	2–0	—	Charlie Aitken, Trevor Hockey
1 September 1973	Millwall	A	1–1	—	Brian Little
8 September 1973	Oxford	H	2–0	—	Bruce Rioch (pen), Geoff Vowden
11 September 1973	Palace	A	0–0	—	—
15 September 1973	Boro	A	0–0	—	—
19 September 1973	Fulham	H	1–1	—	Bruce Rioch
22 September 1973	Orient	H	2–2	—	Bruce Rioch, Geoff Vowden
29 September 1973	Notts County	A	0–2	—	—
2 October 1973	Fulham	A	0–1	—	—
6 October 1973	Cardiff	H	5–0	—	Own Goal, Ray Graydon, Bruce Rioch (2), Sammy Morgan
13 October 1973	Bolton	A	2–1	—	Alun Evans (2)
20 October 1973	Bristol City	H	2–2	—	Brian Little, Ray Graydon
23 October 1973	Palace	H	2–1	—	Brian Little, Ray Graydon
27 October 1973	Forest	A	2–1	—	Ray Graydon, Charlie Aitken
3 November 1973	Wednesday	H	1–0	—	Brian Little
10 November 1973	Portsmouth	A	0–2	—	—
17 November 1973	Hull	H	1–1	—	Brian Little
24 November 1973	Swindon	A	0–1	—	—
8 December 1973	Sunderland	A	0–2	—	—
15 December 1973	Luton	A	0–1	—	—
22 December 1973	Notts County	H	1–1	—	Bruce Rioch
26 December 1973	Albion	A	0–2	—	—
29 December 1973	Oxford	A	1–2	—	Ray Graydon
1 January 1974	Millwall	H	0–0	—	—
12 January 1974	Boro	H	1–1	—	Bruce Rioch
19 January 1974	Preston	A	0–0	—	—
2 February 1974	Luton	H	0–1	—	—
23 February 1974	Cardiff	A	1–0	—	Ray Graydon
27 February 1974	Bolton	H	1–1	—	Pat McMahon
2 March 1974	Albion	H	1–3	—	Sammy Morgan
13 March 1974	Carlisle	H	2–1	—	Alun Evans, Chico Hamilton (pen)
16 March 1974	Bristol City	A	1–0	—	Sammy Morgan
23 March 1974	Portsmouth	H	4–1	—	Pat McMahon (2), Sammy Morgan (2)
1 April 1974	Wednesday	A	4–2	—	Brian Little (2), Pat McMahon, Keith Leonard
6 April 1974	Swindon	H	1–1	—	Brian Little
13 April 1974	Hull	A	1–1	—	Own Goal
15 April 1974	Blackpool	H	0–1	—	—
16 April 1974	Blackpool	A	1–2	—	Chico Hamilton
20 April 1974	Sunderland	H	1–2	—	Pat McMahon
24 April 1974	Forest	H	3–1	—	Chico Hamilton, Bobby Campbell, Ray Graydon
27 April 1974	Carlisle	A	0–2	—	—
3 May 1974	Orient	A	1–1	—	Ray Graydon (pen)

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

League Cup

References

^ Saunders chosen as Aston Villa's new manager, 5 June 1974, The Times, Issue: 59107
^ Spectators return on a record day for Leeds, Geoffrey Green, The Times 2 January 1974
^ Arsenal fall at the feet of Morgan as Villa rise to their history, Geoffrey Green, The Times 31 January 1974.
^ https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/roy-stark
^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

[1] Saunders chosen as Aston Villa's new manager, 5 June 1974, The Times, Issue: 59107

[2] Spectators return on a record day for Leeds, Geoffrey Green, The Times 2 January 1974

[3] Arsenal fall at the feet of Morgan as Villa rise to their history, Geoffrey Green, The Times 31 January 1974.

[4] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/roy-stark

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

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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 Division

Matches

FA Cup

League Cup

See also

References