1960–61 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1960–61 season
Manager	Joe Mercer
Stadium	Villa Park
First Division	10th
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Winners

The 1960–61 English football season was Aston Villa's 62nd season in The Football League. Villa played in the First Division.

In the Second City derby Aston Villa beat Birmingham City 6–2 at Villa Park, Peter McParland, Gerry Hitchens(3), and Alan O’Neill(2) scoring for Villa.^[1] The away fixture was drawn 1-1.^[2]

There were debuts for Charlie Aitken (561), John Sleeuwenhoek (226), Alan Baker (92), Geoff Sidebottom (70), Alan O'Neill (23), Fred Potter (6),^[3] Jimmy McMorran (14),^[4] Alfie Hale (5) and Mike Kenning (3).^[5]

League Cup

The League Cup was a knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs introduced to provide a new source of income. The 1960–61 Football League Cup was the inaugural season. Five League teams did not compete (Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers). Despite an initial lack of enthusiasm on the part of some other big clubs, the competition became firmly established in the footballing calendar.

Villa received a bye to the second round and, on 12 October, beat Huddersfield Town 4–1 at home before a crowd of 17,057. On 15 Nov 1960 7,677 watched Preston North End draw 3–3 with travelling Villa. The Villains won the home replay 3–1 in front of 15,000.

The competition ended with the two-legged final almost a year later on 22 August and 5 September 1961. Villa beat Rotherham United 3–2 on aggregate after extra time. Rotherham won the first leg 2–0 at Millmoor, their home ground thanks to goals from Alan Kirkman and Barry Webster. In the second leg at Villa Park, Harry Burrows and Peter McParland levelled the tie on aggregate and Alan O'Neill scored in extra-time to win the cup.

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Notes	Scorers
12 Oct 1960	Huddersfield	Villa Park	4–1 W	2nd Round	Gerry Hitchens 19'; Ron Wylie 27', 55'; Harry Burrows 78'
15 Nov 1960	Preston	Deepdale	3–3 D	3rd Round	Alan O’Neill 5'; Gerry Hitchens 40'; Bobby Thomson 85'
23 Nov 1960	Preston	Villa Park	3–1 W	3rd Round replay	Gerry Hitchens 30'; Ron Wylie 58'; Jimmy MacEwan 82'
13 Dec 1960	Plymouth	Villa Park	3–3 D	4th Round	Peter McParland 48', 56'; Jimmy MacEwan 70'
19 Dec 1960	Plymouth	Home Park	0–0 D	4th Round replay	—
6 Feb 1961	Plymouth	Home Park	5–3 W	4th Round 2nd replay	Harry Burrows 45'; Alan O’Neill 59'; Gerry Hitchens 63', 70', 88'
22 Feb 1961	Wrexham	Villa Park	3–0 W	Quarter-final	Bobby Thomson 61'; Gerry Hitchens 67', 77'
10 Apr 1961	Burnley	Turf Moor	1–1 D	Semi-final	Gerry Hitchens 35'
26 Apr 1961	Burnley	Villa Park	2–2 D	Semi-final replay	Gerry Hitchens 14'; Bobby Thomson 21'
2 May 1961	Burnley	Old Trafford	2–1 W	Semi-final 2nd replay	Stan Lynn 69' (pen); Gerry Hitchens 87'

Final

The 1961 League Cup Final was played on 22 August and 5 September 1961 and was contested between First Division side Aston Villa and Second Division team Rotherham United. Aston Villa won the game 3–2 on aggregate (after extra time).

First leg

22 August 1961

Rotherham United	2–0	Aston Villa
Webster 51' Kirkman 55'

Millmoor, Rotherham

Attendance: 12,226

Referee: K.A. Collinge

Rotherham United

Aston Villa



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



1	Nigel Sims
2	Stan Lynn
3	Gordon Lee
4	Vic Crowe (c)
5	Jimmy Dugdale
6	Alan Deakin
7	Jimmy MacEwan
8	Bobby Thomson
9	Ralph Brown
10	Ron Wylie
11	Peter McParland
Manager:
Joe Mercer

First Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
7	Manchester United	42	18	9	15	88	76	1.158	45
8	Blackburn Rovers	42	15	13	14	77	76	1.013	43
9	Aston Villa	42	17	9	16	78	77	1.013	43
10	West Bromwich Albion	42	18	5	19	67	71	0.944	41
11	Arsenal	42	15	11	16	77	85	0.906	41

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

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Notes	Scorers
20 Aug 1960	Chelsea	H	3–2	—	Peter McParland, Gerry Hitchens, Bobby Thomson ^[6]
22 Aug 1960	West Ham	A	2–5	—	Bobby Thomson, Gerry Hitchens ^[7]
27 Aug 1960	Blackpool	A	3–5	—	Peter McParland, Gerry Hitchens (2) ^[8]
29 Aug 1960	West Ham	H	2–1	—	Gerry Hitchens, Bobby Thomson ^[9]
3 Sep 1960	Everton	H	3–2	—	Gerry Hitchens (2), Bobby Thomson ^[10]
7 Sep 1960	Cardiff City	A	1–1	—	Vic Crowe ^[11]
10 Sep 1960	Blackburn	A	1–4	—	Gerry Hitchens ^[12]
12 Sep 1960	Cardiff City	H	2–1	—	Bobby Thomson, Harry Burrows ^[13]
17 Sep 1960	Manchester United	H	3–1	—	Harry Burrows, Bobby Thomson, Jimmy MacEwan ^[14]
24 Sep 1960	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–6	—	Jimmy MacEwan, Gerry Hitchens ^[15]
1 Oct 1960	Leicester City	H	1–3	—	Peter McParland ^[16]
8 Oct 1960	Newcastle United	H	2–0	—	Ron Wylie, Vic Crowe ^[17]
15 Oct 1960	Arsenal	A	1–2	—	Jimmy MacEwan ^[18]
22 Oct 1960	Birmingham City	H	6–2	—	Alan O’Neill (2), Gerry Hitchens (3), Peter McParland ^[19]
29 Oct 1960	West Bromwich Albion	A	2–0	—	Gerry Hitchens, Alan O’Neill ^[20]
5 Nov 1960	Burnley	H	2–0	—	Gerry Hitchens (2) ^[21]
12 Nov 1960	Preston North End	A	1–1	—	Peter McParland ^[22]
19 Nov 1960	Fulham	H	2–1	—	Jimmy MacEwan, Ron Wylie ^[23]
26 Nov 1960	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–1	—	Own goal, Gerry Hitchens ^[24]
3 Dec 1960	Manchester City	H	5–1	—	Alan O’Neill, Gerry Hitchens (2), Peter McParland, Ron Wylie ^[25]
10 Dec 1960	Nottingham Forest	A	0–2	—	— ^[26]
17 Dec 1960	Chelsea	A	4–2	—	Jimmy MacEwan, Ron Wylie, Bobby Thomson (2) ^[27]
24 Dec 1960	Wolves	H	0–2	—	— ^[28]
26 Dec 1960	Wolves	A	2–3	—	Gerry Hitchens (2) ^[29]
31 Dec 1960	Blackpool	H	2–2	—	Gerry Hitchens (2) ^[30]
21 Jan 1961	Blackburn	H	2–2	—	Gerry Hitchens (2)
4 Feb 1961	Manchester United	A	1–1	—	Bobby Thomson
11 Feb 1961	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–2	—	Stan Lynn (pen)
25 Feb 1961	Newcastle United	A	1–2	—	Peter McParland
4 Mar 1961	Arsenal	H	2–2	—	Peter McParland, Jimmy MacEwan
11 Mar 1961	Birmingham City	A	1–1	—	Gerry Hitchens
22 Mar 1961	Everton	A	2–1	—	Alan Deakin, Bobby Thomson
25 Mar 1961	Burnley	A	1–1	—	Gerry Hitchens
28 Mar 1961	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–1	—	—
1 Apr 1961	Nottingham Forest	H	1–2	—	Peter McParland
3 Apr 1961	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–3	—	—
4 Apr 1961	Bolton Wanderers	H	4–0	—	Jimmy MacEwan (2), Peter McParland, Alan O’Neill
8 Apr 1961	Fulham	A	1–1	—	Gerry Hitchens
15 Apr 1961	Preston North End	H	1–0	—	Bobby Thomson
19 Apr 1961	Leicester City	A	1–3	—	Alfie Hale
22 Apr 1961	Manchester City	A	1–4	—	Vic Crowe
29 Apr 1961	Sheffield Wednesday	H	4–1	—	Gerry Hitchens (2), Bobby Thomson, Johnny Dixon

FA Cup

References

General

"English League Cup 1960/1961". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
"England League Cup Full Results 1960-1996". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
"English League Cup 1960-1961 : Results". Statto. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2009.

Specific

[1] "Aston Villa 6-2 Birmingham City, 1960-61 Division One, 22 Oct 1960".

[2] "Birmingham City 1-1 Aston Villa, 1960-61 Division One, 11 Mar 1961".

[3] "Fred Potter, Villa Goalkeeper, 1960-61".

[4] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/jimmy-mcmorran

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

[6] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2586

[7] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2587

[8] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2588

[9] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2589

[10] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2590

[11] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2591

[12] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2592

[13] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2593

[14] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2594

[15] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2595

[16] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2596

[17] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2597

[18] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2598

[19] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2599

[20] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2600

[21] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2601

[22] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2602

[23] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2605

[24] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2606

[25] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2607

[26] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2608

[27] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2609

[28] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2610

[29] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2609

[30] ttps://www.avfchistory.co.uk/game/2610

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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