This film is part of Free

Report on Aston Villa

Aston Villa, the must successful cup side in England, have fallen on hard times but the 1971 League Cup final might just be the game that takes them back to the big time.

News 1971 16 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for Media Archive for Central England

Overview

Aston Villa were in Division Three, their lowest ever position, when Simon Smith visited Villa Park to see the side training with manager Vic Crowe. Villa old boys also feature: Vic Milne; Jimmy Gibson; Ernie 'Mush' Callaghan; George Edwards and Jimmy Dugdale all have great tales to tell. They rekindle fading memories that are summed up by 1920s legend Gibson who talks of "the most perfect club that was ever created".

Aston Villa lost by two goals to nil against Tottenham in the 1971 League Cup Final. The match was a turning point for the Claret and Blues who soon rose out of the doldrums of the Third Division and went on to win the First Division Championship in 1981 and the European Cup in 1982.