1977–78 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 1977–78 English football season was Aston Villa's 78th in the Football League and their third consecutive season in the top division.

Aston Villa
1977–78 season
ChairmanSir William Dugdale, Bt[1][2]
Manager Ron Saunders
StadiumVilla Park
First Division8th
FA CupThird round
League CupFourth round

Villa reached the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup where they went out 4–3 on aggregate against Barcelona. In the domestic league, however, they struggled, and Saunders started rebuilding the team.[3]

Diary of the season

17 April 1978: Newcastle United lose at Aston Villa and are relegated to the Second Division.[4]

2 May 1978: Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Aston Villa 3–1 to stay in the First Division at West Ham United's expense.[4]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Nottingham Forest (C) 42 25 14 3 69 24 +45 64 Qualification for the European Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
2 Liverpool 42 24 9 9 65 34 +31 57
3 Everton 42 22 11 9 76 45 +31 55 Qualification for the UEFA Cup
4 Manchester City 42 20 12 10 74 51 +23 52
5 Arsenal 42 21 10 11 60 37 +23 52
6 West Bromwich Albion 42 18 14 10 62 53 +9 50
7 Coventry City 42 18 12 12 75 62 +13 48
8 Aston Villa 42 18 10 14 57 42 +15 46
9 Leeds United 42 18 10 14 63 53 +10 46
10 Manchester United 42 16 10 16 67 63 +4 42
11 Birmingham City 42 16 9 17 55 60 −5 41
12 Derby County 42 14 13 15 54 59 −5 41
13 Norwich City 42 11 18 13 52 66 −14 40
14 Middlesbrough 42 12 15 15 42 54 −12 39
15 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 12 12 18 51 64 −13 36
16 Chelsea 42 11 14 17 46 69 −23 36
17 Bristol City 42 11 13 18 49 53 −4 35
18 Ipswich Town 42 11 13 18 47 61 −14 35 Qualification for the European Cup Winners' Cup[lower-alpha 2]
19 Queens Park Rangers 42 9 15 18 47 64 −17 33
20 West Ham United (R) 42 12 8 22 52 69 −17 32 Relegation to the Second Division
21 Newcastle United (R) 42 6 10 26 42 78 −36 22
22 Leicester City (R) 42 5 12 25 26 70 −44 22
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Liverpool qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1977–78 European Cup winners.
  2. Ipswich Town qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup as the 1977–78 FA Cup winners.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
- GK  ENG Jimmy Rimmer
- DF  ENG John Gidman
- DF  SCO Gordon Smith
- DF  WAL Leighton Phillips
- DF  SCO Ken McNaught
- MF  ENG Dennis Mortimer
- FW  ENG John Deehan
- FW  ENG Brian Little
- FW  SCO Andy Gray
No. Pos. Nation Player
- MF  ENG Gordon Cowans
- MF  ENG Frank Carrodus
- DF  ENG John Gregory
- MF  SCO Alex Cropley
- DF  SCO Allan Evans
- MF  SCO Tommy Craig
- DF  ENG John Robson
- DF  ENG Mike Buttress
- DF  ENG Ivor Linton

References
  1. Christopher Dyer, Dugdale, Sir William Stratford, second baronet, (1922–2014) ODNB, 15 February 2018
  2. "Former Villa chairman Bill Dugdale reveals battles with Doug Ellis". Business Live. 18 May 2011.
  3. Shaw, Phil (1 November 2005). "Deadly's legacy will have lively potential" (reprint hosted at NewsBank). The Independent. London. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
  4. Smailes, Gordon (2000). The Breedon Book of Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 140. ISBN 1859832148.

AVFC History: 1977–78


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