1971–72 Aston Villa F.C. season

1971–72 season of Aston Villa

Aston Villa 1971–72 football season

Aston Villa
1971–72 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	Vic Crowe
Stadium	Villa Park
Third Division	1st
FA Cup	First round
League Cup	Fourth round
← 1970–71 1972–73 →

The 1971–72 English football season was Villa's 73rd season in the Football League, this season playing in the Football League Third Division. Under manager Vic Crowe^[1] Aston Villa won promotion to the Second Division as champions with a record 70 points, 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.

In July 1971, Ray Graydon secured a £50,000 move from third division Bristol Rovers, with captain Brian Godfrey moving in the opposite direction.^[2]^[3] Graydon missed just one of Villa's 46 league games in the 1971–72 season, scoring 14 goals as the club secured the Third Division title with a five-point margin over Brighton & Hove Albion.^[4] Debut Appearances included Brian Little (247), Chris Nicholl (210), Ian Ross (175), Jimmy Cumbes (157), Tommy Hughes (16), and Malcolm Beard (6).^[5] Willie Anderson's contribution included scoring a career high fifteen goals in all competitions with eight coming from penalties, helping him gain a reputation as a penalty taker specialist.^[6]

Third Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Aston Villa (C, P)	46	32	6	8	85	32	2.656	70	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Brighton & Hove Albion (P)	46	27	11	8	82	47	1.745	65	Promotion to the Second Division
3	Bournemouth	46	23	16	7	73	37	1.973	62
4	Notts County	46	25	12	9	74	44	1.682	62	Qualification for the Watney Cup
5	Rotherham United	46	20	15	11	69	52	1.327	55

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Diary

20 November 1971: As a third division club Villa were required to compete in the first round joined those non-league clubs having come through the qualifying rounds.^[7] Villa were knocked out by Fourth Division Southend.
31 March 1972: Third Division table-toppers Aston Villa pull away from A.F.C. Bournemouth.^[8]

References

^ Saunders chosen as Aston Villa's new manager, 5 June 1974, The Times, Issue: 59107
^ "Ray Graydon treasures his Aston Villa memories". Birmingham Mail. 27 February 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
^ "ABOUT Ray Graydon". www.lerwill-life.org.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
^ Abbott, Colin. "Villan on the Spot: Ray Graydon". www.avfc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
^ Kendrick, Mat (6 October 2017). "These are the Aston Villa wingers you loved watching". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
^ "FA Cup Trivia". The Football Association. 16 May 2003. Archived from the original on 6 January 2004.
^ "Leeds lose chance of going to top". The Herald. Glasgow. 1 April 1972. p. 2. Retrieved 27 January 2018.

v t e Aston Villa F.C. seasons
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1971–72 in English football

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National teams

League competitions

Levels 1–4	Football League (First Division, Second Division, Third Division, Fourth Division)
Levels 5–6	Isthmian League (level 5 only) Northern Premier League (level 5 only) Southern League (Premier, One North, One South)
Levels 7–9	Athenian League (Premier, One, Two) Cheshire County League (level 7 only) Eastern Counties League (level 7 only) Essex Senior League (level 7 only) Hellenic League (Premier, One A, One B) Kent League (level 7 only) Lancashire Combination (level 7 only) Midland Football Combination (level 7 only) Midland League (level 7 only) Northern League (level 7 only) South Midlands League (Premier, One) Spartan League (level 7 only) Sussex County League (One, Two) United Counties League (One, Two, Three) West Midlands (Regional) League (level 7 only) Western League (level 7 only) Yorkshire League (One, Two, Three)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup (Qualifying rounds, Final) Charity Shield FA Trophy (Final) FA Amateur Cup
Football League cups	League Cup (Final) Watney Cup

European competitions

Club seasons
First Division	Arsenal Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Southampton Stoke City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Birmingham City Blackpool Bristol City Burnley Cardiff City Carlisle United Charlton Athletic Fulham Hull City Leyton Orient Luton Town Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Oxford United Portsmouth Preston North End Sheffield Wednesday Sunderland Swindon Town Watford
Third Division	Aston Villa Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Bournemouth Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol Rovers Chesterfield Halifax Town Mansfield Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Rochdale Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Swansea City Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Walsall Wrexham York City
Fourth Division	Aldershot Barrow Brentford Bury Cambridge United Chester Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Gillingham Grimsby Town Hartlepool United Lincoln City Newport County Northampton Town Peterborough United Reading Scunthorpe United Southend United Southport Stockport County Workington