Aston Villa 1887-1915

Founders of the Football League

The late 19th century was, perhaps, the most successful era in Aston Villas history. During this period, Villa, along with individuals associated with the club, played a large part in the development of professionalism and the creation of the Football League. Villas chairman, William McGregor, became frustrated with the frequent cancellation of the teams matches, which were always one sided friendlies. He realised that in order to keep interest in the game alive, the best sides in the country would need to play one another in a league format, like American baseball teams did. He therefore took it upon himself to meet with officials from other leading clubs to form a professional league, which provided its member clubs with a guaranteed fixture list each season, and thus the league was born.

 

Villas manager at the time, George Ramsay, is a colossal figure in the clubs history, taking what was a bunch of disorganised, inexperienced cricketers and turning them into one of the powerhouses of Victorian era football. Ramsays record of six League titles is second only to Sir Alex Ferguson, and his record of six F.A. Cups still stands today. The clubs first F.A. Cup came in 1887, under the captaincy of Villa legend Archie Hunter. On the way to the final, they defeated Wednsbury Old Athletic 13-0. They played Scottish giants Rangers in the semi-final, who were allowed by the Scottish FA to borrow the greatest players form Scottish clubs for the match, essentially forming a ‘dream team’ of sorts. This was still not enough to beat Villa, who won the game 3-1.

 

Pretty soon, Villas profile exploded, and they would frequently draw crowds of 25,000 to their home games. This was in an era when the F.A. Cup final would only draw about 20,000. In 1897, Villa became only the second club to win the league and cup ‘double’, and the last to achieve this for the next 67 years. By around this time, Villa’s Wellington Road facilities were becoming increasingly dilapidated with poor spectator facilities and an uneven pitch so Fredrick Rinder, the clubs financial secretary, negotiated the purchase of the Aston Lower Grounds toward the turn of the century, where Villa continue to play today. This ground became known as Villa Park, although that term was not used until later on.

 

After their successful run in the late 19th century, Aston Villa began to set themselves up for more.  In 1900, Villa’s Billy Garraty became the highest goal scorer in world football, thanks to 30 goals in 39 league and cup games, and Villa began the 20th century as league champions. By then, the gap between them and their competitors had finally begun to close, but Villa remained a significant force in English football. Unfortunately, despite four wins on the trot at the start of the 1900/01 season, they plummeted to fourth from bottom, barely surviving relegation. Miraculously, Villa bounced back in 1902/03 winning 12 of 15 games and finishing a mere single point behind Sheffield Wednesday. 

The famous Harry Hampton became a Villain in 1904 for the sum of £120. To this very day, he remains Aston Villa’s all time highest scorer. In the 1904/05 season, Villa finished in fourth place but they were victorious in that seasons FA Cup, taking out the trophy against Newcastle United with a 2-0 score at the Crystal Palace – both goals were scored by Harry Hampton. This game was played out in front of a then record crowd of 101,117 people. After that, Villa encountered a barren patch and it wasn’t until 1909/10 that they looked likely to regain the title in a season in which they beat reigning champions Manchester United 7-1. The title slipped through Villa’s fingers on the final day of the season – they lost to Liverpool while Manchester United defeated Sunderland. Villa finished 6th the following season but did regain the FA Cup by narrowly overcoming Sunderland 1-0. The referee for the game was suspended for allowing no less than 17 minutes of stoppage time! By the time WWI began, Aston Villa had won 6 league championships and 5 FA Cups.

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Achievements:  English First Division – Champions x6
                              FA Cup – Winners x5
                              Sheriff of London Charity Shield – Winners x2

Star player: Archie Hunter, DOB 23 September 1859, Joppa, Scotland

The first Villa captain to lift the FA Cup, and a household name in Victorian England. He signed for the Villains in 1878, just four years after the club came into existence. Sadly, he never got the chance to represent his country of birth against England, because the Scottish FA had a policy of not picking Scots who played in the English league for the national team. Hunter actually originally moved to Birmingham to sign for Calthorpe FC, but he couldn’t actually find them. He was persuaded to sign for the Villa after hearing about the exploits of a fellow Scot, George Ramsay, and what he had done for the club. When he became the first player to score in every round of the FA Cup, the crowds idolised him. In 1890 during a league match against Everton, Hunter suffered a heart attack and collapsed. He never played again and died at just 35. It’s said that on his death bed, he asked to be lifted up to see the Villa faithful going to Perry Barr one last time.