1896–97 Aston Villa F.C. season
English football club season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1896-97 English football season was Aston Villa's 9th season in the Football League. Villa were champions for the third time matching Sunderland's three wins. For good measure, the FA Cup was also won, to make Villa the second team to complete "The Double" after Preston North End in 1888–89. It was the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and the Council had organised celebrations for 22 June 1897. The programme headlined "The Villa with the Cup". To the acclamation of the crowd, the players sat on two long benches, facing each self-consciously, as a horse-drawn wagonette proceeded through Aston with the FA Cup in the centre.[2]
| 1896–97 season | |
|---|---|
| President | Joseph Ansell |
| Manager | George Ramsay |
| Grounds | Wellington Road |
| First Division | Champions (3) |
| FA Cup | Winners |
| Top goalscorer | League: Fred Wheldon (18) All: Fred Wheldon (22) |
3rd English title
(22 goals)[1]
| Season | 1896–97 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Aston Villa 3rd English title |
| Relegated | Burnley |
| Top goalscorer | Steve Bloomer (22 goals)[1] |
| Biggest home win | Derby County 8–1 West Brom (25 December 1896) Sheffield United 7–0 Blackburn (9 January 1897) |
| Biggest away win | Blackburn 1–5 Aston Villa (28 November 1896) |
| Highest scoring | Derby County 7–2 Bury (26 September 1896) Derby County 8–1 West Brom (25 December 1896) Everton 6–3 West Brom (17 April 1897) |
| Longest winning run | 6 matches Everton |
| Longest unbeaten run | 12 matches Aston Villa |
| Longest losing run | 6 matches Everton |
| Highest attendance | 40,000 Everton 2–1 Liverpool (3 October 1896) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,000 Nottingham Forest 4–1 Burnley (24 October 1896) Sheffield United 7–0 Blackburn (9 January 1897) |
| Average attendance | 7,734 |
← 1895–96 1897–98 → | |
This was the season during which Villa moved from Wellington Road to their current home at Villa Park. With growing crowds, it became increasingly apparent that the existing ground was inadequate. Vice-President, Charlie Johnstone's invaluable foresight was pivotal in the acquisition of Villa Park.[3] The land at the Wellington Road ground had initially been sub-let to the club for £5.00 a year but, as Villa became more successful, the rent kept rising and rising and the landlord would not grant a sufficiently long lease to justify the massive expenditure need to improve the facilities to match the club's ambition. Johnsone acquired an option at the Lower Grounds in Aston long before his other directors were persuaded of its merits.[3] Together with Chairman Fred Rinder they secured the deal to enable the move Villa's new home ground.[4] It was still referred to as 'Aston Lower Grounds' for some time.
The Ever-presents were Charlie Athersmith, Jimmy Cowan, and Fred Wheldon. Villa first reached the top on 28 Nov and used 17 players through out.John Campbell was not quite as productive as in the previous season, and the leading scorer honours went to Fred Wheldon. Fred had been signed in 1896 for £350 from local rivals Small Heath, who had been relegated the previous season.[5] He was a good dribbler with the ball and won four caps for England. He played first class cricket for Worcestershire.
There were debuts for Fred Wheldon (123),[6] Jimmy Whitehouse[7] and Albert Evans.[8][9]
League
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aston Villa (C) | 30 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 73 | 38 | 1.921 | 47 |
| 2 | Sheffield United | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 42 | 29 | 1.448 | 36 |
| 3 | Derby County | 30 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 70 | 50 | 1.400 | 36 |
| 4 | Preston North End | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 55 | 40 | 1.375 | 34 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 46 | 38 | 1.211 | 33 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
A total of 16 teams competed in the 1896–97 Football League. Each team would play every other team twice, once at their stadium, and once at the opposition's. Two points were awarded to teams for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats.
The season got off to a slow start, with Villa recording only two wins in the first six games. An unbeaten run of 12 games took them to the top, where they finished with a lead of 11 points. The title was won when Derby County F.C. failed to win on 10 April; Villa had three games left to play, all of which were won.
Matches
| 12 September 1896 Match 3 | Aston Villa | 2–2 | Sheffield United | |
| Fred Burton; Fred Wheldon | Report | |||
| Note: 🟨 [12] | ||||
| 10 October 1896 Match 7 | Aston Villa | 2–0 | West Bromwich Albion | |
| Fred Wheldon; Johnny Campbell | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [16] | ||||
| 17 October 1896 Match 8 | Derby County | 1–3 | Aston Villa | |
| Report | Fred Wheldon; Johnny Campbell; Jack Cowan | |||
| Note: 🟩 [17] | ||||
| 14 November 1896 Match 12 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1–3 | Aston Villa | |
| Report | Fred Wheldon; Johnny Campbell; Charlie Athersmith | |||
| Note: 🟩 [21] | ||||
| 21 November 1896 Match 13 | Aston Villa | 4–0 | Sheffield Wednesday | |
| Steve Smith; Charlie Athersmith; Jack Devey; Fred Wheldon | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [22] | ||||
| 28 November 1896 Match 14 | Blackburn Rovers | 1–5 | Aston Villa | |
| Report | Jack Devey; Johnny Campbell; Charlie Athersmith; Steve Smith; Unknown | |||
| Note: 🟩 [23] | ||||
| 19 December 1896 Match 15 | Aston Villa | 3–2 | Nottingham Forest | |
| Jack Reynolds (5'); Jack Devey (15'); Charlie Athersmith | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [24] | ||||
| 25 December 1896 Match 16 | Liverpool | 3–3 | Aston Villa | |
| Report | Jack Cowan; Fred Wheldon; Charlie Athersmith | |||
| Note: 🟨 [25] | ||||
| 26 December 1896 Match 17 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1–2 | Aston Villa | |
| Report | Bob Chatt; Charlie Athersmith | |||
| Note: 🟩 [26] | ||||
| 8 February 1897 Match 22 | Burnley | 3–4 | Aston Villa | |
| Report | Johnny Campbell; Jack Devey (2); Unknown | |||
| Note: 🟩 [31] | ||||
| 22 February 1897 Match 23 | Aston Villa | 3–1 | Preston North End | |
| Jack Devey; Charlie Athersmith | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [32] | ||||
| 6 March 1897 Match 24 | Nottingham Forest | 2–4 | Aston Villa | |
| Report | Jack Devey; Jack Cowan; Johnny Campbell; Fred Wheldon | |||
| Note: 🟩 [33] | ||||
| 22 March 1897 Match 26 | Aston Villa | 6–2 | Bolton Wanderers | |
| Charlie Athersmith; Jack Reynolds; Johnny Campbell; Fred Wheldon; others | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [35] | ||||
| 27 March 1897 Match 27 | Bolton Wanderers | 1–2 | Aston Villa | |
| Report | Johnny Campbell; Fred Wheldon | |||
| Note: 🟩 [36] | ||||
| 17 April 1897 Match 28 | Aston Villa | 3–0 | Blackburn Rovers | |
| Johnny Campbell; Fred Wheldon; Own Goal | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [37] | ||||
| 19 April 1897 Match 29 | Aston Villa | 5–0 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | |
| Jimmy Cowan; Jack Devey; Jack Cowan; Johnny Campbell (2) | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [38] | ||||
Source: avfchistory.co.uk
FA Cup
| Event | 1896–97 FA Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 10 April 1897 | ||||||
| Venue | Crystal Palace, London | ||||||
| Referee | J. Lewis | ||||||
| Attendance | 65,891 | ||||||
The cup was won by Aston Villa, who defeated Everton 3–2 in the final of the competition, played at Crystal Palace in London. In doing so, Aston Villa became only the second team to have won the Double, as they won the league on the same day as their cup victory (and the only team to do this).
First round
The first round proper contained 16 ties between 32 teams. The matches were played on Saturday, 30 January 1897. One match was drawn, with the replay taking place in the following midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Aston Villa | 5–0 | Newcastle United | 30 January 1897 |
Second round
The eight Second Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 13 February 1897. There was one replay, played in the following midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Aston Villa | 2–1 | Notts County | 13 February 1897 |
Third round
The four Third Round matches were scheduled for Saturday, 27 February 1897. There were two replays, played in the following midweek fixture, of which the Preston North End – Aston Villa match went to a second replay the following week.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Preston North End | 1–1 | Aston Villa | 27 February 1897 |
| Replay | Aston Villa | 0–0 | Preston North End | 3 March 1897 |
| Replay | Aston Villa | 3–2 | Preston North End | 8 March 1897 |
Semi-finals
The semi-final matches were both played on Saturday, 20 March 1897. Aston Villa and Everton went on to meet in the final at Crystal Palace.
Final
        Aston Villa
|
 Everton [41]
|
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