1897–98 Aston Villa F.C. season
English football club season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1897–98 English football season was Aston Villa's 10th season in the Football League. Villa, the reigning champions, played in the First Division, the top flight of English football. The season fell in what was to be called Villa's golden era.[1]
| 1897–98 season | |
|---|---|
| Manager | George Ramsay |
| Ground | Wellington Road |
| Football League | 6th |
| FA Cup | First round |
| Top goalscorer | Fred Wheldon (21) |
Aston Villa 1–2 Sheffield United
| Champions | Sheffield United (1st English title) |
|---|---|
| Top goalscorer | Fred Wheldon, 21 goals |
| Highest attendance | 50,000 (15 January 1898) Aston Villa 1–2 Sheffield United |
| Lowest attendance | 1,000 (13 November 1897) West Brom 2–1 Liverpool |
← 1896–97 1898–99 → | |
First-class cricketer[2] and England football international Jack Devey was Captain. Jimmy Crabtree also captained the team.[3] "Diamond" Freddie Wheldon was League top scorer with 21. Billy Garraty, great-great grandfather of future-player Jack Grealish, made his league debut for Aston Villa during the season but made just one other appearance that year.[4][5] Other debuts were James Fisher,[6] Jack Sharp,[7] Bert Sharp,[8] Billy George,[9] Howard Harvey,[10] Jimmy Suddick,[11] Tommy Bowman,[12] Edmund Strange,[13] George Johnson[14] and Charlie Aston.[15][16]
George Ramsay would continue in charge of the team picked by the Management Committee.
First Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Everton | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 48 | 39 | 1.231 | 35 |
| 5 | The Wednesday | 30 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 51 | 42 | 1.214 | 33 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 61 | 51 | 1.196 | 33 |
| 7 | West Bromwich Albion | 30 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 44 | 45 | 0.978 | 32 |
| 8 | Nottingham Forest | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 47 | 49 | 0.959 | 31 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
| 1 September 1897 Match 1 | Aston Villa | 5–2 | Sheffield Wednesday | Wellington Road |
| Jack Cowan; Fred Wheldon (3); Charlie Athersmith | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [17] | ||||
| 4 September 1897 Match 2 | Aston Villa | 4–3 | West Bromwich Albion | Wellington Road |
| Fred Wheldon (3); James Fisher | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [18] | ||||
| 11 September 1897 Match 3 | Notts County | 2–3 | Aston Villa | Trent Bridge |
| Report | Jimmy Cowan (2); Jack Devey | |||
| Note: 🟩 [19] | ||||
| 18 September 1897 Match 4 | Aston Villa | 3–1 | Bury | Wellington Road |
| James Fisher (2); Fred Wheldon | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [20] | ||||
| 25 September 1897 Match 5 | Blackburn Rovers | 4–3 | Aston Villa | Ewood Park |
| Report | Jack Cowan; Fred Wheldon (2) | |||
| Note: 🟥 [21] | ||||
| 2 October 1897 Match 7 | Aston Villa | 3–2 | Bolton Wanderers | Wellington Road |
| Jack Sharp (2); Fred Wheldon | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [23] | ||||
| 9 October 1897 Match 8 | West Bromwich Albion | 1–1 | Aston Villa | Stoney Lane |
| Report | Jack Sharp | |||
| Note: 🟨 [24] | ||||
| 16 October 1897 Match 9 | Aston Villa | 4–2 | Notts County | Wellington Road |
| Jack Devey; Jack Sharp (2); Fred Wheldon | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [25] | ||||
| 30 October 1897 Match 11 | Aston Villa | 3–1 | Liverpool | Wellington Road |
| Fred Wheldon; Charlie Athersmith; Jack Devey | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [27] | ||||
| 6 November 1897 Match 12 | Preston North End | 3–1 | Aston Villa | Deepdale |
| Report | Charlie Athersmith | |||
| Note: 🟥 [28] | ||||
| 13 November 1897 Match 13 | Aston Villa | 3–0 | Everton | Wellington Road |
| Fred Wheldon (2); Jack Sharp | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [29] | ||||
| 27 November 1897 Match 15 | Aston Villa | 4–3 | Sunderland | Wellington Road |
| Howard Harvey (2); Fred Wheldon (2) | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [31] | ||||
| 11 December 1897 Match 16 | Aston Villa | 5–1 | Blackburn Rovers | Wellington Road |
| Jimmy Crabtree; Fred Wheldon; Charlie Athersmith; Jimmy Cowan; Jack Cowan | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [32] | ||||
| 25 December 1897 Match 18 | Everton | 2–1 | Aston Villa | Goodison Park |
| Report | Fred Wheldon | |||
| Note: 🟥 Aston Villa's Christmas fixture was away at Everton kicking off at 11:00 am. Wheldon, kit man Joe Grierson and Jimmy and John Cowan were travelling to the station when their coach and horse overturned. Playing a crucial game short of players and without kit was not an option but missing a match would incur a fine of £250 (roughly £40,000 in 2026). By the time they arrived, their 8:50 am train had departed leaving Vice-President Charlie Johnstone and the rest of the team on the platform. The only option was to take a train to Stafford where they told a special would take them onwards to Liverpool. However once at Stafford, they found there was no train arranged. Johnstone took control and was able to bribe their train's driver, stoker and guard with seats in the director's box, dinner and half a sovereign each if they would continue the train to Liverpool. The game kicked off ten minutes late. Johnstone was unable to guarantee a victory.[34][35] | ||||
| 27 December 1897 Match 19 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1–1 | Aston Villa | Molineux |
| Report | Charlie Athersmith | |||
| Note: 🟨 [36] | ||||
| 15 January 1898 Match 21 | Aston Villa | 1–2 | Sheffield United | Wellington Road |
| Fred Wheldon | Report | |||
| Note: 🟥 [38] | ||||
| 22 January 1898 Match 22 | Derby County | 3–1 | Aston Villa | Baseball Ground |
| Report | Bert Sharp | |||
| Note: 🟥 [39] | ||||
| 5 February 1898 Match 23 | Aston Villa | 4–0 | Preston North End | Wellington Road |
| Jimmy Suddick; Fred Wheldon; Charlie Athersmith; Jack Sharp | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [40] | ||||
| 5 March 1898 Match 24 | Aston Villa | 4–1 | Derby County | Wellington Road |
| Steve Smith; James Fisher; Jack Sharp; Unknown | Report | |||
| Note: 🟩 [41] | ||||
| 26 March 1898 Match 26 | Nottingham Forest | 3–1 | Aston Villa | Town Ground |
| Report | James Fisher | |||
| Note: 🟥 [43] | ||||
FA Cup
The first round proper contained sixteen ties between 32 teams. The matches were played on Saturday, 29 January 1898. One match was drawn, with the replay taking place in the following midweek fixture.
| Tie no | Home team | Score | Away team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Derby County | 1–0 | Aston Villa | 29 January 1898 |
Birmingham Senior Cup
Staffordshire Cup
Matches played by Aston Villa included a 6–1 victory over West Bromwich Albion.[48]