The history of Aston Villa Football Club from 1961 to the current season covers the fluctuating fortunes of the club during the 1960s and 1970s, the European Cup victory in 1982 and the present day Premier League club.
The late 1960s was a turbulent time for the club. The problems began when the club, under manager Dick Taylor, was relegated from the first tier of English football for the third time in 1967. Within two years, pressure from supporters led to the resignation of the board of directors. The club was then relegated to the Third Division. In the 1971–72 season, Aston Villa returned to the Second Division as champions with a record 70 points. In 1974 Ron Saunders was appointed manager, and by 1975 he led the club back into the First Division and into European competition. It continued to have much success under Saunders, winning the league in the 1980–81 season. Saunders' resignation halfway through the 1981–82 season came as a surprise, with the club in the quarter-final of the European Cup. He was replaced by his assistant manager Tony Barton who guided them to 1–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in Rotterdam. However, winning the cup marked a pinnacle, and the club fell steadily down the League standings over the next five years and was relegated in 1987. The club was promoted the following year, and achieved second place in the Football League in 1990 under manager Graham Taylor.
Villa was one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992 and finished runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural season. The 1990s was a decade of inconsistency; the club had three different managers, and league positions were unpredictable, despite winning two League Cups. They reached the FA Cup Final for the first time since 1957 in 2000, but lost 1–0 to Chelsea in the last game to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. Villa's league position continued to fluctuate under various managers and, in the summer of 2006, David O'Leary left under acrimonious circumstances. Martin O'Neill arrived to a rapturous reception from team supporters. After 23 years as chair and largest shareholder, owning approximately 38% of the club, Doug Ellis decided to sell his stake to Randy Lerner, the owner of the NFL franchise Cleveland Browns. The arrival of a new owner and manager marked the start of sweeping changes throughout the club, including a new crest, a new kit sponsor and new players in the summer of 2007.
2007–08 saw Villa qualify for the Intertoto Cup. In the 2008–09 season they reached the group stage of the UEFA Cup for the first time in seven years. The first major final of the Randy Lerner era was the 2010 Football League Cup Final; Villa lost 2–1 to Manchester United. Martin O’Neill resigned before the 2010–11 season and was replaced by Gérard Houllier. After suffering from health problems, he was replaced by the former Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish. His contract was terminated at the end of the 2011–12 season after the team narrowly avoided relegation. On 28 February 2012, the club announced a financial loss of £53.9 million. Paul Lambert replaced McLeish in July 2012. Lerner put the club up for sale on 12 May 2014, with an estimated value of £200 million. In the 2014–15 season Aston Villa scored just 12 goals in 25 league games, the lowest in Premier League history, and Lambert was sacked in February 2015. Tim Sherwood replaced him and saved Villa from relegation in the 2014–15 season taking them to the 2015 FA Cup Final. He was fired in October 2015 and replaced by Rémi Garde who left in March 2016 with the club rooted in the bottom of the table. They were relegated from the Premier League on 16 April. In June 2016, Chinese businessman Tony Xia bought the club for £76 million. Roberto Di Matteo was appointed manager and was replaced shortly by Steve Bruce. In the 2017–18 season Villa lost the 2018 EFL Championship play-off final at Wembley Stadium. In July 2018 Aston Villa were sold by Xia to Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens. They sacked Bruce and appointed Dean Smith, who led the team back to the Premier League with victory in the 2019 EFL Championship play-off final.
Instability Winning the League Cup in 1961 was a pinnacle for the club. Although Villa finished seventh in 1961–62, the following season saw the beginning of a decline in form that would see them finish in 15th place in 1963 and fourth from the bottom in 1964. Manager Joe Mercer parted company with the club in July 1964 because of these results and his declining health.Ward, Adam, p. 97, "Mercer began to suffer ill health and in 1964 he left the club." His replacement, Dick Taylor, managed to avoid relegation in the 1964–65 season as Villa finished 16th after a poor start to the season.Ward, Adam, pp. 96–97 The following year Villa finished 16th once again. Following a 4–2 final day defeat by Everton the club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1966–67 season. Dick Taylor was sacked, and Tommy Cummings was appointed in his place. The decline was not solely the responsibility of the manager; the club had an ageing five-man board "who had failed to adapt to the new football reality".Ward, Adam, p. 98 The club had neither developed a scouting network nor an effective coaching structure. The board had also sold two of Villa's best players, Phil Woosnam and Tony Hateley.Ward, Adam, p. 96 "...but more worryingly the club continued to lose its best players; Phil Woosnam... headed for America and Hateley left for Chelsea." The fans' calls for the board to resign became more and more pronounced when Villa finished 16th in the Second Division in 1968.
Events on the pitch came to a head in November 1968. With Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two, the board sacked Cummings. On 21 November 1968 the problems in the boardroom were highlighted when board member George Robinson resigned. Following his resignation, the board issued a statement: "[The board] would make available, by their resignation, such seats as new financial arrangements might require".Ward, Adam, p. 100 Aston Villa F.C. was up for sale. After much speculation London financier Pat Matthews bought control of the club. He brought in local travel agent Doug Ellis as chair of the new board that was convened on 16 December 1968. Two days later Tommy Docherty was appointed as manager.
Rebuilding Docherty rebuilt confidence in the team, and Villa went on to win five consecutive games and retained a place in the Second Division. In the short time that Docherty had been at the club, attendances rose significantly from a low of just over 12,000 against Charlton Athletic in December. In the summer of 1969 the first share issue since 1896 raised £200,000 for the club, £140,000 of which was spent on new players.Ward, Adam, p. 102 In the following season, however, Villa took ten games to register a win. By Christmas 1969, they were at the bottom of the Second Division, and Docherty was sacked. His successor, Vic Crowe, was unable to prevent the team from being relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in its history in the 1969–70 season. Despite finishing fourth in the Third Division in the 1970–71 season, Villa reached the League Cup final after beating Manchester United in the semi-final. They were defeated in the final by Tottenham Hotspur 2–0. The 1971–72 season saw the club return to the Second Division as champions with a then divisional record 70 points.Ward, Adam, p. 106 They were invited to take part in the 1972 FA Charity Shield but lost 1–0 to Manchester City. In the autumn of 1972, there was a revolt in the boardroom, and four of the five directors voted to oust Doug Ellis from the board. Within 43 days though, Ellis was reinstated as chair after he had received the support of the largest shareholder Pat Matthews, and supporters at an extraordinary general meeting who voted to replace the existing directors.Ward, Adam, pp. 107–108 Their first season back in the Second Division in 1972–73 saw Villa narrowly miss out on a second successive promotion when they finished third. However, the following season Villa finished 14th and Ellis sacked Crowe, replacing him with Ron Saunders.Ward, Adam, p. 108
For the club's centenary season of 1974–75, Saunders brought in only two new players, Frank Carrodus and Leighton Phillips. At the end of his first season in charge, Villa were back in the First Division after finishing second, and won the 1975 League Cup final at Wembley Stadium. Villa beat Norwich City 1–0 with Ray Graydon scoring the winning goal.Ward, Adam, p. 115, "After finishing in the top four and winning the League Cup, Villa were now back in Europe" At the beginning of the 1975–76 season Doug Ellis resigned as chair but remained on the board. Ellis left the club in a good position on the field. They were in the First Division and the UEFA Cup for the first time due to the League Cup win of 1975. The club's first season of European football was short-lived as they were beaten 5–1 by Antwerp in the first round. In the following season, Villa finished fourth in the League and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. In the 1976–77 season, two years after their last League Cup win, they beat Everton 3–2 in the 1977 Final after a second replay.Ward, Adam, p. 110
League and European victories
In the 1977–78 season 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. As he began the restructuring in the summer of 1979, there were more changes in the boardroom. Doug Ellis tabled a resolution to have several directors removed from the board. It was unsuccessful, and Ellis resigned from the board. Meanwhile, Saunders signed several new players who were to become some of Villa's most prolific players in terms of goals and appearances.Ward, Adam, p. 118 Allan Evans, Ken McNaught and Kenny Swain were brought into the defence, and Des Bremner was brought into the midfield to play alongside Dennis Mortimer and Gordon Cowans. Tony Morley and Gary Shaw were the new strike partnership. When Peter Withe was signed from Newcastle United in the summer of 1980, Saunders had built a team that saw much success over the next few years.
Its first success was in the 1980–81 season. Villa won their first League Championship in 71 years, fighting off competition from Liverpool and Ipswich Town using only 14 playing staff in the season. The title was sealed the last day of Villa's season when they lost 2–0 at Arsenal but still finished top as Ipswich Town, the only side still in contention for the title, lost to Middlesbrough.Constable, Nick, chpt. "1980–81" This triumph was popularly known as the "transistor championship" as Villa fans had turned up at the game listening to the progress of the Ipswich game on their Transistor radios.