The 1981–82 English football season was Aston Villa's 3rd season in Europe and 83rd season in the Football League. In May 1982, just three months after being appointed manager, Tony Barton guided Villa to a 1–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in Rotterdam. As of December 2023, Villa remain one of only six English teams to have won the European Cup, along with Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. They were the underdogs in the final and were expected to lose.Ward, Adam, p. 124
As defending First Division champions for the first time in 71 years, they qualified for the European Cup for the first time in their history. Their first game in the competition was against Valur of Iceland, following by a second round clash with BFC Dynamo of East Germany, Dynamo Kiev of the Soviet Union in the quarter-finals and then Anderlecht of Belgium in the semi-finals before beating Bayern Munich of West Germany 1–0 in the final in Rotterdam, with Peter Withe scoring the winning goal.
Ron Saunders resigned on 9 February 1982. At the time, Villa were mid-table in the First Division and had reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup. There had been increasing tension between the manager and Chairman Ron Bendall with Saunders complaining about stadium manager Terry Rutter's expenditure and seeking more say over non-footballing matters. Rutter would later receive a suspended prison sentence having been prosecuted for conspiracy to defraud the Football Grounds Improvement Trust and obtaining money by deception from the Club. The judge stated that Bendall would have faced these charges too had he not died.The Aston Villa Miscellany David Woodhall, 2007.
Saunders had been in charge since 1974, nearly eight years, winning a league title and two League Cups in the process. His successor was his assistant manager Tony Barton, who had been in charge for three months by the time Villa won the European Cup.
First-team squad Squad at end of season
First Division
Matches
Source: avfchistory.co.uk
European Cup
First round
First leg
ASTON VILLA: 1 Jimmy Rimmer2 Kenny Swain3 Colin Gibson4 Allan Evans5 Brendan Ormsby6 Dennis Mortimer7 Des Bremner8 Terry Donovan9 Peter Withe10 Gordon Cowans11 Tony MorleyManager: Ron Saunders
VALUR: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Manager: Volker Hofferbert
Second leg
VALUR: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Manager: Volker Hofferbert
ASTON VILLA: 1 Jimmy Rimmer2 Kenny Swain3 Colin Gibson4 Allan Evans5 Brendan Ormsby6 Dennis Mortimer7 Des Bremner8 Gary Shaw9 Peter Withe10 Gordon Cowans11 Andy BlairManager: Ron Saunders
Villa won 7–0 on aggregate.
Second round
First leg
BFC DYNAMO: 1 Bodo Rudwaleit2 Artur Ullrich3 Michael Noack 4 Rainer Troppa5 Norbert Trieloff6 Frank Terletzki7 Bernd Schulz 8 Rainer Ernst9 Hans-Jürgen Riediger 10 Wolf-Rüdiger Netz11 Ralf Sträßer Manager: Jürgen Bogs
ASTON VILLA: 1 Jimmy Rimmer2 Gary Williams3 Colin Gibson4 Allan Evans5 Brendan Ormsby6 Dennis Mortimer7 Des Bremner8 Gary Shaw9 Peter Withe10 Gordon Cowans11 Tony MorleyManager: Ron Saunders
Second leg
ASTON VILLA: 1 Jimmy Rimmer2 Kenny Swain3 Colin Gibson4 Allan Evans5 Gary Williams6 Dennis Mortimer7 Des Bremner8 Gary Shaw9 Peter Withe10 Gordon Cowans11 Tony MorleyManager: Ron Saunders
BFC DYNAMO: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Manager: Jürgen Bogs
2–2 on aggregate. Villa won on away goals rule.
Quarter final
First leg
DYNAMO KIEV: 1 Viktor Chanov 2 Anatoliy Demyanenko3 Sergiy Zhuravlev4 Volodymyr Lozynskyi5 Sergiy Baltacha6 Volodymyr Bezsonov7 Andriy Bal8 Volodymyr Veremeyev9 Leonid Buryak10 Oleg Blokhin11 Viktor KhlusManager: Valeri Lobanovsky
ASTON VILLA: 1 Jimmy Rimmer2 Kenny Swain3 Gary Williams4 Des Bremner5 Ken McNaught6 Dennis Mortimer7 Andy Blair8 Gary Shaw9 Peter Withe10 Gordon Cowans11 Tony MorleyManager: Tony Barton
Second leg
ASTON VILLA: 1 Jimmy Rimmer2 Kenny Swain3 Gary Williams4 Allan Evans5 Ken McNaught6 Dennis Mortimer7 Des Bremner8 Gary Shaw9 Peter Withe10 Gordon Cowans11 Tony MorleyManager: Tony Barton
DYNAMO KIEV: 1 Viktor Chanov 2 Anatoliy Demyanenko3 Sergiy Zhuravlev4 Volodymyr Lozynskyi5 Sergiy Baltacha6 Andriy Bal7 Oleksandr Boyko8 Volodymyr Veremeyev9 Vadym Yevtushenko10 Oleg Blokhin11 Viktor Khlus Manager: Valeri Lobanovsky
Villa won 2–0 on aggregate.
Semi-final
First leg
ASTON VILLA: 1 Jimmy Rimmer2 Kenny Swain3 Gary Williams4 Allan Evans5 Ken McNaught6 Dennis Mortimer7 Des Bremner8 Gary Shaw9 Peter Withe10 Gordon Cowans11 Tony MorleyManager: Tony Barton
ANDERLECHT: 1 Jacky Munaron2 Luka Peruzovic3 Hugo Broos4 Juan Lozano5 Michel De Groote6 Franky Vercauteren7 Walter De Greef8 Michel Renquin9 Pétur Pétursson10 Ludo Coeck11 Albert CluytensManager: Tomislav Ivić
Second leg
ANDERLECHT: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Manager: Tomislav Ivić
ASTON VILLA: 1 Jimmy Rimmer2 Kenny Swain3 Gary Williams4 Allan Evans5 Ken McNaught6 Dennis Mortimer7 Des Bremner8 Gary Shaw9 Peter Withe10 Gordon Cowans11 Tony MorleyManager: Tony Barton
Villa won 1–0 on aggregate.
Final
FA Cup
Third round
Teams from the Football League First and Second Division entered in this round. The Third Round was intended to be played on 2 January 1982. However, some matched were played initially over the period 4–6 January, while others took place as late as 23 January. Most replays took place over 18–21 January. Enfield, Barnet and Altrincham from the Alliance Premier League at Step 5 of the English football system were the lowest-ranked teams in the round and the last non-league clubs left in the competition.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate8Notts County (1)0–6Aston Villa (1)5 January 1982 Fourth round
The Fourth Round was mainly played on 23 January 1982. Matches were played or replayed either on 26 January, or on 1 February. Fourth Division sides Blackpool and Hereford United were the lowest-ranked teams in the round.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate2Bristol City0–1Aston Villa23 January 1982 Fifth round
The Fifth Round matches were all played on 13 February 1982. The only replay was played on 16 February. Third Division side Oxford United was the lowest-ranked team in the round and was the last club from the First Round left in the competition.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate4Tottenham Hotspur1–0Aston Villa13 February 1982
League Cup
Second round
First leg Home teamScoreAway teamDate Aston Villa 3–2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 7 October 1981
Second leg Home teamScoreAway teamDateAgg Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–2 Aston Villa 27 October 1981 3–5
Third round
Home teamScoreAway teamDate Leicester City 0–0 Aston Villa 11 November 1981
Replay Home teamScoreAway teamDate Aston Villa 2–0 Leicester City 25 November 1981 Fourth round
Home teamScoreAway teamDate Wigan Athletic 1–2 Aston Villa 1 December 1981 Fifth round
Home teamScoreAway teamDate Aston Villa 0–1 West Bromwich Albion 19 January 1982
References