The 1879–80 English football season saw Aston Villa's first ever FA Cup tie This season, nine years before the creation of the Football League, Villa collected their first ever piece of silverware, the Birmingham Senior Cup. They defeated Saltley College 3–2 in the final with goals from Eli Davis, William Mason and George Ramsay in front of 6,000 at Aston Lower Grounds.Football, 5 April 1880, The Times
J. Hughes was Aston Villa's umpire in the last season before a referee would be appointed before the match. Originally team captains would consult each other in order to resolve any dispute on the pitch. Eventually this role was delegated to an umpire. Each team would bring their own partisan umpire allowing the team captains to concentrate on the game. In 1881, the referee, a third "neutral" official was added; this referee would be "referred to" if the umpires could not resolve a dispute. The referee did not take his place on the pitch until 1891, when the umpires became linesmen (now assistant referees). FA Cup
1st Round bye
Birmingham Cup The 1879–80 Birmingham Senior Cup was the fourth season of the oldest county cup competition still active and the third oldest in the world overall. Aston Villa beat Saltley College 3–1 in the final.
Villa beat Birmingham Excelsior 8–1 in the second round. On Saturday 14 February, in the third round of the Birmingham Senior Cup, Villa registered 16 undefeated when they beat Newport (Salop) 7-0.Matches played on Saturday, Birmingham Evening Mail, 16 February 1880, p3 They beat Walsall Swifts in the semi-finals."Gossip on rural pastimes", The Leeds Mercury, 26 March 1880, p2
Aston Unity's best run in the Birmingham Cup, at the time the second-most prestigious tournament for football clubs in the Midlands, came in 1879–80, the club beating Small Heath Alliance and St George's (the latter 9–1 away from home), before losing to Villa at the Aston Lower Grounds; because of Villa's predatory poaching of players in the area, and importation of Scots shamateurs, "partisanship on both sides ran high", and Unity played a more brutal game than normal, Villa's Eli Davis having to go off injured, but the ten men won with a late goal from George Ramsay. Staffordshire Cup Villa were beaten 2–1 by Wednesbury Old Athletic in the final of the Staffordshire Cup. Friendlies
On Saturday, 3 January the Second team lost 4-2 to Aston Unity at Aston Lane."Football" Birmingham Evening Mail, 5 January 1880, p2 References