The 1961–62 English football season was Aston Villa's 63rd season in The Football League. Villa played in the First Division.
In the Second City derby both teams won their away fixtures.
Winning the 1961 Football League Cup Final was the pinnacle for Villa. They finished seventh in 1961–62, the following season saw the beginning of a decline in form.Ward, Adam, p. 97, "Mercer began to suffer ill health and in 1964 he left the club."
There were debuts for Derek Dougan (51), Tommy Ewing (39), Ken Fencott (3), Wilson Briggs (2), Allan Jones (1),https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/allan-jones and Ralph Brown. Lew Chatterley who began his career as an apprentice at Aston Villa, turned professional this season, with his league debut coming the following season. He remained at Villa Park for over 9 years, making 153 league appearances and scoring 26 goals.
Derek Dougan joined Villa in July 1961 for a fee of £15,000. The 23-year-old was signed by manager Joe Mercer as a replacement for Gerry Hitchens, who had been sold on to Inter Milan earlier in the summer for £85,000. Teammate Peter McParland later commented that "when Derek came to us at Aston Villa I think it was at a time when he was not taking the game particularly seriously". After returning from watching his "Villans" teammates win the 1961 League Cup Final at Villa Park on 5 September, Dougan was a passenger in a car accident which killed fellow passenger Malcolm Williams and left Dougan with a broken arm and head injuries; driver and teammate Bobby Thomson was charged but found 'Not Guilty' of careless driving. In November 2010 – three years after Dougan's death, Thomson claimed that Dougan had drunkenly pulled a deerstalker hat over his eyes, causing him to crash the car. Dougan recovered after three months on the sidelines and ended the 1961–62 season with 12 goals in 27 matches.
First Division
Matches
FA Cup
Third round The 44 First and Second Division clubs entered the competition at this stage. The matches were scheduled for 6 January 1962, with seven matches postponed until later dates. Ten matches were drawn and went to replays, with two of these requiring a second replay.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate10Aston Villa4–3Crystal Palace6 January 1962 Fourth round The matches were scheduled for 27 January 1962, with three Lancashire-based games postponed until the midweek fixtures. Five matches were drawn and went to replays, which were all played in the following midweek match. Weymouth was the last non-league club left in the competition.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate4Aston Villa2–1Huddersfield Town27 January 1962 Fifth round The matches were scheduled for 17 February 1962. Two matches went to replays in the following mid-week fixtures, with the Liverpool–Preston North End game requiring a second replay (at Old Trafford) before the tie was settled.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate4Aston Villa2–1Charlton Athletic17 February 1962 Sixth round
The four quarter-final ties were scheduled to be played on 10 March 1962. Two matches went to replays on the 14th before being settled.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway teamDate3Tottenham Hotspur2–0Aston Villa10 March 1962
League Cup 1961 League Cup final second leg
1 Geoff Sidebottom2 John Neal3 Gordon Lee4 Vic Crowe (c)5 Jimmy Dugdale6 Alan Deakin7 Jimmy MacEwan8 Alan O'Neill9 Peter McParland10 Bobby Thomson11 Harry BurrowsManager: Joe Mercer 1 Roy Ironside2 Peter Perry3 Lol Morgan4 Roy Lambert (c)5 Peter Madden6 Ken Waterhouse7 Barry Webster8 Don Weston9 Ken Houghton10 Alan Kirkman11 Keith BambridgeManager: Tom Johnston
1961–62 League Cup
First round Home teamScoreAway teamDate Bradford City (4) 3–4 Aston Villa (1) 13-09-1961 Second round Home teamScoreAway teamDate West Ham United (1) 1–3 Aston Villa (1) 09-10-1961 Third round Home teamScoreAway teamDate Aston Villa (1) 2–3 Ipswich Town (1) 21-11-1961
References