When There Was Great Spirit At The Villa...

Before today's (Crystal Palace) result I had already decided that there is nothing taking place at Villa that causes me to be enthused anymore, and that only by looking into the club's history can we acquire a surge of pride. But although the early-mid 1990s were a period of considerable hope and even provided a sense of being entertained, we have to go back to the 12 years from 1970 to find a period that remained almost constantly upbeat and, what is more, achieving great things. Before that and we have to hark back to pre-War days to find consistent periods of great entertainment. 

But it was the pre-World War One time that really made the Villa famous. So much so that even as late as the 1930s, an English international with another club stated that he had become "fed up" with being asked (on his international travels) on how the Villa were doing! And, also in the 1930s, Villa's Jimmy Crabtree was still spoken of as England's greatest all-round player - and he played for England in the 1890s! 

So it is that time - which is now 100 years ago and more - that I often look to gain a 'high' feeling. A time when Villa were not afraid of anyone and a time (from 1894 to 1914) when they achieved more than any club until Liverpool started on their remarkable run in the 1960s. In those days the Villa gave their fans great cause to have pride in their club. So, to illustrate the level of spirit that then existed, I go back in time. Firstly to a comment that a former Preston North End star made about the Villa of the 1896-97 time. He said: "The Villa would just not allow you to play. They would hold the ball and run circles round you." Villa were then acknowledged as the masters of triangulation (inter-passing between a triangle of players). 

Yes, the peak of Villa's achievements was in the 1893-1900 period (7 trophies won), but the press in those days did not give up much in the way of interviews with personalities - that was something that gradually developed. So I'm going to move forward to another period which I call Villa's "Renaissance" - between 1908 and 1914, when Villa won the League (once), one the Cup (once) and were 4 times League runners-up, and twice Cup semi-finalists. Those were still great achievements for those days. The first account of the period is taken from the wonderful season of 1912-13, when Villa won the Cup but also finished runner-up in the League. That season was nearly a repeat of 1896-97 when Villa achieved the 'double'. The second account is from season 1909-10, when Villa did win the League (the last time until 1981). In October, 1912, Sheffield Wednesday came to Villa Park at a time when Villa had a horrendous injury situation. Former Villa director Charlie Johnstone wrote:

Before the match, the Villa dressing room looked more like a first-aid establishment than anything else. ‘Owd’ Joe [Grierson] and Charlie Wallace were quite busy putting a patch on here and a bandage on there, and a good many of the men looked as if they had taken part in a … fight, and, thought I, ‘if we get a point out of this match, we shall be lucky!’ Hall was quite unfit with a partial breakdown in the thigh, and under the circumstances his display was marvellous. Hampton was punctured all over with stud marks.

Anyone reading that description of the scene would hardly believe, therefore, that Villa would win that match 10-0, with Hampton getting five of the goals! What makes the result more amazing is that Wednesday were unbeaten until this match and had previously only conceded eight goals in five matches! 

Two years earlier, also against Sheffield Wednesday, Villa won 5-0. Unbelievably, the score was 0-0 at half time, after a half when on half-a-dozen occasions the Villa should have scored. Virtually as soon as the second-half started Villa did score and spread their goals throughout the half. Wednesday throughout looked second-rate to the Villa though they had a strong reputation. The Sheffield centre-half (McConnell) seemed as though he was saving himself for a forthcoming international match. A report stated: “… he looked upon the game at times with arms folded and made no attempt to play”. He also had words with the linesman, who thus complained to the referee. McConnell — who had been the outstanding player a week earlier against England — subsequently explained himself “in his pleasant Irish brogue”:

I went all out for an hour, but I had no luck at all. The Villa forwards were too clever for us. They danced and jigged around us - made us regular laughing stocks at times — and I am blessed if I could get near the ball, however hard I tried. For one thing, it was very light and lively. At half-time, I asked some of the others in joke how it felt to kick the ball.

When the question came that surely he must have played before against forwards as good as these Villa men, he said: "Not I. They are a wonderful lot, and the marvel to me is that they hadn’t scored five times before half-time. They deserved to." 

On both of these occasions Villa played a Wednesday side that were regarded as no 'push-overs'. It's true that in 1909-10 they finished mid-table, but in 1912-13 they finished the season in third place, just one place behind Villa. 

So, what was it that made the Villa of old? In those days, there was a famous lead writer in the respected Athletic News of the pen-name ‘Tityrus’ who, since the 1880s, had been writing his column. His actual name was J. H. Catton. Even though he wrote for a Manchester journal, he would not shy away from writing about the truth. In 1910, for example, he wrote:

I have the best reason for believing that Aston Villa owe their position to shrewdness. The club is administered by men who know how to use money like a thrifty housewife. Whenever I have gone to a representative match, there I found a deputation of four or five from Aston Villa. Men like George Ramsay, Howard Spencer and John Devey. … There are other men beside these three Villa heroes. They are so modest, however, that they prefer not to see their names printed. Aston Villa mainly owe their position to the restless activity of their directors. Better football scouts and schemers I have not met. …

Well, times have changed, haven't they? Today's board clearly believe in "leaving it to the professionals" while knowing precious little about the game themselves. But my intention is to make your day more cheerful, not to take you for a walk in the mire. I hope you enjoyed those all too brief accounts from a century ago and more.