Alas, at the end of Villa's campaign in the top tier in 1967, when Villa's longest-ever sojourn outside of the top tier started, the ever-so long eight years, many good players ran down their careers after so much sacrifice in the Villa's cause.
Added to the fairly recent final departure of great Villa servants such as Alan Deakin, Nigel Sims, Ron Wylie, Mike Tindall and Jimmy MacEwan, perhaps it's time to roll back the years and re-cap on some of what happened in the sixties.
The one and very notable survivor from that period was Charlie Aitken, who still holds the club record for the number of appearances. I remember clearly when Charlie Aitken made his debut in the last league match of season 1960-61, in the same match when Johnny Dixon ended his great 15-year service to the Villa. Charlie also went on to complete 15 years' service. Only Gareth Barry has since come anywhere close to such lengthy top-flight Villa service when he left after 12 years, though Gordon Cowans rattled up quite a service but in three different periods over 14 years.
Until the 1960s, anyone who played for the Villa was proud of that fact and it was with Charlie Aitken that a long, long unbroken period of great servants to the Villa came to an end. Before Charlie there was Johnny (as stated). Before Johnny, there was Eric Houghton (10+ seasons and the war years). Previously there was Billy Walker (14), Harry Hampton (10+) in parallel with Joe Bache (14), John Devey (10) in parallel with Charlie Athersmith (10) and Jimmy Cowan (13) and, of course, Archie Hunter (11+). Even in Johnny Dixon's time and a little after, Peter Aldis, Stan Lynn, Peter McParland and Vic Crowe each put in at least 9 years' service, as did Alan Deakin later on.
But those were different times - "the times are a-changin'", as the song went. The sixties were synonymous with a time of protest and change. As far as football was concerned, in 1961 the players, led by Jimmy Hill as secretary of the PFA, threatened a strike if the fixed-wage was not removed from football. It got removed, changing the outlook of players in future years. Villa's Ron Wylie apparently said that it was not long before he was getting £60 per week (after the £20 fixed-wage) and didn't know what to do with the extra pay!
Aston Villa was one of those clubs that opposed the removal of the fixed-wage, revealing their lack of vision, yet back in the early years of the 20th c. the then Villa chairman Fred Rinder vehemently opposed the fixed-wage!
Changing methods of play - particularly to the 'continental' format of 4-2-4 - was something else that the Villa had difficulty in accepting. The combination of these two changes in football in the 1960s combined to cause the Villa's downfall: the Villa board was unable to ride with the times. The board was the basic cause of the Villa's demise.
So, after the relegation of 1967, the young rearguard that had been introduced as Mercer's Minors very early in the 60s, began to depart. John 'Slogger' Sleeuwenhoek was anxious to leave (but never successfully re-ignited his career at Small Heath and sadly died in his early 40s), while Michael ("Don't call me Mick") Wright, the late Alan Deakin and the late Mike Tindall all limped out of the action after injury-strewn careers struggling to keep Villa up from the mid-1960s.
Earlier in the 1960s Villa's sad demise was not easy to predict. Having quickly regained top tier status in 1960, Villa still had the great goalscorer Peter McParland on the wing with Gerry Hitchens coming into top form (he scored an overall 42 goals in 1960-61 before he went off to Italy). They were ably supported by the very experienced and committed Lynn, Crowe, Dugdale, MacEwan and Wylie, in addition to the ubiquitous Bobby Thomson who was good in any midfield position, and was not a mean goalscorer either. There was also goalkeeper Nigel Sims, who must have been one of the greatest non-capped 'keepers ever in the 1956-61 period.
There had been great matches during the 1959-1962 period after Joe Mercer came in as manager. While in the second tier (1959-60), Villa not only put 11 past Charlton in one match but also put another 5 past Bristol City and then Scunthorpe in the following two matches. 21 goals in 3 matches! Phew. A 4-4 draw against Liverpool had the pulses racing too, as Villa came back from 0-4 down and should have won it!
Following a good season of rehab in the top-flight (beating Small Heath 6-2 on the way), and re-building in 1961-62, the end of that season saw Villa not only win 5-4 at Arsenal but soon after had 8-3 and 5-1 victories in tandem and finished 7th in the league.
By this time, Mercer's Minors were settling in, replacing the old guard defenders that had won promotion. A young Harry Burrows also replaced Peter McParland as a hard-shooting winger, and midfielder/winger Alan Baker was considered by some experts to be a future England international. The young striker Derek 'the Doog' Dougan also strutted his stuff in cavalier style for awhile.
When the well-known Welsh international forward Phil Woosnam arrived in the early autumn of 1962, there was a buzz around Villa Park, the fans having seen him take apart Bolton on his debut. Villa won 5-0. Indeed, by December that year the Villa were 5th in the table and looking very promising indeed. Then a big freeze set in, matches were postponed by the plenty and the Villa never recovered their poise. They slid down the table.
The Villa's attendances, that had still sometimes topped 50,000 up until this time, dropped. In those days, the clubs kept going nearly all by reliance on crowd attendances.
Joe Mercer, the very competent and jovial Villa manager, had to work with a board that were mostly fairly small businessmen, with Chris Buckley (a fine Villa player in the 1909-10 championship season) as chairman. However, Chris was never as far-seeing as his more famous brother, Major Frank Buckley, who was also an ex-Villa player.
The Villa board of those days had always been hard people to get money out of, and now it got worse. You can even see the evidence in some close-up pics of players of that period how the shirt badges were not properly sewn on. It all got to be very petty. The frustrations of the Doug Ellis era were nothing like this.
Gerry Hitchens had been sold to Italy for quite a big sum in 1961, but Dougan (his replacement) was bought on the cheap, and though he was a good player, he was moved on after the cold season of 1962-63. Eventually, he became a star player with Wolves during a revival period in their history. George Graham, a fine youngster that had come through Villa's youth team, was sold to Tommy Docherty at Chelsea for a pittance and proved even more than Dougan how short-sighted the Villa board were. Graham starred with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United as well as Scotland.
Incidentally, when Tommy Docherty managed Chelsea, his half-back line was Hollins, Hinton and Harris, a brilliant combination. But I have it on good authority that Doc said that Tindall, Sleeuwenhoek and Deakin was the best in the country in the early 60s.
By 1964, the Villa had sold their training ground to raise cash. Mercer was under such strain that he was confined to his bed. The Villa board sacked him. He later - having recovered - very successfully resurrected his managerial career with Man City before becoming England manager for a temporary spell. During that short time he had the England team playing lovely football.
Dick Taylor - Mercer's former assistant - was appointed manager in the 1964 summer and one signing of his that stood out from anything else was the purchase of a 'keeper, the late Colin Withers, who effectively replaced the ageing and less lithe Nigel Sims, who had left in the summer.
At that time Villa's future did not look at all bad, despite the not-very-publicised financial shortages. The Mercer Minors were majoring, and with Withers now added and Tony Hateley (signed in autumn, 1963) frequently smacking (or, more frequently, nodding) in the passes supplied by Phil Woosnam, the future did not look bad at all - despite Villa's miserly board.
But no. To raise more cash Villa sold Harry Burrows to Stoke, where he had a fine career. They did buy Johnny MacLeod, a fine winger from Arsenal, and also Tony Scott, another winger from West Ham, but neither of these players was particularly robust, nor could they shoot anywhere near as well as Harry. At the end of the 1964-65 season, Villa sold Ron Wylie who, late in his career, had found a new skill as a wing-half and had a great season, the board saying, "We have good young midfield talent coming through - all is OK".
But there was no plan 'B'. By 1964 injuries to key midfield players had become frequent: Deakin and Tindall suffered broken legs and Woosnam was also frequently out - which is how Wylie came back into the team. From 1963 to 1966 Villa finished in the bottom third of the table, and it was only briefly - in the early part of the 1965-66 season and after signing Willie Hamilton (not 'Chico') - that Villa looked as though they might start climbing again.
A 6-3 win at Fulham seemed to signal better things for awhile, but even though Woosnam had his best-ever scoring season, and Hateley was still knocking them in, things slipped again, though a notable 5-5 draw at Spurs (coming from 1-5 down) raised our spirits - for a week! Hateley scored 4 in that match and Jimmy Greaves made the comment in his book that Hateley seemed to rise into the clouds to head his goals. Tony Hateley really could jump high.
But the coffers at t' Villa seemed to have dried up, or so they implied. One season the Villa made a substantial profit but refused to spend any of it and instead allowed the taxman to take his full quota.
The Villa now relied purely on more young players coming through to redeem the club - players like Bobby Park and wee Davie Rudge, and Lew Chatterley. They all played with great exuberance, but the Villa had not kept pace with the times in terms of tactics as well as player care. The pressure on the Villa's defence mounted, with Colin Withers a hero in match after match, and players like 'Slogger' also committed to the great cause of keeping Villa in the top flight. "Withers for England" became the cry - and some pundits agreed.
 |
| Woosnam, Withers and Hateley |
Phil Woosnam had been plotting his exit and left for the USA, where he played a significant part in the development of US soccer for many years. By now Tony Hateley had also been itching to move, and with such a scoring record as his while playing in the lower reaches of the top tier, there were suitors. He went to Chelsea for a spell and then Liverpool, but just as was Benteke's fate there many years later, his style did not suit Anfield. Hateley soon moved on and then progressively down the league.
Villa did purchase a replacement for Hateley, utilising a fraction of Hateley's selling price. John Woodward came in from Stoke and was an immediate hit. When high-flying Leeds (Bremner and all) came to play third-from-the-bottom Villa, Woodward stretched every sinew to prove his worth - and nearly lost his head with one diving header. He scored 2 in Villa's 3-0 demolition of Leeds.
The Villa faithful started to relax after such a win and such a performance from Woodward and the whole team. But things were never going to go right for Villa by this time. In the very next match - at the Hawthorns - Woodward was badly injured and was lost for the rest of the season. He was never the same player when he became fit again, in a team that by then had lost its way.
Strangely enough, another striker purchase of a few years earlier, Barry Stobart, was then drafted back into the Villa team and ended the season having his best-ever Villa scoring record - 11 goals in 18 matches.
As soon as Woodward got injured, Villa signed Peter Broadbent, the fine old Wolves and England midfielder. He was now of pensionable age, but Villa did not have the means to acquire anyone more suitable. However, his experience and touches were invaluable and he did bring some measure of calm into the Villa ranks. In January Villa acquired George Best's deputy at Man United, winger Willie Anderson of the Beatles' hairdo. He remained a Villa favourite for several years and helped the Villa get back towards the top flight.
Things were not going too well into the new year of 1967, lying four places from the bottom. Then Villa faced Leeds again - and beat them again, this time on their home ground, 2-0! In the next match, at Villa Park, the Villa faced a star-studded Spurs team and led 3-1 at half-time - with Lew Chatterley's 25-yard blockbuster off the crossbar the pick of Villa's goals. But Spurs were so good that Villa could not hold them. Still, a 3-3 draw against such a team was a sound achievement. And a 3-3 draw at Sheffield United was also achieved in the next match.
In the last 11 matches, however, the Villa obtained only one win - and in the very last three matches Villa were overwhelmed - 13 goals were put past them. By that stage, Colin, Slogger and Co. had virtually given up. They were burnt out - a spent force. The Villa left the top flight and at that time it was anyone's guess when they might get back - if ever.
Amazingly, Coventry City were promoted into the top-flight for the first time that year, to replace their former illustrious near-neighbours. Under Jimmy Hill, Coventry were building by applying modern management and commercial methods, and very successfully too. They effectively demonstrated how the Villa could have been reformed. And, perhaps more importantly, how some great Villa talent could have been spared the ignominy and misuse of their skills.
So ended one of the saddest phases in the Villa's history, and a description of how some fine Villa players - notably Colin Withers and 'Slogger' - went downhill after that. Colin eventually left for the lower divisions - at only the age of 29 and after being so highly rated. Alan Deakin was not long in going as well after an injury-strewn career after having been tipped for England honours. By 1965 a certain Bobby Moore had taken Alan's expected place in the England team.
Colin Withers was a big man - at 1.91m and with big hands. He also had a big smile, and people say that he always had a big smile for the strikers he thwarted. Fans also remember him after he had retired to run a guest house in Blackpool, with his wife Audrey. He told old visiting supporters that the first drink was free to them and he delighted in showing photos of his time in Holland, where he went after leaving English football. The beauty of it is that, as a Brummie, Colin had been a Villa supporter all his life, but only came to Villa after years being mostly an understudy to Johnny Schofield at Small Heath. Colin was also known to be a man of humour and compassion.
And the Villa chairman, Chris Buckley? Well, he had reached around 80 years of age and finally retired in October, 1966, just before Villa's relegation. The man who took over as chairman was the former vice-chairman, a Birmingham Council youth worker, Norman Smith. A fine character, but hardly the person qualified to lead the recovery of such a football club. Doug Ellis finally replaced him at the end of 1968, and then the grind back to the top finally became possible.
UTV!
(c) 2021, John Lerwill
No comments:
Post a Comment