# 1960–61 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa played the 1960–61 English football season in the Football League First Division.
The League Cup was held for the first time in 1960–61 to provide clubs with a new source of income with Aston Villa winning that inaugural year. Despite an initial lack of enthusiasm on the part of some other big clubs, the competition became firmly established in the footballing calendar. Villa beat Rotherham United 3–2 on aggregate after extra time. Rotherham won the first leg 2–0 at Millmoor, their home ground thanks to goals from Alan Kirkman and Barry Webster. In the second leg at Villa Park, Harry Burrows and Peter McParland levelled the tie on aggregate and Alan O'Neill scored in extra-time to win the cup.
In the Second City derby Aston Villa beat Birmingham City 6–2 at Villa Park, Peter McParland, Gerry Hitchens(3), and Alan O’Neill(2) scoring for Villa. The away fixture was drawn 1-1.
There were debuts for Charlie Aitken (561), John Sleeuwenhoek (226), Alan Baker (92), Geoff Sidebottom (70), Alan O'Neill (23), Fred Potter (6), Jimmy McMorran (14), Alfie Hale (5) and Mike Kenning (3).

## Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Leicester City | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 87 | 70 | 1.243 | 45 | Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup |
| 7 | Manchester United | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 88 | 76 | 1.158 | 45 | |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 78 | 77 | 1.013 | 43 | |
| 9 | Blackburn Rovers | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 77 | 76 | 1.013 | 43 | |
| 10 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 18 | 5 | 19 | 67 | 71 | 0.944 | 41 | |
* ↑ Leicester City qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round as the 1960–61 FA Cup runners-up, since the winners, Tottenham Hotspur, had already qualified for the European Cup.

## League Cup

The 1960–61 Football League Cup was the inaugural knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The competition ended with the two-legged final almost a year later on 22 August and 5 September 1961. The tournament was won by Aston Villa, who beat Rotherham United 3–2 on aggregate after extra time.
Rotherham won the first leg 2–0 at Millmoor, their home ground thanks to goals from Alan Kirkman and Barry Webster. In the second leg at Villa Park, Harry Burrows and Peter McParland levelled the tie on aggregate and Alan O'Neill scored in extra-time to win the cup for Aston Villa.
5 League teams did not compete (Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers). Villa received a bye to the second round and, on 12 October, beat Huddersfield Town 4–1 at home before a crowd of 17,057.
On 15-11-1960 7,677 watched Preston North End draw 3–3 with travelling Villa. The Villains won the home replay 3–1 in front of 15,000.

### Fourth round

| Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Date |
| Aston Villa (1) | 3–3 | Plymouth Argyle (2) | 12,117 | 13-12-1960 |
| Plymouth Argyle (2) | 0–0 | Aston Villa (1) | 11,006 | 19-12-1960 |
| Plymouth Argyle (2) | 3–5 | Aston Villa (1) | 13,548 | 06-02-1961 |

### Fifth round

| Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Date |
| Aston Villa (1) | 3–0 | Wrexham (4) | 19,500 | 22-02-1961 |

### Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made in February 1961 after the conclusion of the quarter-finals. Unlike the rounds up to that point, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The matches were played in March, April and May 1961.
| Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Date |
| Burnley (1) | 1–1 | Aston Villa (1) | 15,908 | 10-04-1961 |
| Aston Villa (1) | 2–2 | Burnley (1) | 23,077 | 26-04-1961 |
| Aston Villa (1) | 2–1 | Burnley (1) | 7,953 | 02-05-1961 |

## Final

The 1961 League Cup Final was played on 22 August and 5 September 1961 and was contested between First Division side Aston Villa and Second Division team Rotherham United. Aston Villa won the game 3–2 on aggregate (after extra time).

### First leg

| Rotherham United | Aston Villa |
Roy Ironside :
| 2 | Peter Perry |
| 3 | Lol Morgan |
| 4 | Roy Lambert (c) |
| 5 | Peter Madden |
| 6 | Ken Waterhouse |
| 7 | Barry Webster |
| 8 | Don Weston |
| 9 | Ken Houghton |
| 10 | Alan Kirkman |
| 11 | Keith Bambridge |
| Manager: ||||
| Tom Johnston ||||
Nigel Sims :
| 2 | Stan Lynn |
| 3 | Gordon Lee |
| 4 | Vic Crowe (c) |
| 5 | Jimmy Dugdale |
| 6 | Alan Deakin |
| 7 | Jimmy MacEwan |
| 8 | Bobby Thomson |
| 9 | Ralph Brown |
| 10 | Ron Wylie |
| 11 | Peter McParland |
| Manager: ||||
| Joe Mercer ||||

### Second leg

| Aston Villa | Rotherham United |
Geoff Sidebottom :
| 2 | John Neal |
| 3 | Gordon Lee |
| 4 | Vic Crowe (c) |
| 5 | Jimmy Dugdale |
| 6 | Alan Deakin |
| 7 | Jimmy MacEwan |
| 8 | Alan O'Neill |
| 9 | Peter McParland |
| 10 | Bobby Thomson |
| 11 | Harry Burrows |
| Manager: ||||
| Joe Mercer ||||
Roy Ironside :
| 2 | Peter Perry |
| 3 | Lol Morgan |
| 4 | Roy Lambert (c) |
| 5 | Peter Madden |
| 6 | Ken Waterhouse |
| 7 | Barry Webster |
| 8 | Don Weston |
| 9 | Ken Houghton |
| 10 | Alan Kirkman |
| 11 | Keith Bambridge |
| Manager: ||||
| Tom Johnston ||||