# 1965–66 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 1965–66 English football season was Aston Villa's 66th season in the Football League, this season playing in the Football League First Division. Villa finished 16th, below Arsenal and Newcastle United and just above Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest.
There were debuts for Willie Hamilton (49) and Tony Scott (50).

## Football League First Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 14 | Arsenal | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 62 | 75 | 0.827 | 37 |
| 15 | Newcastle United | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 50 | 63 | 0.794 | 37 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 42 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 69 | 80 | 0.863 | 36 |
| 17 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 56 | 66 | 0.848 | 36 |
| 18 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 56 | 72 | 0.778 | 36 |

## Diary of the season

4 Sep 1965: Villa, bottom of the table with a single point, pick up their first win, 0–2 away to Blackburn.
19 Mar 1966: Tony Hateley scores four second-half goals as Villa came from 5–1 down to draw 5–5 with Tottenham Hotspur.
9 May 1966: Villa are trounced 1–6 away to Manchester United.

## Results

| Win | Draw | Loss |
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 21 Aug | Sheffield United | a | 0-1 |
| 23 Aug | Leeds United | h | 0-2 |
| 28 Aug | Leicester City | h | 2-2 |
| 1 Sep | Leeds United | a | 0-2 |
| 4 Sep | Blackburn Rovers | a | 2-0 |
| 6 Sep | Sunderland | h | 3-1 |
| 11 Sep | Blackpool | h | 3-0 |
| 15 Sep | Sunderland | a | 0-2 |
| 18 Sep | Fulham | a | 6-3 |
| 21 Sep | Swansea Town (LC R2) | a | 3-2 |
| 25 Sep | Tottenham Hotspur | h | 3-2 |
| 2 Oct | Liverpool | a | 1-3 |
| 9 Oct | Newcastle United | a | 0-1 |
| 13 Oct | Sunderland (LC R3) | a | 2-1 |
| 16 Oct | West Bromwich Albion) | h | 1-1 |
| 23 Oct | Nottingham Forest | a | 2-1 |
| 30 Oct | Sheffield Wednesday | h | 2-0 |
| 3 Nov | Fulham (LC R4) | a | 1-1 |
| 6 Nov | Northampton Town | a | 1-2 |
| 8 Nov | Fulham (LC R4 Replay) | h | 2-0 |
| 13 Nov | Stoke City | h | 0-1 |
| 17 Nov | West Bromwich Albion (LC QF) | a | 1-3 |
| 20 Nov | Burnley | a | 1-3 |
| 27 Nov | Chelsea | h | 2-4 |
| 4 Dec | Arsenal | a | 3-3 |
| 11 Dec | Everton | h | 3-2 |
| 1 Jan | Newcastle United | h | 4-2 |
| 8 Jan | Everton | a | 0-2 |
| 15 Jan | Nottingham Forest | h | 3-0 |
| 22 Jan | Leicester City (FAC R3) | h | 1-2 |
| 29 Jan | Sheffield United | h | 0-2 |
| 5 Feb | Leicester City | a | 1-2 |
| 7 Feb | West Ham United | h | 1-2 |
| 11 Feb | West Bromwich Albion | a | 2-2 |
| 19 Feb | Blackburn Rovers | h | 3-1 |
| 26 Feb | Blackpool | a | 1-0 |
| 5 Mar | West Ham United | a | 2-4 |
| 12 Mar | Fulham | h | 2-5 |
| 19 Mar | Tottenham Hotspur | a | 5-5 |
| 26 Mar | Liverpool | h | 0-3 |
| 2 Apr | Northampton Town | h | 1-2 |
| 6 Apr | Manchester United | h | 1-1 |
| 9 Apr | Stoke City | a | 0-2 |
| 16 Apr | Burnley | h | 2-1 |
| 27 Apr | Sheffield Wednesday | a | 0-2 |
| 30 Apr | Arsenal | h | 3-0 |
| 9 May | Manchester United | a | 1-6 |
| 16 May | Chelsea | a | 2-0 |

## First team squad

* Colin Withers, goalkeeper, 25
* John Gavan, goalkeeper, 25
* John Sleeuwenhoek, centre-back, 21
* Charlie Aitken, left-back, 23
* Mick Wright, right-back, 18
* Keith Bradley, right-back, 19
* Graham Parker, midfielder, 19
* Alan Deakin, midfielder, 23
* Ray Bloomfield, midfielder, 20
* Mike Tindall, defensive midfield, 24
* Bobby Park, central midfield, 18
* Lew Chatterley, central midfield, 20
* Johnny MacLeod, right midfield, 26
* Dave Pountney, right midfield, 25
* Tony Scott, left midfield, 24
* Willie Hamilton, forward, 27
* Jimmy MacEwan, right winger, 36
* Alan Baker, second striker, 21
* Barry Stobart, second striker, 27
* Phil Woosnam, centre-forward, 32
* Tony Hateley, centre-forward, 24