# 1979–80 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 1979–80 season was Aston Villa's 80th in the Football League and their fifth consecutive season in the top division.
There were debut appearances for Nigel Spink (361), Des Bremner (174), Tony Morley (137), David Geddis (47), Eamonn Deacy (33), Pat Heard (24), Terry Donovan (24), Terry Bullivant (12), Mike Pejic (10), Noel Blake (4) and Robert Hopkins (3).

## Diary

8 September 1979: The national transfer record fee is broken for the second time in four days when Wolverhampton Wanderers pay almost £1,500,000 for Aston Villa and Scotland striker Andy Gray.
October 1979: John Gidman is sold to Everton for £650,000 (2013: £2,900,000) in a deal which sees midfielder Pat Heard move the other way at a valuation of £150,000. Heard would make nine appearances in his first season at Villa Park.
8 March 1980: Second Division West Ham United beat Aston Villa 1–0 in the FA Cup sixth round.
28 April 1980: Arsenal and Liverpool require another replay after drawing 1–1 again in their FA Cup semi-final second replay at Villa Park.
3 May 1980: Liverpool clinch the league title in their penultimate league game of the season by beating Aston Villa 4–1 at Anfield.

## Squad
### First team squad

As of end of the season.
| Name | Position (s) | Date of Birth (Age) | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers |||||
| Jimmy Rimmer | GK | (1948-02-10)10 February 1948 (aged 32) | Arsenal |
| Nigel Spink | GK | (1958-08-08)8 August 1958 (aged 21) | Chelmsford City |
| Defenders |||||
| Brendon Ormsby | CB | (1960-10-01)1 October 1960 (aged 19) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Allan Evans | CB | (1960-10-01)1 October 1960 (aged 19) | Dunfermline Athletic |
| Ken McNaught | CB | (1955-01-11)11 January 1955 (aged 25) | Everton |
| Mark Jones | RB | (1961-10-22)22 October 1961 (aged 18) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Noel Blake | CB | (1962-01-12)12 January 1962 (aged 18) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Eamonn Deacy | LB | (1958-10-01)1 October 1958 (aged 21) | Galway United |
| Colin Gibson | LB | (1960-04-06)6 April 1960 (aged 20) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Mike Pejic | LB | (1950-01-25)25 January 1950 (aged 30) | Everton |
| Pat Heard | LB | (1960-03-17)17 March 1960 (aged 20) | Everton |
| Kenny Swain | RB | (1952-01-28)28 January 1952 (aged 28) | Chelsea |
| Gary Williams | RB | (1960-06-17)17 June 1960 (aged 19) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Midfielders |||||
| Ivor Linton | MF | (1959-11-20)20 November 1959 (aged 20) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Gary Shelton | MF | (1958-03-21)21 March 1958 (aged 22) | Walsall |
| Alex Cropley | MF | (1951-01-16)16 January 1951 (aged 29) | Hibernian |
| Lee Jenkins | MF | (1961-03-17)17 March 1961 (aged 19) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Dennis Mortimer | CM | (1952-04-05)5 April 1952 (aged 28) | Coventry City |
| Des Bremner | CM | (1952-09-07)7 September 1952 (aged 27) | Hibernian |
| Gordon Cowans | CM | (1958-10-27)27 October 1958 (aged 21) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Terry Bullivant | CM | (1956-09-23)23 September 1956 (aged 23) | Fulham |
| Tony Morley | LW | (1954-08-26)26 August 1954 (aged 25) | Burnley |
| Forwards |||||
| Gary Shaw | SS | (1961-01-21)21 January 1961 (aged 19) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Brian Little | CF | (1953-11-25)25 November 1953 (aged 26) | Aston Villa Academy |
| Terry Donovan | CF | (1958-02-27)27 February 1958 (aged 22) | Grimsby Town |
| David Geddis | CF | (1958-05-12)12 May 1958 (aged 21) | Ipswich Town |
| Joe Ward | CF | (1954-11-25)25 November 1954 (aged 25) | Clyde |
| Robert Hopkins | CF | (1961-10-25)25 October 1961 (aged 18) | Aston Villa Academy |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos | Player | Transferred From | Fee | Date |
| LW | Tony Morley | Burnley | £220,000 | 1 June 1979 |
| CF | Terry Donovan | Grimsby Town | £90,000 | 1 August 1979 |
| CM | Des Bremner | Hibernian | £275,000 | 1 September 1979 |
| LB | Mike Pejic | Everton | £225,000 | 1 September 1979 |
| CF | David Geddis | Ipswich Town | £300,000 | 1 September 1979 |
| LB | Pat Heard | Everton | £150,000 | 1 October 1979 |
| CM | Terry Bullivant | Fulham | £220,000 | 1 November 1979 |

### Out

| Pos | Player | Transferred To | Fee | Date |
| CM | John Gregory | Brighton & Hove Albion | £300,000 | 30 June 1979 |
| CM | Tommy Craig | Swansea City | £150,000 | 30 June 1979 |
| CB | Dave Evans | Halifax Town | £22,000 | 30 June 1979 |
| CF | John Deehan | West Bromwich Albion | £500,000 | 1 September 1979 |
| CF | Andy Gray | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £1,469,000 | 1 September 1979 |
| RB | John Gidman | Everton | £650,000 | 1 October 1979 |
| LW | Frank Carrodus | Wrexham | £70,000 | 1 December 1979 |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | Started round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| Football League First Division | — | 7th | 18 August 1979 | 3 May 1980 |
| FA Cup | 3rd round | Quarterfinal | 4 January 1980 | 8 March 1980 |
| Football League Cup | 2nd round | 3rd round | 28 August 1979 | 9 October 1979 |

### First Division
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 63 | 43 | +20 | 48 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 6 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 58 | 47 | +11 | 47 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 46 | |
| 8 | Southampton | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 65 | 53 | +12 | 45 | |
| 9 | Middlesbrough | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 44 | |
* ↑ Nottingham Forest qualified for the European Cup first round as the 1979–80 European Cup winners.
* ↑ Wolverhampton Wanderers qualified for the UEFA Cup as the 1979–80 Football League Cup winners.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | A | H | A |
| Result | D | W | L | D | L | L | D | D | W | D | D | W | D | W | D | W | D | D | L | W | W | L | W | D | W | L | W | L | L | W | W | L | L | D | L | W | W | D | W | D | W | L |
| Position | 7 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 19 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| Points | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 23 | 25 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 32 | 34 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 36 | 39 | 38 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 42 | 44 | 46 | 46 |

#### Matches
### FA Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

As of end of season
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | First Division | First Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Jimmy Rimmer | 51 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Nigel Spink | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Brendon Ormsby | 25 | 0 | 21+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Allan Evans | 44 | 10 | 35 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Ken McNaught | 40 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Mark Jones | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | JAM | Noel Blake | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | IRL | Eamonn Deacy | 3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Colin Gibson | 40 | 2 | 30+1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Mike Pejic | 12 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Pat Heard | 11 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Kenny Swain | 50 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Gary Williams | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ivor Linton | 16 | 0 | 12+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Gary Shelton | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Alex Cropley | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Lee Jenkins | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Dennis Mortimer | 36 | 6 | 26 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Des Bremner | 44 | 3 | 36 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Gordon Cowans | 52 | 7 | 42 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Terry Bullivant | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Tony Morley | 20 | 3 | 15+3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Gary Shaw | 33 | 12 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| | FW | ENG | Brian Little | 37 | 6 | 29 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | IRL | Terry Donovan | 15 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | David Geddis | 24 | 3 | 19+1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Joe Ward | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Robert Hopkins | 2 | 1 | 0+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

As of end of season.
| Rnk | Pos | Player | First Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | Gary Shaw | 9 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| 2 | DF | Allan Evans | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | MF | Gordon Cowans | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | FW | Brian Little | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | MF | Dennis Mortimer | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | FW | Terry Donovan | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | MF | Des Bremner | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | FW | David Geddis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | MF | Tony Morley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | DF | Colin Gibson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | FW | Robert Hopkins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | DF | Ken McNaught | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | DF | Kenny Swain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 54 | 6 | 3 | 63 |

### Clean sheets

As of end of season.
| Rnk | Pos | Player | First Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | GK | Jimmy Rimmer | 12 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 12 | 2 | 2 | 16 |

### Overall

As of end of season.
| Games played | 51 (42 First Division, 5 FA Cup, 4 Football League Cup) |
| Games won | 19 (16 First Division, 2 FA Cup, 1 Football League Cup) |
| Games drawn | 17 (14 First Division, 2 FA Cup, 1 Football League Cup) |
| Games lost | 15 (12 First Division, 1 FA Cup, 2 Football League Cup) |
| Goals scored | 62 (51 First Division, 8 FA Cup, 3 Football League Cup) |
| Goals conceded | 61 (50 First Division, 5 FA Cup, 6 Football League Cup) |
| Goal difference | +1 (+1 First Division, +3 FA Cup, −3 Football League Cup) |
| Clean sheets | 16 (12 First Division, 2 FA Cup, 2 Football League Cup) |
| Best result(s) | W 3–0 (H) v Southampton – First Division – 6 October 1979 |
| Best result(s) | W 3–0 (H) v Coventry City – First Division – 19 December 1979 |
| Best result(s) | W 4–1 (H) v Cambridge United – FA Cup – 30 January 1980 |
| Worst result(s) | L 3–0 (H) v Manchester United – First Division – 8 September 1979 |
| Worst result(s) | L 4–1 (A) v Everton – Football League Cup – 9 October 1979 |
| Worst result(s) | L 4–1 (A) v Liverpool – First Division – 3 May 1980 |
| Most appearances | Gordon Cowans with 52 appearances |
| Top scorer(s) | Gary Shaw (12 goals) |