# 1995–96 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 1995–1996 English football season was Aston Villa's 121st professional season, their 85th season in the top flight and their 8th consecutive season in the top tier of English football (the fourth in the Premier League).
Villa made huge progress in their first full season under Brian Little's management. He had arrived at Villa Park in November 1994, taking charge of a side faced with a real threat of relegation just 18 months after almost winning the Premier League title. The rebuilding process had started almost immediately, with Little quickly discarding the likes of Kevin Richardson, Garry Parker, Earl Barrett and Ray Houghton, and bringing in Ian Taylor, Gary Charles, Alan Wright and Tommy Johnson as mid-season signings. The rebuilding process had continued over the summer of 1995, with Shaun Teale, Dalian Atkinson and even top scorer Dean Saunders heading out of the Villa Park exit door, in favour of new signings including Gareth Southgate and Serbian striker Savo Milosevic - who both broke the club's transfer record in quick succession.
Villa finished fourth in the league and matched Liverpool's record of five League Cup victories (Liverpool have since reclaimed the record with victories in 2001, 2003 and 2012) thanks to a 3–0 Wembley win over Leeds United in March. Villa were also FA Cup semi-finalists, but their hopes of a Wembley double were ended with a defeat to Liverpool.
A new-look Villa side proved itself to be one of the finest in the country thanks to the likes of Gary Charles, Alan Wright, Ian Taylor and Mark Draper. Trinidadian striker Dwight Yorke proved himself as one of the Premier League's most competent goalscorers, though there were some doubts regarding the suitability of Savo Milošević as the man to replace Dean Saunders.
The club's longest-serving player, veteran goalkeeper Nigel Spink (361), left Villa halfway through the season after nearly 20 years to sign for local rivals West Bromwich Albion in Division One.
After the season ended, Little paid a club record £4million for Serbian midfielder Saša Ćurčić. With Gary Charles facing a long stretch on the sidelines with a serious ankle injury picked up during the final weeks of the season, Little signed Portuguese right-back Fernando Nelson.

## Kit

| Kit Supplier | Sponsor |
| << Reebok >> | AST Computer |

## Transfers
### Transferred in

| Date | Pos | Player | From | Fee |
| 26 June 1995 | CF | Savo Milošević | Partizan | £3,500,000 |
| 1 July 1995 | CB | Gareth Southgate | Crystal Palace | £2,500,000 |
| 5 July 1995 | CM | Mark Draper | Leicester City | £3,250,000 |
| 28 October 1995 | CB | Carl Tiler | Nottingham Forest | £750,000 |
| 24 February 1996 | CF | Julian Joachim | Leicester City | £1,890,000 |
| | | | | £11,890,000 |
Record

### Loaned in

| Date | Pos | Player | From | Loan End |

### Transferred out

| Date | Pos | Player | To | Fee |
| 1 July 1995 | CF | John Fashanu | Retired | — |
| 1 July 1995 | CF | Dean Saunders | Galatasaray | £2,350,000 |
| 31 July 1995 | AM | Nii Lamptey | Coventry City | £150,000 |
| 1 August 1995 | CF | Dalian Atkinson | Fenerbahçe | £1,600,000 |
| 14 August 1995 | CB | Shaun Teale | Tranmere Rovers | £450,000 |
| 14 September 1995 | CM | David Farrell | Wycombe Wanderers | £100,000 |
| 13 October 1995 | CM | Trevor Berry | Wycombe Wanderers | £100,000 |
| 6 November 1995 | AM | Graham Fenton | Blackburn Rovers | £1,500,000 |
| 30 January 1996 | GK | Nigel Spink | West Bromwich Albion | Free transfer |
| 1 March 1996 | LB | Bryan Small | Bolton Wanderers | Free transfer |
| 21 March 1996 | CF | Steve Cowe | Swindon Town | £100,000 |
| | | | | £6,350,000 |

### Loaned out

| Date | Pos | Player | To | Loan End |

### Overall transfer activity
## Squad
### First Team

| # | Name | Position | Place of birth | Date of birth (Age) | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | Apps | Gls |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| 1 | Mark Bosnich | GK | Liverpool | (1972-01-13)13 January 1972 (aged 23) | Sydney Croatia | 28 February 1992 | Free transfer | 94 | 0 |
| 13 | Nigel Spink | GK | Chelmsford | (1958-08-08)8 August 1958 (aged 36) | Chelmsford City | 4 January 1977 | £4,000 | 450 | 0 |
| 30 | Michael Oakes | GK | Northwich | (1973-10-30)30 October 1973 (aged 21) | Academy | 1 July 1991 | — | 1 | 0 |
| 35 | Adam Rachel | GK | Birmingham | (1976-12-30)30 December 1976 (aged 18) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | - | - |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| 2 | Gary Charles | RB | Newham | (1970-04-13)13 April 1970 (aged 25) | Derby County | 6 January 1995 | £1,450,000 | 16 | 0 |
| 3 | Steve Staunton | LB | Dundalk | (1969-01-19)19 January 1969 (aged 26) | Liverpool | 7 August 1991 | £1,100,000 | 173 | 12 |
| 4 | Gareth Southgate | CB | Watford | (1970-09-03)3 September 1970 (aged 24) | Crystal Palace | 1 July 1995 | £3,500,000 | - | - |
| 5 | Paul McGrath | CB | Greenford | (1959-12-04)4 December 1959 (aged 35) | Manchester United | 3 August 1989 | £400,000 | 268 | 8 |
| 6 | Carl Tiler | CB | Sheffield | (1970-02-11)11 February 1970 (aged 25) | Nottingham Forest | 28 October 1995 | £750,000 | - | - |
| 12 | Phil King | LB | Bristol | (1967-12-28)28 December 1967 (aged 27) | Sheffield Wednesday | 1 August 1994 | £200,000 | 23 | 0 |
| 14 | Alan Wright | LB | Ashton-under-Lyne | (1971-09-28)28 September 1971 (aged 23) | Blackburn Rovers | 10 March 1995 | £1,000,000 | 8 | 0 |
| 16 | Ugo Ehiogu | CB | Hackney | (1972-11-03)3 November 1972 (aged 22) | West Bromwich Albion | 12 July 1991 | £40,000 | 81 | 4 |
| 20 | Riccardo Scimeca | CB | Leamington Spa | (1975-06-13)13 June 1975 (aged 20) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | - | - |
| 21 | Paul Browne | CB | Glasgow | (1976-02-17)17 February 1976 (aged 19) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | - | - |
| — | Bryan Small | LB | Birmingham | (1971-11-15)15 November 1971 (aged 23) | Academy | 1 July 1990 | — | 43 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| 7 | Ian Taylor | CM | Birmingham | (1968-06-04)4 June 1968 (aged 27) | Sheffield Wednesday | 21 December 1994 | £1,000,000 | 24 | 1 |
| 8 | Mark Draper | CM | Long Eaton | (1970-11-11)11 November 1970 (aged 24) | Leicester City | 5 July 1995 | £3,250,000 | - | - |
| 11 | Andy Townsend (c) | CM | Maidstone | (1963-07-26)26 July 1963 (aged 31) | Chelsea | 26 July 1993 | £2,100,000 | 87 | 6 |
| 15 | Graham Fenton | AM | Whitley Bay | (1974-05-22)22 May 1974 (aged 21) | Academy | 1 July 1993 | — | 34 | 3 |
| 15* | Lee Hendrie | RM | Solihull | (1977-05-18)18 May 1977 (aged 18) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | - | - |
| 19 | Gareth Farrelly | LM | Dublin | (1975-08-28)28 August 1975 (aged 19) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | - | - |
| 22 | David Farrell | CM | Birmingham | (1971-11-11)11 November 1971 (aged 23) | Redditch United | 6 January 1992 | £45,000 | 8 | 0 |
| 24 | Scott Murray | RM | Fraserburgh | (1974-05-26)26 May 1974 (aged 21) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | - | - |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| 9 | Savo Milošević | CF | Bijeljina | (1973-09-02)2 September 1973 (aged 21) | Partizan | 26 June 1995 | £3,500,000 | - | - |
| 10 | Tommy Johnson | CF | Gateshead | (1971-01-15)15 January 1971 (aged 24) | Derby County | 6 January 1995 | £1,450,000 | 15 | 4 |
| 17 | Franz Carr | RW | Preston | (1966-09-24)24 September 1966 (aged 28) | Leicester City | 10 February 1995 | £250,000 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | Dwight Yorke | CF | Canaan | (1971-11-03)3 November 1971 (aged 23) | Signal Hill | 19 July 1991 | £120,000 | 146 | 37 |
| 23 | Neil Davis | CF | Bloxwich | (1973-08-15)15 August 1973 (aged 21) | Academy | 1 July 1995 | — | - | - |
| 26 | Julian Joachim | CF | Peterborough | (1974-09-20)20 September 1974 (aged 20) | Leicester City | 24 February 1996 | £1,890,000 | - | - |
*squad number was re-used following a players departure. Note: Stats and ages are correct as of July 1, 1995.

## Results
### Premier League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Newcastle United | 38 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 66 | 37 | +29 | 78 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Liverpool | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 70 | 34 | +36 | 71 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 52 | 35 | +17 | 63 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Arsenal | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 49 | 32 | +17 | 63 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Everton | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 64 | 44 | +20 | 61 | Excluded from the UEFA Cup |
* ↑ Liverpool qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup as FA Cup runners-up, as winners Manchester United already qualified for the Champions League. They defaulted their UEFA Cup spot from league position to Arsenal.
* ↑ The Football Association was initially awarded a UEFA Fair Play berth to the Premier League's highest-placed team not qualified for Europe, but was revoked by UEFA for its clubs fielding under-strength sides in the 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup.

#### Results by round

| Match | 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 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | W | W | L | W | D | W | D | W | L | L | W | W | D | W | L | D | D | W | L | W | D | W | L | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | L | D | W | W | L | D | L | L |
| Position | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |

#### Matches
### League Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances

| Rank | # | Nat | Player | Pos | Apps | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Rank | # | Nat | Player | Pos | Apps | XI | Sub | XI | Sub | XI | Sub | XI | Sub |
| 1 | 1 | | Mark Bosnich | GK | 51 | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
| 2 | 14 | | Alan Wright | LB | 51 | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
| 3 | 16 | | Ugo Ehiogu | CB | 50 | 37 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 50 | 0 |
| 4 | 8 | | Mark Draper | CM | 49 | 36 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 49 | 0 |
| 5 | 9 | | Savo Milošević | CF | 49 | 36 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 48 | 1 |
| 6 | 18 | | Dwight Yorke | CF | 48 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 48 | 0 |
| 7 | 2 | | Gary Charles | RB | 47 | 34 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| 8 | 11 | | Andy Townsend | CM | 44 | 29 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 42 | 2 |
| 9 | 4 | | Gareth Southgate | CB | 43 | 32 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| 10 | 5 | | Paul McGrath | CB | 41 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 38 | 3 |
| 11 | 7 | | Ian Taylor | CM | 35 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 32 | 3 |
| 12 | 10 | | Tommy Johnson | CF | 31 | 18 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 7 |
| 13 | 20 | | Riccardo Scimeca | CB | 22 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 12 |
| 14 | 3 | | Steve Staunton | LB | 17 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 5 |
| 15 | 26 | | Julian Joachim | CF | 11 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 16 | 19 | | Gareth Farrelly | LM | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 17 | 15 | | Graham Fenton | AM | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 18 | 23 | | Neil Davis | CF | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 19 | 15* | | Lee Hendrie | RM | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 20 | 24 | | Scott Murray | RM | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 | 13 | | Nigel Spink | GK | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | 17 | | Franz Carr | RW | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | 21 | | Paul Browne | CB | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 24 | 6 | | Carl Tiler | CB | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |

### Goals Involvements

| Rank | # | Nat | Player | Pos | Apps | Goal Inv. | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| Rank | # | Nat | Player | Pos | Apps | Goal Inv. | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists |
| 1 | 18 | | Dwight Yorke | CF | 48 | 36 | 17 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 25 | 11 |
| 2 | 9 | | Savo Milošević | CF | 49 | 23 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 |
| 3 | 10 | | Tommy Johnson | CF | 31 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| 4 | 7 | | Ian Taylor | CM | 35 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| 5 | 8 | | Mark Draper | CM | 49 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| 6 | - | - | Own Goal | - | - | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | 11 | | Andy Townsend | CM | 44 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 8 | 5 | | Paul McGrath | CB | 41 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | 4 | | Gareth Southgate | CB | 43 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | 16 | | Ugo Ehiogu | CB | 50 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | 14 | | Alan Wright | LB | 51 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | 26 | | Julian Joachim | CF | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | 17 | | Franz Carr | RW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | 2 | | Gary Charles | RB | 47 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 15 | 3 | | Steve Staunton | LB | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Clean Sheets

| Rank | # | Nat | Player | Apps | Conceded | Clean Sheets | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| Rank | # | Nat | Player | Apps | Conceded | Clean Sheets | Con | CS | Con | CS | Con | CS |
| 1 | 1 | | Mark Bosnich | 51 | 42 | 22 | 32 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| 2 | 13 | | Nigel Spink | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |