1994 or 1996?

[Deano's Mullet]

both sides won league cups. arguably the 1994's consistent  best was actually behind them even as they won this trophy - on a steady decline in the league and with ageing players that would never get replaced due to the faith shown in them by BFR  - but a team that could still turn it on during the odd big match occasion. The 1996 was younger, hungrier, arguably not as attractive to watch but more potent going forward and still had another decent season in them the following year.

just in case your mind needs refreshing

1994 - bosnich barrett staunton mcgrath teale townsend richardson fenton daley atkinson saunders
bubbling under - spink cox parker houghton yorke whittingham ehiogu beinlich breitkreutz small froggatt

1996 - bosnich wright mcgrath ehiogu charles southgate taylor draper townsend milosevic yorke
bubbling under - oakes johnson farrelly scimeca carr staunton joachim  hendrie browne davis

Which team did you prefer?

[Chico Hamilton III]

1994 for me

purely for the fact that we pissed all over man united's parade

the arrogance shown by their fans at Wembley was breathtaking. Shutting them up was one of my better Villa memories.

Well, that and running on to pitch after the Tranmere semi.

The fact that we hadnt played at Wembley for donkeys years made 1994 more special for me.

[ATV]

Browne? Who the fuck is he?

[Deano's Mullet]

Browne? Who the fuck is he?

paul browne.he played the last couple of matches of 1995-96... a young defender.

[Chris Harte]

I could be wrong but I thought we'd done this one about a month or so back. I think 1996 for me.

[Deano's Mullet]

I could be wrong but I thought we'd done this one about a month or so back. I think 1996 for me.

no it was a 1990 or 1993 poll

[Dave P]

1996 for me.  The way we went to Wembley and played like we owned the place was amazing.  The culmination of a great season all round.

[Deano's Mullet]

when it comes to the actual day  i prefered the 1994 match as it was so unexpected - and satisfying. Plus i went to that game whereas i didnt get to the 1996 final. But in terms of the actual quality of the team i think we were better in 1996 - our team had stronger legs if you know what i mean and were hungrier - following this game the Atkinson team fell away in the league and performance wise only really impressed against Inter - before BFR was sacked.

[dave.woodhall]

1996. That was the day we went to Wembley as if we belonged there. In 1994 we were such daytrippers it was embarassing.

[usav]

Both were brilliant for different reasons as already highlighted.

A few personals:

1994 - really happy for Townsend, first trophy.
1994 - shoving it up the Mancs.
1996 - Tayls goald in front of the Villa fans - what a dream.
1996 - Savo's goal - say no more.

[IronDukeVillain]

For me it has to be the 94 final because i was there, Dalian running over to us with his tongue out after scoring brilliant.  I also like the cup run that year as for me the best game i have been to at the Villa was the Semi against Tranmere, so the 94 cup wins it for me.

[Chris Harte]

I could be wrong but I thought we'd done this one about a month or so back. I think 1996 for me.

no it was a 1990 or 1993 poll

I remember that one, but thought we'd done 1994/1996 also. No matter.

[TaxDodger]

I voted 96, but only because im too young to remember 94. I'd say the 96 team looks slightly better on paper as well, plus we finished higher up the League that season, and got to the FA Cup semi final.

[Tom Stewart]

1996.

Like someone said above, we played as if we owned the place.

Compare that performance to the shame of the FA Cup final just four years later.

[TopDeck113]

Whilst 95-96 was one of those great all-round seasons with silverware from such a one-sided final as the icing on the cake, I've voted for '94.

Reasons?

(1) It ended a 12-year trophy drought, which for those of us who had endured the plummet from the pinnacle of Rotterdam had been a dire period at times.

(2) The cup campaign was perfect: from beating SHA in the first tie to the emotional mangle that was the Tranmere semi-final, via three great away wins.
It was a classic "your name is on the cup" cup run.

(3) I loved the whole Wembley experience. Day-tripper? You bet! I'd only ever seen Villa there in the 1990 Makita pre-season tournament and savoured every moment.

(4) On the day I can honestly say that I never, ever expected us to do anything but to win, even though we were playing Man U in pursuit of the treble. See (2) and the fact that for all his faults, BFR was the man for the big show-piece match and did tactically out-smart Fergie on more than one occasion.