Villa's Fab 50 Top Players

[dave.woodhall]

I reckon:

1. McGrath
2. Cowans
3. Mortimer
4. Dixon.

I'd go:

1. McGrath
2. McParland
3. Mortimer
4. Platt
5. Cowans
 

[pedro25]

Macca is only number 4.  Tony Dorigo no 1?

[Legion]

4: Paul McGrath

[Legion]

Villa's Fab 50
4: Paul McGrath
Career: 1989-1996
Appearances: 323
Goals: 9

Not only is he the most revered Villa star of the modern era, Paul McGrath is also regarded as one of the greatest players in the club's history.

Yet the man who conjured up pure genius and turned the business of defending into an art form hardly made the most impressive of starts in claret and blue.

Signed by Graham Taylor in the summer of 1989, the Republic of Ireland international cost £425,000 from Manchester United and it seemed the investment was doomed to failure when his first few months at Villa Park were blighted by his much-publicised off-the-field problems.

By the end of that season, though, it was clear the money had been well spent.

With McGrath operating alongside Derek Mountfield and Kent Nielsen in a three-man defence, Villa finished runners-up to Liverpool and were back in Europe following a five-year ban on English clubs.

By 1993, Macca had been voted the club's Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive season and he was also voted PFA Footballer of the Year as Villa were second again, this time to Manchester United in the inaugural Premier League campaign.

There was better to follow, too.

The following year, despite needing pain-killing injections in a frozen shoulder, he helped Villa to League Cup glory with a 3-1 final victory over his former club United; two years after that, he was back at Wembley for an emphatic 3-0 victory over Leeds in the 1996 final.

He also won 51 of his 83 Irish caps while at Villa Park and although he had been a key player for United, he undoubtedly played the best football of his career in claret and blue.

He left Villa for Derby County in 1996.

All profiles courtesy of Rob Bishop and Frank Holt's comprehensive book: Aston Villa - The Complete Record.

[dave.woodhall]

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?

[Legion]

Can't wait to see the top 3!

[cdbearsfan]

3: Ian Olney.

[Mazrim]

I dont use this very often but... lolz!

[andrew08]

Mortimer better than Macca then.

Wow

You could make a case for Sid being better, I know I would, but Mortimer better than Macca ? I would say I saw virtually all of Paul McGrath's Villa games and about half of Dennis Mortimers to judge them.
If being fortunate enough to be captain of a trophy winning side makes you a great then I suppose Dixon is coming up, I didn't see him play but that side seemed to flirt with relegation a lot in that era unlike McGrath's era.

My 'who I've seen in the flesh' top 5 would be:

1.Sid
2.Little
3.McGrath
4.Platt
5.Yorke

My Favourite Player Top 5 would be:

1. Andy Gray
2.Dean Saunders
3.Rambo
4. Gabby (I dunno why, derby goals, man u away, goals in big games, I suppose)
5. Gary Shaw

[Ads]

Mad-men.

One of the greatest centre halves to play the game of football. 4th in our all time list.

[LeeB]

I'm sorry, but as I remember God was fucking brilliant from the moment he walked through the door.

[rob_bridge]

McGrath is number one by a mile. It is not even close. He could have played for Milan at the time he was that good. Name one Villa player who could have got into a World 11 at anytime. Very Good as some of them were, none on this list were as good as he. Then again the list is wrong - Little at 20-odd. Must be Dixon, Mortimer and Cowans as the Top 3.

[andrew08]

In an era when the criteria for being Player of the Year is playing for Man u or in London, Macca won it. Mortimer* or Dixon* never even played for their country.


*not slagging em I know they're legends in their own right

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

 Wow, we've had three better post-war players than Paul McGrath?

[The Man With A Stick]

JESUS WEPT.

Oh well, at least they put him above Trevor Ford.