Decline & Fall - the denouement

[dave.woodhall]

We reach 1966-67, when it seemed things couldn't get any worse.


https://heroesandvillains.info/2021/11/10/decline-and-fall-the-denouement/

[robleflaneur]

Dick Taylor is probably the forgotten post war manager.
He managed for 3 years,a constant battle against relegation.He lost Burrows,one of our better players to Stoke which summed up the backing and ambition of the board.He tried to sign Don Rogers who was a virtually unknown then but became one of the most lethal wingers in English football.The board wouldn't pay the modest fee.Woosnam left to become commissioner of football in the US ,his goalscoring record was excellent for a playmaker.Hateley went for £100,000,a huge fee,we'd paid less than 30k for him,first to Chelsea and then for a similar fee to Liverpool,yet his most productive spell was at Villa.
I can't tell you about tactics,being fairly young and individual performances were more the focus then,and with limited TV exposure it wasn't so easy to weigh up the merits of players and managers but I have a feeling that Dick Taylor perhaos desrves more credit than being the manager of a relegated Villa team.

[ROBBO]

Colin Withers was a very competent keeper but that article reminds me of how dire the football was, even in those days we were always selling our best players. Mostly i remember freezing behind the goal at the Witton end and a dash for Bovril at half time.

[brian green]

The football of that time was dire.  It was a cause to put out flags if we got a player into the Wales national team.  If memory serves we had plenty of players of note going through Villa but mostly for non playing reasons. Phil Woosnam, Derek Dougan, the goalkeeper whose name escapes me who was the last amateur to play for us, Con Martin capped for Ireland as a goalkeeper and an outfield player.  All very interesting historical stuff but the football was pants.

[Mister E]

The penultimate game vs Everton was my first-ever Villa match.

[ClarrieBlue]

My first season at VP as an 8 year old was 65/66 when the new Witton Lane stand was being built for the World Cup and my Dad used to tip the gateman a shilling and I'd duck under the turnstile. In my young mind we still played in the time honoured Billy's Boots formation of 2-3-5 ie 2 Full Backs, 3 Half Backs and 5 forwards. The team nearly every week was Withers, Wright, Aitken, Tindall, Sleewenhoek, Deakin, McLeod, Woosnam, Hateley, Hamilton and Scott. These were occasionally complemented by Bradley, Chatterley, Park, Parker and Pountney who was nearly always the sub and would play in any position required. Whilst our main tactic of the day was to get the ball on Hateley's head who was prolific, I don't recall us playing hoofball at the time. I think it was more a case of getting the ball out to the wingers, McLeod and Scott who would then feed Hateley. There were more goals per game in those days and Hateley knew where the net was. When we sold Hateley, I'm sure we all knew the game was up and relegation was an almost a certainty. It was duly delivered in 66/67. There was a joke that if Tony Hateley took a penalty, he'd head it such was his prowess at heading. I remember Hateley - my first hero - leaving and I was distraught. A feeling I would come to recognise over the years as more of our brilliant and key players of the time like Platt, Delph, Yorke, Sid, Milner and of course finally (so far) Grealish followed him out of the door in search of better things. These are my memories but of course time may have distorted them.

[Woofles The Wonder Dog]

I remember standing on the Holte End when Anderson was new. The grown-ups were telling each other that they'd heard the he was better than Best. I was excited (but did wonder why that lot would sell him). And the had longish hair.

That season was indeed depressing, but oddly I never saw us lose - mainly because I had 2/6d a week to stretch between sweets, Villa, transport and records.

[dcdavecollett]

I went to the Burnley game and remember Colin Withers losing his sense of direction and punching the ball into his own net. I also recall Thomson, the Burnley reserve 'keeper (the visitors were far from full strength) diving full length to pin a Barry Stobart header to the goal-line. I tried to will the ball over the line, but failed. What a miserable day that was.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

My first season when my Dad introduced me with the 3-0 home win against Leeds in October.
All I really remember was walking down Witton Lane after and Dad asking if I enjoyed it. "Yes ! Can we come here every game ! " We did but apart from the Man U  game a few weeks later in was mostly downhill from this point.
We did the two away games to Preston and Liverpool in the Cup which I found incredibly exciting.
We come out the ground after the Everton game and the old man is going spare about Alan Ball showing no respect by wiping his nose on our corner flag. I guess he was pissed off with us being finally relegated in such abject circumstances.

[steamer]

The Everton home game is the first one i remember going to, I would have been 11
sure it was not my first visit but the first I remember