Aston Villa Football Club History Milestones

• 1874 - was formed by four players from the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel cricket team: Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood. Their first match Villa won was a game against Aston Brook St Mary's. The first half of this battle was played under rugby rules, and the second half under football rules. As a result Villa won 1- 0. The unique goal belonged to Jack Hughes.
• 1876 - Villa moved to the Perry Barr HQ. It was the first club's official home. The team was fast becoming popular.
• 1880 - George Ramsay was a coach of The Villans. Under his guidance the team won their first senior honour - the Birmingham Senior Cup. Villa won 21 of 25 outings.
• 1883, 1884 - the team made a progress by FA Cup quarter-final appearances.
• 1885 - the club turned professional.
• 1887 -Villa played against West Brom at The Oval and won 2-0 lifting the first FA Cup. Aston Villa had become one of the premier teams in the land in just 13 years.
• 1888 - the director of the team William McGregor wanted to create a football league. So he wrote to the twelve leading clubs in England proposing the formation of a league.
• September 8 , 1888 - Villas first League game. The result of this match with Wolverhampton Wanderers was 1-1. Villa finished runners–up to Preston in that inaugural season.
• 1983 - 1984 - Villa got the first League Championship trophy.
• 1896 - Villa were League champions for a second time in three years
• 1897 - the club was to enjoy greater success with the League and Cup double. The team moved to Aston Lower Grounds. The great number of fans (15,000) attended the club's new home. They were eye-witnesses of a 3-0 victory over Blackburn in the first game.
• 1905 - Villa won the FA Cup with a then record crowd of 101,117 watching the match at Crystal palace where Villa beat Newcastle United 2–0.
• 1909 - 1910 - the Lions beat Manchester United 7-0. Villa won the championship.
• 1913 - Villa won the FA Cup beating Sunderland 1-0 at Crystal Palace. This time was the golden era for the club. When the First World War began, the club had won the League Championship six times and the FA Cup five times.
• 1919 - 1920 Villa ended the season with a sixth FA Cup triumph - beating Huddersfield Town 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
• 1923 - 1924 - was Villa's Golden Jubilee season. The club reach only the second FA Cup final to be held at the new Wembley Stadium where they lost 2–0 to Newcastle United F.C.
• 1927 - the directors wanted to improve the situation of the club, so they bought such players as: Jimmy Gibson and Eric Houghton.
• 1928 - Tranmere Rovers striker Tom 'Pongo' Waring signed for £4,700 and it would prove a stunning bit of business.
• 1930 - 1931 - the Villans finished runners-up to Arsenal. Eric Houghton scored 30 goals.
• 1933 - 1934 - the club was the second in the League.
• 1937 - 1938 - the Villans were winning the Second Division title under the guidance of Jimmy Hogan. Then began the Second World War that brought about the loss of seven seasons.
• After the war Villa lost 1–0 to Middlesbrough. The former player Alex Massie became the manager. He decided to make some changes to the club. Massie made signing of 23-year-old Wales international Trevor Ford from Swansea for £9,500. It proved to be a wise decision, as Ford would score 60 times in his four seasons and the Claret and Blue boys would finish that term in eighth.
• 1940, 1950 - Massie continued to bring in new players. Among them were: Ivor Powell, Colin Gibson and Con Martin.
• 1951- 1952 - George Martin from Newcastle United became a manager. He added Tommy Thompson to the club and bought Danny Blanchflower. As a result Villa were second behind Manchester United at the end of the season. It was their best start for 19 years.
• 1953 - Eric Houghton returned from Notts County - this time as manager. He enriched the club with a help of the appearance of 19-year-old Peter McParland.
• 1957 - Villa won the FA Cup Final against Manchester United's 2–1. In ninth FA Cup final Peter McParland scored both goals. This trophy was prominent for Aston Villa's because it was the first one for 37 years.
• 1957 - 1958 - in spite of the successes of 1957, Aston Villa finished this season only on the 14th place.
• 1958 - 1959 - unfortunately, the team were relegated.
• 1960 - eventually, the club became Second Division Champions.
• 1961 - the Lions won the inaugural League Cup.
• 1964 - Dick Taylor became a manager.
• 1967 -the club was relegated for the third time to the Second Division. Tommy Cummings took up a post of manager.
• 1968 - Tommy Docherty replaced Tommy Cummings.
• 1969 -1970 - the Villas relegated to the Third Division for the first time.
• 1972 - Aston Villa had a record of 70 points and gained promotion back to the Second Division.
• 1973 - Ron Saunders was appointed manager.
• 1975 - Villa defeated Norwich 1-0 and won the League Cup. The winning goal was belonged to Ray Graydon.
• 1977 - At Old Trafford ground fans of the Lions saw a 3-2 victory over Everton, winning the League Cup.
• 1981 - under the direction of Ron Saunders the club won the League Championship.
• 1982 - Saunders unexpectedly left the team and Tony Barton appointed to the position. He guided the club to 1–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in Rotterdam. Doug Ellis became a chairman.
• 1987 - the team relegated to the Second Division.
• 1888 - Villa got second place in the football League.
• 1990 - Dr Jozef Venglos became a manager.
• 1994 - the Lions won League Cup.
• 1996 - the club defeated Leeds United and reached the League Cup final.
• 1998 - John Gergory appointed to the position of manager.
• 2000 - Aston Villa reached the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium. It was for the first time since 1957. Unfortunately team lost 1-0 to Chelsea.
• 2006 - Martin O'Neill became a new manager of the club. Also changed the owner of Aston Villa. Randy Lerner appointed to the position.
• Due to the changes in manager staff the team got a new crest, a new kit sponsor.