1919–20 Aston Villa F.C. season

Main article: History of Aston Villa F.C. (1874–1961)

Aston Villa 1919–20 football season

Aston Villa
1919–20 season
Chairman	Frederick Rinder
Manager	George Ramsay
First division	9th
FA Cup	Winners
← 1918–19 1920–21 →

The 1919–20 English football season was the 28th season in the Football League for Aston Villa, and the first following the end of World War I. Villa won their sixth FA Cup at the end of season, beating Huddersfield Town 1–0 at Stamford Bridge.

Debuts

Main article: List of Aston Villa F.C. records and statistics

Billy Walker (478) made his senior debut in January 1920 in the FA Cup, scoring twice as Villa won 2-1 in the first round against non-league side Queens Park Rangers. He played in five more FA Cup games, scoring another three, helping Aston Villa reach the FA Cup Final. An extra time winner at Stamford Bridge by Billy Kirton saw Walker become an FA Cup winner in his debut season. Walker also scored 8 league goals in 15 matches at the back end of the 1919-20 season, including a hat-trick against Newcastle United, as Villa ended the first season after the first world war in ninth place.

Tommy Smart (405) played for Halesowen Town before signing for Aston Villa in January 1920 for a £300.00 fee. Richard York (356) scored one goal in 17 games in 1919–20, but did not feature in the 1920 FA Cup Final, which ended in a 1–0 victory over Huddersfield Town at Stamford Bridge. Arthur Dorrell (355) played for Carey Hall and R.A.S.C., before joining Aston Villa in May 1919. Billy Kirton (261) was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. Kirton was a member of the Temperance Society and played for Pandon Temperance before joining Leeds City in May 1919. After Kirton had played only one game for the club, City went out of business and he was transferred to Aston Villa for £500 in October 1919. He played 261 matches for Aston Villa.

After a very public fall out with the Barnsley directors over travelling expenses, Frank Barson (92) joined Aston Villa in October 1919. Barson joined Villa for a fee of £2,850 – "more than the average Sheffield worker earned in a year", according to a Sheffield newspaper – after persuasion from George Ramsay, who was rebuilding Villa after the First World War. In October 1919, he made his debut in a 4–1 win at Middlesbrough. Barson played a large part in the Villa team during his three seasons at the club, but it is his run-ins with authority for which he is best known.

Tommy Ball (74) (shot dead on 11 November 1923) joined from Newcastle in January 1920. Ball was seen as cover for Frank Barson. and first-team appearances were limited until Barson left in August 1922. Ball then became the first-choice centre-half, making 36 appearances in the 1922–23 season. In the following season, he continued to perform well at the heart of Villa's defence and he was forecast to be called up to play for England.

Other debuts included:

Table

Main article: 1919–20 Football League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
7	Manchester City	42	18	9	15	71	62	1.145	45
8	Newcastle United	42	17	9	16	44	39	1.128	43
9	Aston Villa	42	18	6	18	75	73	1.027	42
10	Arsenal	42	15	12	15	56	58	0.966	42
11	Bradford Park Avenue	42	15	12	15	60	63	0.952	42

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored

FA Cup

Football match

1920 FA Cup Final

Stanford Bridge hosted the match

Event

1919–20 FA Cup

Aston Villa	Huddersfield Town

1	0

After extra time

Date

24 April 1920

Venue

Stamford Bridge, London

Referee

J.T. Howcroft (Bolton)

Attendance

50,018

The 1920 FA Cup final, the first since the end of the First World War, was contested by Aston Villa and Huddersfield at Stamford Bridge. Aston Villa won 1–0, with the goal coming in extra time from Billy Kirton, to clinch the trophy for a record sixth time. This was the first ever FA Cup Final to require extra time to be played. Huddersfield had secured promotion from the Second Division this season and were appearing in their first final.

Aston Villa captain, Andy Ducat, had represented England at both football and cricket. The Villa team had four surviving members of the club's last victory in the 1913 F.A. Cup final; Tommy Weston, Sam Hardy, Clem Stephenson and Charlie Wallace. Those four Villa players and Frank Moss had all served in the Armed Forces during World War I. Frank Barson, known for his tough style of play, was warned before the kick-off by the referee against using his normal tactics.

The trophy was presented by Prince Henry, the fourth son of King George V. This was Villa manager George Ramsay's sixth FA Cup Final win, a record for a manager, and one that was only equalled in 2015 by Arsène Wenger – against Aston Villa.

Road to the Final

Round 1	Aston Villa	2–1	Queens Park Rangers	QPR were a non-league club at this time.
Round 2	Manchester United	1–2	Aston Villa
Round 3	Aston Villa	1–0	Sunderland
Quarter-final	Tottenham Hotspur	0–1	Aston Villa	Tottenham Hotspur were in the Second Division at this time.
Semi-final	Aston Villa	3–1	Chelsea	played at Bramall Lane, Sheffield

Match details

24 April 192015:00 BST

Aston Villa	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Huddersfield Town
Kirton 100'	Report

Stamford Bridge, LondonAttendance: 50,018Referee: J.T. Howcroft (Bolton)

Aston Villa

Huddersfield Town



GK		Sam Hardy
RB		Tommy Smart
LB		Tommy Weston
RH		Andy Ducat (c)
CH		Frank Barson
LH		Frank Moss
OR		Charlie Wallace
IR		Billy Kirton
CF		Billy Walker
IL		Clem Stephenson
OL		Arthur Dorrell
Secretary-Manager:
George Ramsay



GK		Sandy Mutch
RB		James Wood
LB		Fred Bullock (c)
RH		Charlie Slade
CH		Tom Wilson
LH		Billy Watson
OR		George Richardson
IR		Frank Mann
CF		Sam Taylor
IL		Jack Swann
OL		Ernie Islip
Manager:
Ambrose Langley

References

"F.A Cup Final: Aston Villa v Huddersfield Town, 1920 (b/w photo)". www.bridgemanimages.com. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
"1919-20 Season Final Football Tables". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
Tommy Smart www.avfchistory.co.uk
"Detailed bio". Aston Villa Database. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
"profile". astonvillaplayerdatabase.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
https://www.avfchistory.co.uk/player/billy-kirton
^ Woodhall, Dave (2007). "The hardest man in history". Heroes and villains. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
"Soccer legend's medal for sale". The Star. UK. 2007. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
Spink, Derrick (4 August 2010). "Villa History – Murder Most Foul". heroesandvillains.net. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
"Random Villa Fact". Aston Villa FC. 20 July 2008. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
"Move from Wardley Villa to Aston Villa set Ball rolling in tragic tale". The Northern Echo. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
"Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
"Aston Villa | Club | History | Timeline". Avfc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
Tom Davis & Mat Kendrick (18 April 2015). "Aston Villa at Wembley: The 50 most memorable claret and blue moments in the FA Cup". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
John Motson (2005). Motson's FA Cup Odyssey: The World's Greatest Knockout Competition. Robson. p. 48. ISBN 1-861-05903-5.
Richard William Cox; Dave Russell; Wray Vamplew, eds. (2002). Encyclopedia of British Football. Psychology Press. p. 16. ISBN 0-714-65249-0.
"Aston Villa's FA Cup Finals". Retrieved 27 December 2016.
^ "Villa's WWI heroes". 11 November 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
Simon Brunton (16 December 2014). "The forgotten story of … Frank Barson's seven-month ban". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
"Aston Villa v Huddersfield FA Cup Final 1920". Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
Rory Benson (15 August 2016). "Aston Villa vs Huddersfield Town: Pick your Terriers team to start at Villa Park". The Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
^ "1920 FA Cup Results". Retrieved 27 December 2016.

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