1960–61 Aston Villa F.C. season

Main articles: History of Aston Villa F.C. (1874–1961) and List of Aston Villa F.C. records and statistics Aston Villa 1960–61 football season

Aston Villa
1960–61 season
Manager	Joe Mercer
Stadium	Villa Park
First Division	10th
FA Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Winners
← 1959-60 1961–62 →

Aston Villa played the 1960–61 English football season in the Football League First Division.

The League Cup was held for the first time in 1960–61 to provide clubs with a new source of income with Aston Villa winning that inaugural year. Despite an initial lack of enthusiasm on the part of some other big clubs, the competition became firmly established in the footballing calendar. Villa beat Rotherham United 3–2 on aggregate after extra time. Rotherham won the first leg 2–0 at Millmoor, their home ground thanks to goals from Alan Kirkman and Barry Webster. In the second leg at Villa Park, Harry Burrows and Peter McParland levelled the tie on aggregate and Alan O'Neill scored in extra-time to win the cup.

In the Second City derby Aston Villa beat Birmingham City 6–2 at Villa Park, Peter McParland, Gerry Hitchens(3), and Alan O’Neill(2) scoring for Villa. The away fixture was drawn 1-1.

There were debuts for Charlie Aitken (561), John Sleeuwenhoek (226), Alan Baker (92), Geoff Sidebottom (70), Alan O'Neill (23), Fred Potter (6), Jimmy McMorran (14), Alfie Hale (5) and Mike Kenning (3).

Table

Main article: 1960–61 Football League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
6	Leicester City	42	18	9	15	87	70	1.243	45	Qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup
7	Manchester United	42	18	9	15	88	76	1.158	45
8	Aston Villa	42	17	9	16	78	77	1.013	43
9	Blackburn Rovers	42	15	13	14	77	76	1.013	43
10	West Bromwich Albion	42	18	5	19	67	71	0.944	41

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

Leicester City qualified for the Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round as the 1960–61 FA Cup runners-up, since the winners, Tottenham Hotspur, had already qualified for the European Cup.

League Cup

The 1960–61 Football League Cup was the inaugural knockout competition for England's top 92 football clubs. The competition ended with the two-legged final almost a year later on 22 August and 5 September 1961. The tournament was won by Aston Villa, who beat Rotherham United 3–2 on aggregate after extra time.

Rotherham won the first leg 2–0 at Millmoor, their home ground thanks to goals from Alan Kirkman and Barry Webster. In the second leg at Villa Park, Harry Burrows and Peter McParland levelled the tie on aggregate and Alan O'Neill scored in extra-time to win the cup for Aston Villa.

5 League teams did not compete (Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers). Villa received a bye to the second round and, on 12 October, beat Huddersfield Town 4–1 at home before a crowd of 17,057.

On 15-11-1960 7,677 watched Preston North End draw 3–3 with travelling Villa. The Villains won the home replay 3–1 in front of 15,000.

Fourth round

Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date
Aston Villa (1)	3–3	Plymouth Argyle (2)	12,117	13-12-1960
Plymouth Argyle (2)	0–0	Aston Villa (1)	11,006	19-12-1960
Plymouth Argyle (2)	3–5	Aston Villa (1)	13,548	06-02-1961

Fifth round

Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date
Aston Villa (1)	3–0	Wrexham (4)	19,500	22-02-1961

Semi-finals

The semi-final draw was made in February 1961 after the conclusion of the quarter-finals. Unlike the rounds up to that point, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The matches were played in March, April and May 1961.

Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date
Burnley (1)	1–1	Aston Villa (1)	15,908	10-04-1961
Aston Villa (1)	2–2	Burnley (1)	23,077	26-04-1961
Aston Villa (1)	2–1	Burnley (1)	7,953	02-05-1961

Final

Further information: 1961 Football League Cup Final

The 1961 League Cup Final was played on 22 August and 5 September 1961 and was contested between First Division side Aston Villa and Second Division team Rotherham United. Aston Villa won the game 3–2 on aggregate (after extra time).

First leg

22 August 1961

Rotherham United	2–0	Aston Villa
Webster 51' Kirkman 55'

Millmoor, RotherhamAttendance: 12,226Referee: K.A. Collinge

Rotherham United

Aston Villa



1	Roy Ironside
2	Peter Perry
3	Lol Morgan
4	Roy Lambert (c)
5	Peter Madden
6	Ken Waterhouse
7	Barry Webster
8	Don Weston
9	Ken Houghton
10	Alan Kirkman
11	Keith Bambridge
Manager:
Tom Johnston



1	Nigel Sims
2	Stan Lynn
3	Gordon Lee
4	Vic Crowe (c)
5	Jimmy Dugdale
6	Alan Deakin
7	Jimmy MacEwan
8	Bobby Thomson
9	Ralph Brown
10	Ron Wylie
11	Peter McParland
Manager:
Joe Mercer

Second leg

5 September 1961

Aston Villa	3 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Rotherham United
O'Neill 67' Burrows 69' McParland 109'

Villa Park, BirminghamAttendance: 31,202Referee: C.W. Kingston

Aston Villa

Rotherham United



1	Geoff Sidebottom
2	John Neal
3	Gordon Lee
4	Vic Crowe (c)
5	Jimmy Dugdale
6	Alan Deakin
7	Jimmy MacEwan
8	Alan O'Neill
9	Peter McParland
10	Bobby Thomson
11	Harry Burrows
Manager:
Joe Mercer



1	Roy Ironside
2	Peter Perry
3	Lol Morgan
4	Roy Lambert (c)
5	Peter Madden
6	Ken Waterhouse
7	Barry Webster
8	Don Weston
9	Ken Houghton
10	Alan Kirkman
11	Keith Bambridge
Manager:
Tom Johnston

References

General

"English League Cup 1960/1961". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
"England League Cup Full Results 1960-1996". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
"English League Cup 1960-1961 : Results". Statto. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2009.

Specific

"Aston Villa 6-2 Birmingham City, 1960-61 Division One, 22 Oct 1960".
"Birmingham City 1-1 Aston Villa, 1960-61 Division One, 11 Mar 1961".
"Fred Potter, Villa Goalkeeper, 1960-61".
"Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
After Extra Time

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1960–61 in English football

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Club seasons
First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Burnley Cardiff City Chelsea Everton Fulham Leicester City Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Preston North End Sheffield Wednesday Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol Rovers Charlton Athletic Derby County Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leeds United Leyton Orient Lincoln City Liverpool Luton Town Middlesbrough Norwich City Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Rotherham United Scunthorpe United Sheffield United Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Swansea Town
Third Division	Barnsley Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Bradford City Brentford Bristol City Bury Chesterfield Colchester United Coventry City Grimsby Town Halifax Town Hull City Newport County Notts County Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Shrewsbury Town Southend United Swindon Town Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Walsall Watford
Fourth Division	Accrington Stanley Aldershot Barrow Bradford Park Avenue Carlisle United Chester Crewe Alexandra Crystal Palace Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Gillingham Hartlepools United Mansfield Town Millwall Northampton Town Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Rochdale Southport Stockport County Workington Wrexham York City

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