In the following season

In the following season, Villa finished fourth in the League, and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. In the 1976–77 season, two years after their last League Cup win, they beat Everton 3–2 in the 1977 Finalafter a second replay.

In the 1977–78 season Villa reached the quarter-final of the UEFA Cup where they went out 4–3 on aggregate againstBarcelona. Sony VAIO VGN-CS52JB/W Battery

In the domestic league, however, they struggled and Saunders started rebuilding the team. As Saunders began restructuring his team in the summer of 1979, there were more changes in the boardroom. Doug Ellis set a resolution to have several directors removed from the board. The resolution was not successful and as a result, Ellis resigned from the board.Sony VAIO VGN-CS60B/P Battery

Meanwhile, Saunders brought in several new players who were to become some of Villa's most prolific players in terms of goals and appearances.^[24] Allan Evans, Ken McNaught and Kenny Swain were brought into the defence and Des Bremnerwas brought into the midfield to play alongside Dennis Mortimer and Gordon Cowans. Sony VAIO VGN-CS60B/Q Battery

Tony Morley and Gary Shaw were the new strike partnership. When Peter Withe was signed from Newcastle United in the summer of 1980, Saunders had built a team that was to see much success in the next few years.

The first success was to come in the 1980–81 season when Villa won their first League Championship for 71 years, Sony VAIO VGN-CS60B/R Battery

fighting off competition from Liverpool and Ipswich using only 14 playing staff in the whole season.^[25] The title was sealed on the final day of the season when they lost 2-0 at Arsenal but still finished top as Ipswich Town, the only side still in contention for the title, lost to Middlesbrough. Sony VAIO VGN-CS61B/P Battery

This triumph was popularly known as the "transistor championship" as Villa fans had turned up at the game listening to the progress of the Ipswich game on their transistor audio sets.

The next season Villa did not start well and they were in mid-table at Christmas although the club was still in the European Cup. Sony VAIO VGN-CS61B/Q Battery

In the first round Villa beatValur 7–0 on aggregate. In the second round they scored twice at Dynamo Berlin to achieve a 2–2 draw, which saw them go through due to the away goals rule. These victories were in contrast to their poor performance in the league. By February 1982, the club were lying 19th in the First Division and Saunders resigned. Sony VAIO VGN-CS61B/R Battery

It was later disclosed that the then chairman, Ron Bendall, had offered him a revised, shorter term, contract, which he had refused to accept.^[26]Saunders' assistant Tony Barton was promoted in his place. When Barton took over, although Villa were in a poor league position, they were in the quarter-final of the European Cup. Sony VAIO VGN-CS62JB/P Battery

In the quarter-finals, they beat Dynamo Kiev over two legs. Gordon Cowans is quoted as saying, "Once we got past Dynamo Kiev we began thinking we could go all the way."^[26] In the semi-final, they played Anderlecht over two legs, with Tony Morley scoring to secure Aston Villa's place in the final. Sony VAIO VGN-CS62JB/Q Battery

On 26 May 1982, just three months after being appointed manager, Barton guided Villa to a 1–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final inRotterdam. As of January 2008, Villa remain one of only five English teams to have won the European Cup, along with Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United andNottingham Forest. Sony VAIO VGN-CS62JB/R Battery

They were the underdogs in the final and were expected to lose.^[27]

The final was held in Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam, with an attendance of 39,776. Only nine minutes into the game, Villa lost their experienced goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer to a shoulder injury. He was replaced by 23-year-old reserve goalkeeper Nigel Spink, Sony VAIO VGN-CS71B/W Battery

who had only played one match for the club in five years since joining from Chelmsford. Spink went on to make one of his best performances for the club^[28] against the highly experienced Bayern strikeforce, which includedKarl-Heinz Rummenigge. Other key players in this Villa side included Tony Morley, Gordon Cowans and Dennis Mortimer.^[29] Sony VAIO VGN-CS72JB/W Battery

The win was not followed with more success and the team performed badly in the following seasons. At the AGM in October 1982, it was revealed that the club were in £1.6 million of debt, mainly due to escalating wages and building costs, including the construction of the North Stand. Sony VAIO VGN-CS90HS Battery

At the end of November Ron and Donald Bendall resigned from the board to be replaced by Doug Ellis, who bought Ron Bendall's 42% shareholding.^[29] In January 1983, Villa beat Barcelona 3–1 on aggregate to win the 1982 UEFA Super Cup. Barton remained in charge for two seasons after the European Cup triumph, Sony VAIO VGN-CS90NS Battery

but was sacked at the end of the 1983–84 season despite Villa finishing 10th in the First Division and reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup. Shrewsbury Town manager Graham Turner was brought in as his successor. Turner was unable to reverse the decline, and in 1986 Villa narrowly avoided relegation to the Second Division. Sony VAIO VGN-CS90S Battery

A lacklustre start to the following season saw Turner sacked halfway through September. Billy McNeill was hired in his place, but was unable to save Villa from relegation. They were relegated to the Second Division just five years after winning the European Cup. McNeill handed in his notice and moved to Celtic when the season ended. Sony VAIO VGN-CS91HS Battery

Chairman Ellis persuaded Watford manager Graham Taylor to take over the reins and set about rebuilding the team.

Taylor's first season at Villa ended with automatic promotion as Second Division runners-up, being pipped to the title by Millwall. Sony VAIO VGN-CS91NS Battery

One player who contributed to that season's success was the recently signed David Platt, a former Manchester United reserve who had signed from Crewe Alexandra for £200,000 just after Taylor's arrival.^[32] Before he left in 1991 Platt scored 68 goals in his 155 appearances for the club. Villa avoided relegation on the last day of the 1988–89 season as other results favoured them. Sony VAIO VGN-CS91S Battery

In the1989–90 season they emerged as surprise contenders for the title, leading for three weeks in the latter stages of the season before finishing in second place, nine points behind Liverpool. Taylor departed for the England manager's job and was succeeded by Slovak coach Jozef Vengloš, the first foreign manager in the First Division. Sony VAIO VGN-CS92DS Battery

The 1990–91 season was Vengloš's only season as manager of Aston Villa. Their second-place finish the previous season earned them qualification for the UEFA Cup as one of the first English clubs to enter European competition after ban resulting from the Heysel Stadium disaster was lifted.hey beat first round opponents Banik Ostrava over two legs, Sony VAIO VGN-CS92JS Battery

and won the first leg of the second round tie against Inter Milan. However, this lead was overturned by Inter Milan in the return leg 3–0, and Villa were eliminated.^[34] The defeat started a decline, and by the end of the season they were two places above the relegation zone. Vengloš stepped down and David Platt was sold to Italian side Bari for £5 million. Sony VAIO VGN-CS92XS Battery

Aston Villa's new manager was Ron Atkinson, who had takenWest Bromwich Albion to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup and had won the League Cup with Sheffield Wednesday. In his first season in charge, 1991–92, Villa finished in sixth place and thus became one of the founder members of the FA Premier League. Sony VAIO VGN-FW11E Battery

In his first 18 months in charge, Atkinson bought Earl Barrett, Dean Saunders, Andy Townsend, Dalian Atkinson, Kevin Richardson, Ray Houghton and Shaun Teale. They all helped the club to finish as runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural Premier League season of 1992–93. The strike partnership of Saunders and Atkinson established itself as one of the most successful partnerships in the Premiership. Sony VAIO VGN-FW11L Battery

On 27 March 1994 Villa won the League Cup final 3–1, to secure a second successive UEFA Cup campaign, although their Premier League form dipped and they finished 10th. At the end of the 1993–94 season, they played their last game at a terraced Villa Park before it was converted over the summer to an all-seater stadiumto comply with the Taylor Report. Sony VAIO VGN-FW11M Battery

In November 1994, Atkinson was dismissed following a poor start to the season.

Leicester City's manager Brian Little was forbidden to speak to Aston Villa by their board, after rumours began circulating that Ellis wanted to hire him. Although maintaining that he had not spoken to Ellis about the possibility of taking over at Villa, Sony VAIO VGN-FW11S Battery

Little resigned from his post at Leicester even though he was contracted to the club until the end of the 1997-98 season.hree days after his resignation, Ellis hired him as the new Villa manager. Little kept Villa in the Premiership, and then reshaped the squad in the 1995 close-season by selling most of the club's older players and buying in several younger ones. Sony VAIO VGN-FW11ZU Battery

Villa won the 1996 League Cup with a win over Leeds United, reached the FA Cup semi-finals and finished fourth in the Premiership in the 1995–96 season.^[40] In February 1998, with Villa standing 15th in the Premiership and speculation rife that he would be sacked, Little resigned, stating that "There were certain things going on behind the scenes which were affecting my own managerial position." Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E/H Battery

Ellis came out with a statement directly challenging that it had anything to do with the management at Villa Park. Instead, he suggested it was due to a "variety of pressures" including abuse directed towards Little and his family by irate fans.

Ellis appointed John Gregory, a former Aston Villa coach, as Little's successor. Sony VAIO VGN-FW140AE Battery

Gregory revitalised the team and Villa finished seventh in the Premiership and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Usually, only the top six teams qualified for European competition, but due to the progress of other teams in the top seven it was the first time that a seventh placed club had automatically qualified for the UEFA Cup. Sony VAIO VGN-FW140D Battery

Despite the £12.6 million sale of Dwight Yorke, a player who had scored 97 goals in 287 appearances for the club, to Manchester United in August 1998, John Gregory had guided Aston Villa to the top of the Premiership by the middle of the 1998–99 season. Villa reached the FA Cup final in 2000 for the first time since 1957, but lost 1–0 to Chelsea in the last final to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. Sony VAIO VGN-FW140E Battery

The 2000–01 season saw Villa finish eighth in the Premiership, although they did eventually qualify for the UEFA Cup by winning the Intertoto Cup in the summer of 2001. In November 2001, Gregory accused Ellis of "living in a time-warp", but was forced to apologise a few days later after provoking an uproar. Sony VAIO VGN-FW140E/H Battery

Whilst Gregory remained in his job, the relationship between him and Ellis was strained.^[44] Gregory resigned on 24 January 2002, with Villa occupying a familiar mid-table position in the league.

In January 2002 chairman Doug Ellis once again appointed Graham Taylor as manager. Villa finished the 2001–02 season in eighth place, which was similar to most of their other Premiership finishes. Sony VAIO VGN-FW140E/W Battery

Taylor quit as manager for the second time after the end of the 2002–03 season. Villa had just finished 16th in the Premiership, losing twice to arch rivals Birmingham City. David O'Leary, who had taken Leeds United to the semi-finals of the 2000–01 Champions League, was brought in as Taylor's replacement. Sony VAIO VGN-FW140FE Battery

O'Leary took the team to sixth in the table, with a 2–0 home defeat against Manchester United on the final day meaning that they narrowly missed out on a UEFA Cup place.^[45] In 2005–06 Villa slowly fell down the table and finished in 16th place. The poor placing came despite O'Leary having spent more than £13 million the previous summer on players such as Milan Baroš, Kevin Phillips and Wilfred Bouma.^[46] Sony VAIO VGN-FW140N Battery

Frustration within the club soon reared its head when, on 14 July 2006, a group of Villa players criticised the chairman's alleged parsimony and lack of ambition in an interview with a local newspaper.^[47] The club immediately dismissed the report as "ridiculous", but it emerged over the following few days that a group of senior players had indeed instigated the move, Sony VAIO VGN-FW140N/W Battery

possibly with O'Leary's backing.^[48] The following week, David O'Leary left the club by mutual consent^[7]after three years as Aston Villa manager and his assistant Roy Aitken became caretaker manager.

After several years of speculation and failed bids, the 23-year reign of Doug Ellis as chairman came to an end. Ellis, the largest shareholder with approximately 38%, decided to sell his stake. Sony VAIO VGN-FW145E Battery

For many years supporters groups had been urging Ellis to resign, though the actions including two "Ellis out" protests, and an "Ellis out" march marked an increase in intensity.^[51][52] The decision to leave the club was likely to have been prompted by Ellis' ill-health.^[53] Randy Lerner, the owner of NFL franchise, the Cleveland Browns, was announced as the preferred bidder. Sony VAIO VGN-FW145E/W Battery

On 25 August it was announced that he had secured 59.69% of the club's shares. By 26 September 2006 Lerner had achieved a 90% shareholding, and could complete his buy-out of the rest of the shares.^[9] Lerner appointed several new people to the Board including General Charles C Krulak. Ellis was given an President Emeritus (Life President) role. Sony VAIO VGN-FW160AE Battery

Aston Villa started the 2006–07 Premiership campaign well,^[54] with Olof Mellberg scoring the first competitive goal at Arsenal's newEmirates Stadium. The January signings of Carew, Young, and Maloney bolstered the squad. Villa finished in 11th place in the league with 50 points, ending the season with an unbeaten run of nine league games. Sony VAIO VGN-FW160D Battery

The last home game of the season, a 3–0 victory over Sheffield United, was used to mark the 25th anniversary of Villa winning the European Cup in 1982. Before kick-off, the 1982 winning team paraded the trophy in front of a full stadium. Scarves bearing the words "Proud History—Bright Future" were given out to all home team supporters attending the match. Sony VAIO VGN-FW160E Battery

2007-08 saw Villa progress further, finishing sixth to qualify for the Intertoto Cup. A victory againstOdense BK over two legs in the final, during the summer of 2008, put Villa into European competition for the 2008-09 season, the first time in seven years. Sony VAIO VGN-FW160E/H Battery

They reached the group stage of the UEFA Cup that season with relative ease, and played their first match against Ajax Amsterdam at Villa Park, winning 2–1. The first major final of the Lerner era was the 2010 Football League Cup Final; Villa lost 2–1 to Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.^[57] Five days before the opening day of the 2010–11 season, Sony VAIO VGN-FW160F/E Battery

O'Neill resigned as manager with immediate effect.^[58] The reserve team coach, Kevin MacDonald, took over as caretaker manager for the opening games of the season. Randy Lerner returned to England from the USA to interview potential candidates for the post.^[59] On 8 September 2010 the club announced that Gérard Houllier would become the manager of Aston Villa, Sony VAIO VGN-FW170J/H Battery

the first managerial appointment of Lerner's reign.^[60] On 20 April 2011 Houllier was admitted to hospital suffering from chest pains. Further tests showed that Houllier had suffered from a recurrence of a heart problem. The last games of the season saw Houllier's assistant, Gary McAllister take over in a caretaker capacity. Sony VAIO VGN-FW180AE Battery

On 1 June 2011 the club issued a statement that Houllier had left the club by mutual consent leaving the club looking for their fifth manager, including caretakers, of the year.^[61] Houllier was replaced by the former Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish on 17 June 2011, despite numerous protests from fans against his appointment. Sony VAIO VGN-FW180D Battery

McLeish's appoinment marked the first time in history that a manager had moved directly from Birmingham to Villa. Sony VAIO VGN-FW180E Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-FW180E/H Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-FW180FU Battery