Vila's Fab 50
9: Nigel Spink
Career: 1979-1996
Appearances: 460
Nigel Spink made more appearances for Villa than any other goalkeeper, and there were a historic moments during the course of his 460 games for the club.
He had the distinction, for instance, of being Villa's keeper in the club's first-ever Premier League match, a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town in August 1992.
Spink, though, will always be best remembered for his inspired performance more than a decade earlier, when he went on as a substitute for the injured Jimmy Rimmer in the European Cup final.
Less than 10 minutes into the game, Rimmer was forced to go off with a shoulder problem and it looked bleak for Villa as the regular number one was replaced by a player who had only one first team appearance to his name.
But Spink became the hero of Rotterdam with a succession of brilliant saves which denied hot favourites Bayern Munich before Peter Withe grabbed the winning goal.
That was one of five occasions on which Spink went on as a substitute.
The other four were all in Premier League games - including two in his last season at Villa Park, by which time he had become second choice to Mark Bosnich.
His final appearance, in fact, was as an outfield player when he replaced the injured Ian Taylor in the last minute of a 1-0 defeat at QPR in December 1995.
Five weeks later he joined West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer, bringing to an end a magnificent 19-year Villa career.
For much of that time he was Villa's first choice goalkeeper and he also helped Villa to victory over Barcelona in the 1983 European Super Cup as well as making a substitute appearance for England against Australia in June that year.
All profiles courtesy of Rob Bishop and Frank Holt's comprehensive book: Aston Villa - The Complete Record.
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Villa's Fab 50 Countdown
50: John Carew - click here
49: Juan Pablo Angel - click here
48: John Deehan - click here
47: Ken McNaught - click here
46: Gary Williams - click here
45: Tony Daley - click here
44: Ashley Young - click here
43: Jackie Sewell - click here
42: David Platt - click here
41: Dean Saunders - click here
40: Olof Mellberg - click here
39: Martin Laursen - click here
38: Dion Dublin - click here
37: Gabby Agbonlahor - click here
36: Bobby Thomson - click here
35: Harry Burrows - click here
34: Mark Bosnich - click here
33: Ray Graydon - click here
32: Les Smith - click here
31: Harry Parkes - click here
30: George Cummings - click here
29: Jimmy Dugdale - click here
28: Chris Nicholl - click here
27: Alan Wright - click here
26: Jimmy Rimmer - click here
25: Brian Little - click here
24: Gerry Hitchens - click here
23: Peter Aldis - click here
22: Tony Hateley - click here
21: Tony Morley - click here
20: Gary Shaw - click here
19: Steve Staunton - click here
18: Ian Taylor - click here
17: Dwight Yorke - click here
16: Des Bremner - click here
15: Gareth Southgate - click here
14: Nigel Sims - click here
13: Andy Gray - click here
12: Gareth Barry - click here
11: Stan Lynn - click here
10: Charlie Aitken - click here
9: Nigel Spink
