The Aston Villa Legacy Numbers initiative is shining a light on every single player who has represented the club competitively as part of our 150th anniversary celebrations this season.
The list began with the line-up from Villa’s first official match in 1879, an FA Cup tie against Stafford Road of Wolverhampton, with every player assigned his own unique number, denoting his place in the club’s long and illustrious history. View the full list here.
Delving further into the stories of some of our former players, we'll be regularly shining a light on a number of ex-Villans as we move towards the end of the current campaign, including a homegrown hero, one of the club's finest-ever goalkeepers and an infamous hard man in this instalment...
596: Gary Shaw
It may seem strange to relate now, but Gary Shaw went into the European Cup final under something of a cloud. Troubled by a knee injury, he had not scored since a 2-1 home win over West Bromwich Albion at the end of March.
“Tony Barton would love to see Gary Shaw apply his name to the scoresheet before the curtain comes down on the league programme after Swansea’s visit on Friday,” wrote Martin Swain in the Evening Mail after Villa’s penultimate First Division fixture had ended in a 2-1 defeat by Everton.
Shaw had at least shown there was little wrong with the creative side of his game with a typically intelligent touch to set up a goal for Gordon Cowans.
But Barton did not get his wish to see Shaw boost his confidence with a pre-Rotterdam goal. Instead, he sat out the Swansea City match to save wear and tear on his knee.
However, there was never any danger that he would not line-up against Bayern Munich in the De Kuip Stadium. His partnership with Peter Withe was too integral to the team’s success for Villa manager Barton to consider tinkering with his strongest line-up.
And it was the creative element of Shaw’s game that came to the fore again in the final. After 67 minutes, he received the ball from Dennis Mortimer about 35 yards from goal and tracked across to the left-hand touchline. “I didn’t know where I was going,” he admitted. “I was almost shaking hands with the Alsatians at the side of the pitch.”
But then a typical quicksilver turn dumped Wolfgang Dremmler on his backside to create a gap in the Bayern defence for almost the first time that evening. Shaw moved the ball swiftly on to Tony Morley whose blood-twisting run induced further disarray in the German rearguard.
When Morley drove over his cross, all that was left to do was for Withe to complete the most famous scuffed finish in history.
Span 1978-79-1987-88. Appearances: 213. Goals: 79.
696: John Fashanu
There was astonishment among Villa fans on 4th August 1994 when they tuned into the Ceefax football headlines to see that Ron Atkinson had paid £1.35 million for the Wimbledon striker John Fashanu.
It seemed to make no sense. Fashanu was a talismanic figure at a club whose reputation had been forged playing the sort of football that was anathema to Atkinson’s stylish approach.
There was another factor. Fashanu was widely assumed to be winding down his playing career after his success as co-host of the Birmingham-shot ITV Saturday teatime show Gladiators. The headline on the front of the Evening Mail reflected the misgivings of supporters. “Villa sign TV’s Fash,” it read.
It turned out that Fashanu’s rugged qualities were exactly what the Villa manager wanted. “I am not looking for him to be Di Stefano, we want John Fashanu,” Atkinson said. “We want the fire he carries to be even brighter here.” The new boy agreed. “I have been bought to give more power in the area,” he said.
Supporters could see Atkinson’s point when he rose majestically to head home Phil King’s cross on his opening-day debut at Goodison Park. But at Old Trafford in February 1995, Fashanu suffered the injury that ended his career.
Span: 1994-95. Appearances: 16. Goals: 3.
238: Sam Hardy
During the club’s centenary celebrations half a century ago, various polls were arranged to determine the finest XI in Villa history. When it came to deciding on the goalkeeper, one man won a thumping majority – Sam Hardy.
“If ten people were asked to name the greatest goalkeeper of all time it is probable that eight would reply ‘Sam Hardy’,” ran a profile published in the mid-1930s. Hardy joined Villa from Liverpool in the summer of 1912 and won an FA Cup winner’s medal in his first season.
He almost didn’t make it to the end of the final victory over Sunderland at the Crystal Palace. On the hour, he had to leave the field for treatment after injuring his knee in making a save at the feet of Harry Martin. For ten anxious minutes, Jimmy Harrop took over in goal before Hardy returned to the intense relief of every Villa fan in the 120,081 crowd.
The secret of Hardy’s brilliance remained a puzzle to the uninitiated. “He seemed to be waiting for the ball,” added the profile. “Such things as throwing himself across the goal were just not known.”
That was true. His positional sense and anticipation were so formidable that it looked as if opposing forwards were shooting straight at him.
Span: 1912-13—1920-21. Appearances: 183.
447: Pat Saward
Sometimes it takes one outstanding leader to recognise the qualities of another. When Villa beat Portsmouth 2-1 at Fratton Park early in the 1959-60 season, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery – Britain’s most famous wartime commander – spoke admiringly of the example set by the performance of Villa captain Pat Saward.
Saward, a strapping Irish left-half, had been a controversial choice to replace Johnny Dixon as captain as Villa attempted to return to the top flight at the first attempt.
Dixon was such a popular figure that his demotion provoked angry correspondence in the local press. Saward, moreover, was thought to be far too quiet and reserved to provide the inspiration the team needed.
But manager Joe Mercer’s judgment was vindicated as Saward led Villa to promotion and an FA Cup semi-final. Mercer, a former captain of Arsenal, had recognised some of his own leadership qualities in the Ireland international
“Three times this season I have seen the bronzed, handsome Saward driving, inspiring, cajoling and gesticulating Villa to success,” wrote Gerald Williams in the Daily Mail after Villa’s stirring FA Cup fourth-round victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. “He is one of the few outstanding captains in the game today.”
Span: 1955-56—1960-61. Appearances: 170. Goals: 2.
Legacy Numbers Initiative
