Shifting from unassuming assistant to team
boss was straightforward enough for Barton,
whose total lack of ego allowed his simple
approach to flourish.
“Tony didn’t come straight in and give us
any ultimatums,” explains Mortimer. “We all
knew him anyway. He just needed to guide
us. We didn’t need a new manager coming
in and taking over – we were in charge of us.
Our destiny was in our hands. The greatest
tribute we can pay Tony is that he kept things
simple, trusted us and we repaid it.”
Barton, who’d been at Villa since reuniting
with his old Portsmouth team-mate Saunders
in late 1975, was more than a fly-by-night
Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea type of interim,
mind. Sticking around as gaffer for two years
and four months, on top of the European Cup
victory, the softly-spoken manager’s stint
also included a famous European Super Cup
win over Barcelona.
Rather than imposing himself on a well-
drilled dressing room of champions, Barton
was selfless and savvy enough to ensure
that most Saunders hallmarks remained –
including defensive parsimony. Villa’s title
success had been built on conceding just 40
goals in 42 games, and their European Cup
exploits followed similar meanness. In their
nine-game march to glory in ’82, Villa kept
seven clean sheets. No team has conceded
fewer than Villa’s two in lifting Ol’ Big Ears.
A series of two-legged aggregate wins
began with a 7-0 rout of Icelandic side Valur,
before Villa progressed on away goals after
an anxious 2-2 draw against Dynamo Berlin.
After Saunders left, they beat Dynamo Kyiv
2-0 in the quarter-finals and then Anderlecht
by a single goal in the semis. The second leg
in Brussels was marred by crowd trouble with
a glut of arrests, prompting genuine fears
that sanctions might include Villa’s expulsion
from the European Cup final.62 July 2022 FourFourTwo
“The newspapers are all full of Villa possibly
being bounced out of the tournament,” wrote
Colin Abbott in Barton’s Army: Conquering
Europe with Aston Villa, a gripping fan account
of the 1981-82 adventure. “In time, we find
out the punishment meted out: a fine and
a behind-closed-doors fixture the next time
we are in Europe. The relief is immense. I’d
set my mind on going if we reached the final
from the get-go. And I will.”MAKING PLANS FOR NIGEL
Abbott travelled to Rotterdam with another
12,000 or so Villa fanatics, who witnessed
history being made as their side beat Bayern
Munich 1-0 at De Kuip on May 26, 1982. “The
final wasn’t much of a spectacle – there were
two events,” continues Mortimer, referring to
the surprise introduction of rookie goalkeeper
Nigel Spink on just nine minutes, and Peter
Withe’s 67th-minute winner.
Spink, summoned from the sidelines when
Jimmy Rimmer succumbed to a neck injury,
went on to produce a match-saving display
against the German behemoths, stepping out
from the oblivion of one past senior outing
two and a half years earlier to achieve lifelong
notoriety. “If you’re watching mum, this is the
best day of my life,” he grinned ecstatically
into a television camera after making a string
of vital stops, his favourite being a second-
half dive to deny Bernd Durnberger.
“Spinksy had an absolute blinder,” chuckles
midfield playmaker Cowans. “He played very
well and kept us in the game,” agrees Morley,
insisting squad players such as Spinks were so
well-rehearsed in training that deputising was
(ahem) “like putting on a glove”.
The most memorable moment was Withe’s
second-half clincher. A banner quoting Brian
Moore’s commentary from the ITV coverage
still takes pride of place on the North Standhere. But everything changed when an out-
of-work bloke from Birkenhead arrived on
June 5, 1974. Toilet seats and cockroaches
were all the rage...
BARTON’S ARMY
That Villa Park is still without a statue of Ron
Saunders can only be down to a four-decade
shortage of granite as hard as the iconic late
Villa boss. There can be no other reasonable
explanation for why the club’s greatest ever
manager, who passed away aged 87 back in
December 2019, hasn’t been immortalised
properly before now.
In his first season in 1974-75, Saunders set
the tone by leading Villa – a third-tier side as
recently as three years earlier – to promotion
from the Second Division, plus League Cup
glory at Wembley. It was his third consecutive
appearance in that showpiece with as many
clubs... but the first time he’d tasted success.
By season three in 1976-77, Saunders had
added another League Cup and set about
establishing Villa in the top half – a position
they would occupy throughout his tenure.
His place in club folklore was complete
when the squad he painstakingly created
won the 1980-81 First Division championship.
“Do you want to bet against us?” are the
seven words forever etched on his footballing
epitaph, summing up his unwavering belief
in the underdogs who edged out title rivals
Ipswich against the odds.
So far, so great. Until February 9, 1982, that
is, when Saunders stormed out of Villa after
a bust-up with the board over transfers and
his own contract. Birmingham’s biggest twist
since the Spaghetti Junction continued as he
rocked up 3.4 miles down the road at Villa’s
fierce second city foes just over a week later.
“I almost fell off my chair,” central defender
Allan Evans tells FFT. “He’d had problems with
the board, but Ron was very strong and you
expected him to carry on going. It must have
taken something dramatic to walk away at
that stage of the season. It was a big shock
to everybody. I was in the dark and thought,
‘What’s going to happen now?’”
By then, Villa’s league form had stumbled.
After triumphing in ’81 with just 14 players,
including seven ever-presents, injuries finally
caught up with them during the following
season’s title defence – when Saunders left,
they were 15th in the table. Still, there was
the small matter of the European Cup to have
a go at. Saunders was a man of principles, but
must have considered the extra eminence
he was potentially sacrificing.
His stubbornness was both a blessing and
a curse for the Villans – a curse because the
uncompromising son of a Liverpool docker
was no longer around to finish what he had
started; a blessing because his authoritarian
intransigence had left behind a supremely
talented group with an unshakeable belief in
themselves and each other.
Despite reeling from the manager’s exit,
chairman Ron Bendall recognised Saunders’
continued legacy within the dressing room –
a realisation resulting in the masterstroke
appointment of Tony Barton as his successor.
ASTOn
VILLAClockwise from
top “Who thinks
Withey shinned
it?”; Spink steps
up to replace an
injured Rimmer;
Saunders laid
the foundations
for Euro success