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Aston Villa
1988–89 season
Chairman	Doug Ellis
Manager	Graham Taylor
Stadium	Villa Park
First Division	17th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Fifth round
	← 1987–88 1989–90 →

The 1988–89 English football season was Aston Villa's 90th season in the Football League. Villa competed in the Football League First Division having earned a promotion back to the First Division under their manager Graham Taylor. The team saw a slump in performances towards the end of the season, Aston Villa narrowly avoided relegation after a draw on the final day of the season.^[1] There were debuts for Chris Price (111), Derek Mountfield (90), Ian Olney (88), Ian Ormondroyd (56), Nigel Callaghan (26), Lee Butler (8) and Darrell Duffy (1).^[2]^[3]

The Birmingham City season saw three Second City derbies with Villa. 2nd Division Birmingham were soon to be relegated to the Third Division for the first time in the club's history. Villa would keep a clean sheet in all three matches, putting 13 goals past their local rivals.^[4] Drawn in the League Cup 2nd Round, Kevin Gage and Andy Gray would score in the 2–0 victory at St Andrews.^[5] In the return leg Villa won 5–0 with goals by Derek Mountfield, Kevin Gage (2), Ian Olney, and Tony Daley.^[6] In the 1988-89 Simod Cup 1st Round David Platt, Bernie Gallacher, Derek Mountfield, Alan McInally (2), and Allan Evans contributed to a 6–0 victory.^[7]

The start of the season saw Gordon Cowans rejoin Aston Villa in a £250,000 deal, following 3 years at Bari.^[8]^[9] Striker, Warren Aspinall, left in a £315,000 deal, as Portsmouth manager, Alan Ball, aimed for an immediate return to the First Division.^[10]

2 October 1988: Aston Villa sold defender Neale Cooper to Rangers for £300,000.^[11]

24 December 1988: Aston Villa sold striker Garry Thompson to Watford for £325,000.^[12]

15 April 1989 – Everton beat Norwich City 1–0 in the FA Cup semi-finals at Villa Park. The other semi-final saw one of English football's greatest ever tragedies, with the death of 96^[13] Liverpool supporters, during a match against Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough.^[14]

First Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
15	Sheffield Wednesday	38	10	12	16	34	51	−17	42
16	Luton Town	38	10	11	17	42	52	−10	41
17	Aston Villa	38	9	13	16	45	56	−11	40
18	Middlesbrough (R)	38	9	12	17	44	61	−17	39	Relegation to the Second Division
19	West Ham United (R)	38	10	8	20	37	62	−25	38	Relegation to the Second Division

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Note	Scorers
27 August 1988	Millwall	H	2–2	Millwall began their First Division career with a 2–2 draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park.	Stuart Gray (pen), Alan McInally^[15]
3 September 1988	Arsenal	A	3–2	—	Alan McInally (2), Andy Gray
10 September 1988	Liverpool	H	1–1	—	Alan McInally
17 September 1988	West Ham	A	2–2	—	Alan McInally (2)
24 September 1988	Nottingham Forest	H	1–1	—	Kevin Gage
1 October 1988	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0–1	—	—
8 October 1988	Wimbledon	H	0–1	—	—
15 October 1988	Charlton	A	2–2	—	Alan McInally, David Platt
22 October 1988	Everton	H	2–0	—	Tony Daley, David Platt
29 October 1988	Tottenham	H	2–1	—	Own goal, Tony Daley
5 November 1988	Manchester United	A	1–1	Manchester United drew with Aston Villa at home with a score of 1–1. This was the Manchester United's fifth draw of the season.^[16]	Gordon Cowans
12 November 1988	Southampton	A	1–3	After a 3–1 home win over Aston Villa, Southampton achieved their third win of the season.^[17]	Tony Daley
19 November 1988	Derby County	H	1–2	—	Derek Mountfield
26 November 1988	Coventry City	A	1–2	Coventry's 2–1 home win over local rivals, Aston Villa, saw them jump to fifth place in the table.^[18]	Alan McInally
3 December 1988	Norwich City	H	3–1	Norwich City remained at the top of the First Division despite a 3–1 defeat to Aston Villa. However, Arsenal sat just three points behind them, with two games still to play.^[19]	Kevin Gage (2), David Platt
10 December 1988	Middlesbrough	A	3–3	—	Andy Gray, Alan McInally (2)
17 December 1988	Luton Town	A	1–1	—	Own goal
26 December 1988	QPR	H	2–1	—	Alan McInally (2)
31 December 1988	Arsenal	H	0–3	After defeating Aston Villa 3–0, Arsenal replaced Norwich City at the top the First Division due to a higher goal difference.^[20]	—
3 January 1989	Liverpool	A	0–1	—	—
14 January 1989	Newcastle	H	3–1	—	Andy Gray, Tony Daley, Alan McInally
21 January 1989	Nottingham Forest	A	0–4	—	—
4 February 1989	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–0	—	Nigel Callaghan, David Platt
27 March 1989	QPR	A	0–1	—	—
1 April 1989	Luton Town	H	2–1	—	Tony Daley, Ian Olney
8 April 1989	Newcastle	A	2–1	—	Stuart Gray, David Platt
22 April 1989	Norwich City	A	2–2	—	Ian Olney, Alan McInally
29 April 1989	Middlesbrough	H	1–1	—	Stuart Gray
2 May 1989	Southampton	H	1–2	—	Stuart Gray
6 May 1989	Derby County	A	1–2	—	David Platt
13 May 1989	Coventry City	H	1–1	Middlesbrough joined already relegated Newcastle United, after losing a relegation showdown 1–0 away to Sheffield Wednesday, whilst Luton Town beat Norwich City 1–0. The result ensured Wednesday's survival. West Ham United, however, had to win their last two games to stay up—at the expense of Aston Villa.^[21]	David Platt

Source: avfchistory.co.uk

FA Cup

Teams from the Football League First and Second Divisions entered in the Third round in the FA Cup played over the weekend 7–8 January 1989. The round featured three clubs from the Football Conference at Step 5 of English football: Welling United, Sutton United and Kettering Town.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
6	Crewe Alexandra (4)	2–3	Aston Villa (1)	7 January 1989

Fourth round

The fourth round of games were played over the weekend 28–29 January 1989. Sutton United and Kettering Town were again the lowest-ranked teams in the round, and they were also the last non-league clubs left in the competition.

Tie no	Home team	Score	Away team	Date
4	Aston Villa	0–1	Wimbledon	28 January 1989

League Cup

Second round

First leg

Home team	Score	Away team	Date
Birmingham City	0–2	Aston Villa	27 September 1988

Second leg

Home team	Score	Away team	Date	Agg
Aston Villa	5–0	Birmingham City	12 October 1988	7–0

References

↑ "Aston Villa 1988–1989". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
↑ "Darrell Duffy, Villa Defender, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-2, 1992-93 | AVFC History". Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
↑ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.
↑ "All Aston Villa's Matches". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
↑ "Birmingham City 0-2 Aston Villa, 1988-89 League Cup 2nd Round, 27 Sep 1988". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
↑ "Aston Villa 5-0 Birmingham City, 1988-89 League Cup 2nd Round, 12 Oct 1988". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
↑ "Aston Villa 6-0 Birmingham City, 1988-89 Simod Cup 1st Round, 9 Nov 1988". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
↑ Gordon Cowans: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 1 June 2013
↑ Pat Nevin: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 1 June 2013
↑ Warren Aspinall: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2013
↑ Neale Cooper: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 14 June 2013
↑ Garry Thompson: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 1 June 2013
↑ "Hillsborough: Timeline of the 1989 stadium disaster". BBC News. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
↑ "1989: Football fans crushed at Hillsborough". BBC Home: On This Day 1950–2005. 15 April 1989.
↑ Data sourced from AVFC History – 1988–89 League Matches
↑ "1988-11-05". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.
↑ "1988-11-12". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.
↑ "1988-11-26". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.
↑ "1988-12-03". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.
↑ "1988-12-31". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.
↑ Smailes, Gordon (2000). The Breedon Book of Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 162. ISBN 1859832148.

[1] "Aston Villa 1988–1989". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.

[2] "Darrell Duffy, Villa Defender, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-2, 1992-93 | AVFC History". Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2026.

[3] "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.

[4] "All Aston Villa's Matches". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.

[5] "Birmingham City 0-2 Aston Villa, 1988-89 League Cup 2nd Round, 27 Sep 1988". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.

[6] "Aston Villa 5-0 Birmingham City, 1988-89 League Cup 2nd Round, 12 Oct 1988". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.

[7] "Aston Villa 6-0 Birmingham City, 1988-89 Simod Cup 1st Round, 9 Nov 1988". AVFC History. Retrieved 6 August 2023.

[8] Gordon Cowans: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 1 June 2013

[9] Pat Nevin: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 1 June 2013

[10] Warren Aspinall: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 13 June 2013

[11] Neale Cooper: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 14 June 2013

[12] Garry Thompson: Career statistics. soccerbase. Retrieved 1 June 2013

[13] "Hillsborough: Timeline of the 1989 stadium disaster". BBC News. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2021.

[14] "1989: Football fans crushed at Hillsborough". BBC Home: On This Day 1950–2005. 15 April 1989.

[avfc1989-15] Data sourced from AVFC History – 1988–89 League Matches

[16] "1988-11-05". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.

[17] "1988-11-12". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.

[18] "1988-11-26". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.

[19] "1988-12-03". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.

[20] "1988-12-31". www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk.

[smailesleague-21] Smailes, Gordon (2000). The Breedon Book of Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 162. ISBN 1859832148.

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v t e Aston Villa F.C. seasons
1870s	1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80
1880s	1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890s	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900
1900s	1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27

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