Former Aston Villa captain Jimmy Dugdale dies

Feb 26 2008 By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

FORMER Villa and Albion FA Cup winner Jimmy Dugdale has died in hospital at the age of 76 after a long illness.

Regarded as one of the finest defenders of his or any other generation, his passing will be mourned by supporters of both clubs, but particularly Villa where he enjoyed his best footballing years.

Dugdale was born in Liverpool but moved to Albion in January 1950 and turned professional the following year.

Known as 'The Laughing Cavalier', he made 63 league appearances for the club and a further eleven appearances in the FA Cup, most noteably helping them to the 1954 Final where they beat Preston North End 3-2.

At Albion he gained three caps for the 'B' team and also played for a Football League representative XI.

The emergence of Joe Kennedy led to Dugdale's departure to Eric Houghton's Villa for £25,000 in February 1956 and within 15 months he had starred at Wembley again, marking Manchester United's Tommy Taylor out of the game for 84 minutes as Villa beat United 2-1.

Replacing Con Martin in Villa's defence he helped Villa win the Second Division title in 1960 and was outstanding in the League Cup triumph of a year later.

He also won the Supporters Terrace Trophy award in 1960.

Captain of Villa during the 1958-1959 season, his form had been one of the contributory factors in Villa avoiding relegation in 1956.

He made 215 league appearances for Villa, with a total of 255 in all competitions, scoring three goals.

In October 1962 he joined QPR but retired due to injury (the result of a cartilage operation from a Villa derby against Blues) just seven months later to become a publican in Witton.

In 1993, following the amputation of a leg in 1990, Villa staged a testimonial against Blues.

Years later he was to have his second leg amputated.

He is survived by wife Dorothy, daughters Debbie and Nicola as well as son Russell.