Aston Villa aim to continue Wolves' woeful record at Villa Park
Mar 20 2010 by Mat Kendrick, Birmingham Mail
MARTIN O’Neill’s Villa will have history on their side against Wolves today – after enjoying the bragging rights in this fixture for 30 years.
Not since a 3-1 defeat in the old First Division on March 10, 1980, have Villa lost to – or even drawn against – the Molineux men on their own Villa Park patch.
Gary Shaw’s consolation was all Villa had to show for their efforts as Wolves enjoyed a rare win in B6 with goals from Norman Bell, Colin Brazier and Peter Daniel.
Live match debate with Mat Kendrick from Aston Villa v Wolves from 12.30pm - click here
The result helped Wolves finish sixth, a point above Villa, in that season’s top-flight table.
However, since then Villa Park has been a far from happy hunting ground for the old gold and blacks.
An Emlyn Hughes own goal and a strike by David Geddis earned Villa a 2-1 victory en route to winning the title on September 20, 1980.
In 1981-82 Villa did a Villa Park double over Wolves. Des Bremner, Tony Morley and Andy Blair scored in a 3-1 League Cup second-round first-leg victory on October 7, 1981, winning 5-3 on aggregate.
Morley was also on target, along with Terry Donovan and Shaw, in a 3-1 league success on March, 13, 1982, to help Wolves on their way to relegation.
The following season the teams renewed acquaintances in the FA Cup with a Peter Withe goal deciding the fourth-round tie in Villa’s favour on January 29, 1983.
Wolves were back in the big time in 1983-84, even though their Villa Park woes continued thanks to a Withe double and goals from Paul Birch and Mark Walters in a 4-0 Villa win on February 25, 1984.
But that top-flight tenure lasted just a season and it was September 20 1989 before they met again, as David Platt and Stuart Gray gave Villa a 2-1 League Cup second-round win.
Villa were also League Cup victors over Wolves on January 10, 1996, with Tommy Johnson scoring the only goal in a quarter-final clash.
And Wolves’ last and only other Premier League visit to Villa Park also ended in a win for the hosts with a Juan Pablo Angel double and a Gareth Barry goal securing a 3-2 victory on December 14, 2003.
Live match debate with Mat Kendrick from Aston Villa v Wolves from 12.30pm - click here
