- Aston Villa F.C. in the 1870s
Aston Villa Football Club was formed in1874 , by members of theVilla Wesleyan Cross Chapel . These were players ofcricket in search of a summer pastime. The first meeting to discuss the new team was held on the fringes ofBirchfield andLozells , not far from whereVilla Park now stands onTrinity Road ,Aston ,Birmingham .After appointing
Walter H. Price as first-evercaptain , the newly-formed 'Aston Villa Football Club' set about the task of trying to find suitable opponents. This was difficult, as rugby was more popular inBirmingham at the time. Some football clubs, such asCalthorpe FC andStafford Road FC works team ofWolverhampton were considered too strong.Finally, in March
1875 , Aston Villa was set for its first match. It was againstAston Brook St Mary's rugby team, with one half to be played under rugby and one half under the 'Sheffield Rules ' laws ofassociation football . Actually, this sort of arrangement was not too unusual in those days, with both games' laws being in their infancy. Villa managed to hold their opponents to a try-less draw at half-time, before triumphing one-nil after the second, football-rules, half. Scorer of Villa's first-ever goal wasJack Hughes .Villa failed to find another fixture that season, but had more success the following year. Some of the clubs they played included
Aston Unity (who Villa continued to play every year at cricket into the 1960s) andSt. George's Excelsior . Most home matches were played inAston Park , across the road from present-day Villa Park, and in the shadow ofAston Hall . Other games were played in Aston Lower Grounds, where Villa Park now lies. Villa were did not have exclusivity in this area, with other sports regularly played there. IndeedW G Grace played cricket there, as the touring Australians defeated England in under four hours.Aston Park, though, was where Villa met with their most significant fate of the decade. A 21-year-old Scot called
George Ramsay turned up and begged a game. His dribbling wizadry entranced the young Villa players. Ramsay was immediately offered membership, and the captaincy, by his new Villa team-mates. He became a Villa legend on and off the pitch. He helped develop Villa's first permanent home,Perry Barr , and enthralled crowds with his skills there. A fixture of Villa's history until his death in1935 , Ramsay also helpedFrederick Rinder negotiate the purchase of Villa Park in1896 .While Ramsay was the first famous Scot in Villa's history, he would not be the last.
A stroke of extreme fortune presented Villa with the second,
1878 . Their most legendary captain untilDennis Mortimer ,Archie Hunter was also recognised as the first in theFootball League 's list of 100 greats released more than a century later. In the region to sign for the Calthorpe club, Hunter was unable to find the way. However, he had heard of a fellow Scot in the area who was trying to recruit new stars to his football club. That Scot was Ramsay who hastily signed Hunter up to the Villa cause, to their gain and the Calthorpe club's considerable loss.At about this time, a much-improved Villa began to search for higher quality opposition, and a high quality home to play them in. Perry Barr was attained for the sum of £5 per year. This gave Villa a massive advantage over many of their local rivals, as an enclosed ground meant they could now charge 'gate money' to spectators. The venue is now a bus depot, but was then home to a fresh and innovative club, who would blossom into a national power during the 1880s.
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