1897–98 Aston Villa F.C. season

Main article: History of Aston Villa F.C. (1874–1961)
Aston Villa
1897–98 season
ManagerGeorge Ramsay
GroundWellington Road
Football League6th
FA CupFirst round
Top goalscorerFred Wheldon (21)
Fred Wheldon, League top scorer, pictured in 1897

The 1897–98 Football League season was Aston Villa's 10th season in the Football League First Division, the top flight of English football. George Ramsay would continue in charge of Aston Villa while the Management Committee continued to pick the team. The season fell in what was to be called Villa's golden era.[1]

First-class cricketer[2] and England football international, Jack Devey was Captain. Jimmy Crabtree also captained the team.[3] "Diamond" Freddie Wheldon was League top scorer with 21.

Billy Garraty great-great grandfather of Jack Grealish, made his league debut for Aston Villa during the season but made just one other appearance that year.[4][5] Other debuts were James Fisher, Jack Sharp, Bert Sharp, Billy George, Howard Harvey, Jimmy Suddick, Tommy Bowman, Edmund Strange, George Johnson and Charlie Aston.[6]

First Division

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts Relegation
1 Sheffield United (C) 30 17 8 5 56 31 1.806 42
2 Sunderland 30 16 5 9 43 30 1.433 37
3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 30 14 7 9 57 41 1.390 35
4 Everton 30 13 9 8 48 39 1.231 35
5 The Wednesday 30 15 3 12 51 42 1.214 33
6 Aston Villa 30 14 5 11 61 51 1.196 33
7 West Bromwich Albion 30 11 10 9 44 45 0.978 32
8 Nottingham Forest 30 11 9 10 47 49 0.959 31
9 Liverpool 30 11 6 13 48 45 1.067 28
10 Derby County 30 11 6 13 57 61 0.934 28
11 Bolton Wanderers 30 11 4 15 28 41 0.683 26
12 Preston North End 30 8 8 14 35 43 0.814 24
13 Notts County 30 8 8 14 36 46 0.783 24
14 Bury 30 8 8 14 39 51 0.765 24
15 Blackburn Rovers[a] 30 7 10 13 39 54 0.722 24 Qualification for test matches
16 Stoke (O) 30 8 8 14 35 55 0.636 24
Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners
Notes:
  1. ^ Blackburn Rovers were initially relegated but were later reprieved due to the First Division expanding to 18 teams for the following season.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Aston Villa Club History 1900 – 1939". AVFC.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 August 2006. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
  2. ^ "Jack Devey". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  3. ^ AVFC History: 1897–98 season
  4. ^ Kendrick, Mat (26 May 2015). "Aston Villa v Arsenal: This 1905 FA Cup winner is related to a current Villa star – find out who". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Player info: William Garraty". Englandstats.com. Davey Naylor. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Aston Villa's Seasons". AVFC History.