1981–82 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 1981–82 season was Aston Villa's 82nd season in the Football League.

As defending First Division champions for the first time in 71 years, they qualified for the European Cup for the first time in their history. Their first game in the competition was against Valur of Iceland, following by a second round clash with Dynamo Berlin of East Germany, Dynamo Kiev of the Soviet Union in the quarter-finals and then Anderlecht of Belgium in the semi-finals before beating Bayern Munich of West Germany 1–0 in the Final in Rotterdam, with Peter Withe scoring the winning goal.

The season began with Ron Saunders, who had been the club's manager since 1974, still in charge, but he resigned on 9 February 1982 following a disagreement with the board over his contract. He had been in charge for nearly eight years, winning a league title and two League Cups in the process. His successor was his assistant manager Tony Barton, who had been in charge for three months by the time Villa won the European Cup.

First-team squad
Squad at end of season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
GK Jimmy Rimmer
GK Nigel Spink
DF Kenny Swain
DF Colin Gibson
DF Brendan Ormsby
DF Mark Jones
DF Pat Heard
DF Gary Williams
DF Ken McNaught
DF Allan Evans
DF Eamon Deacy
No. Position Player
MF Ivor Linton
MF Tony Morley
MF Dennis Mortimer
MF Mark Walters
MF Gordon Cowans
MF Paul Birch
MF Andy Blair
MF Des Bremner
FW Peter Withe
FW Gary Shaw
FW David Geddis
FW Terry Donovan[1]

First round

First leg
Aston Villa 5–0 Valur
Morley  6'
Withe  37', 68'
Donovan  40', 69'
Attendance: 20,481
Referee:

Second leg
Valur 0–2 Aston Villa
Shaw  25', 70'
Attendance: 3,500
Referee:

Villa won 7–0 on aggregate.

Second round

First leg
Dynamo Berlin 1–2 Aston Villa
Riediger  50' Morley  5', 85'
Attendance: 25,000
Referee:

Second leg
Aston Villa 0–1 Dynamo Berlin
Terletzki  15'
Attendance: 28,175
Referee:

2–2 on aggregate. Villa won on away goals rule.

Quarter final

First leg
Dynamo Kiev 0–0 Aston Villa
Attendance: 20,000
Referee:

Second leg
Aston Villa 2–0 Dynamo Kiev
Shaw  4'
McNaught  44'
Attendance: 38,579
Referee:

Villa won 2–0 on aggregate.

Semi-final

First leg
Aston Villa 1–0 Anderlecht
Morley  27'
Referee:

Second leg
Anderlecht 0–0 Aston Villa
,
Referee:

Villa won 1–0 on aggregate.

Final
Main article: 1982 European Cup Final
Aston Villa 1–0 Bayern Munich
Withe  67'
Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam
Attendance: 39,776
Referee: Georges Konrath

References
  1. Donovan was born in Liverpool, England, but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in 1979.
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