Aston Villa v Bolton

Aston Villa(Click here to buy Aston Villa tickets) Football Club were formed in March, 1874, by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Aston which is now part of Birmingham. The four founders of Aston Villa(Click here to buy Aston Villa tickets) were Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood. Aston Villa(Click here to buy Aston Villa tickets)'s first match was against the local Aston Brook St Mary's Rugby team. As a condition of the match, the Villa side had to agree to play the first half under rugby rules and the second half under football rules. Villa quickly became one of the best teams in the Midlands, winning their first honour, the Birmingham Senior Cup in 1880, under the captaincy of Scotsman George Ramsay.

The club won its first FA Cup in 1887 with captain Archie Hunter becoming one of the game's first household names. Aston Villa(Click here to buy Aston Villa tickets) were one of the dozen teams that competed in the inaugural Football League in 1888 with one of the club's directors, William McGregor being the league's founder. Aston Villa(Click here to buy Aston Villa tickets) emerged as the most successful English club of the Victorian era, with numerous League titles and FA Cup wins. In 1897, the year Villa won The Double, they moved into their present home, the Aston Lower Grounds. The name of Villa Park came about through fan usage and no official declaration was made that listed the name as Villa Park.

Aston Villa(Click here to buy Aston Villa tickets) won their sixth FA Cup in 1920, soon after though the club began a slow decline that led to Villa, at the time one of the most famous and successful clubs in world football, being relegated in 1936 for the first time to the Second Division. This was largely due to a dismal defensive record though as they conceded 110 goals, 7 of them coming from Arsenal's Ted Drake in an infamous 1–7 defeat at Villa Park. As with all English clubs, the Second World War brought about the loss of seven seasons, and several careers were brought to a premature end by the conflict. Aston Villa(Click here to buy Aston Villa tickets) went about rebuilding the team under the guidance of former player Alex Massie for the remainder of the 1940s. Aston Villa's first trophy for 37 years came in the 1956–57 season which saw them go on an unexpected FA Cup run that would culminate in them defeating the 'Busby Babes' of Manchester United in the final. The team were relegated though two seasons later, in 1958–59, and a complacency had set in at Villa Park. This was soon vanquished though as Villa returned to the top flight in 1960 as Second Division Champions and the following season Villa won the inaugural League Cup.

The late 1960s saw a period of turmoil at the club with fan pressure leading to a takeover and managerial changes. This started with Villa being relegated for the third time, under manager Dick Taylor in 1967. The following season the fans called for the board to resign as Villa finished 16th in the Second Division. With mounting debts and Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two, the board sacked Cummings (the manager brought in to replace Taylor), and within weeks the entire board resigned due to overwhelming pressure from fans. After much speculation, control of the club was bought by London financier Pat Matthews who also brought in Doug Ellis as chairman. New ownership though could not prevent Villa being relegated to the Third Division for the first time at the end of the 1969–70 season. In the 1971–72 season they returned to the Second Division as Champions with a record 70 points. In 1973 Ron Saunders was appointed manager and by 1977 he had taken them back into the First Division and Europe.

Villa were back amongst the elite and they continued to have much success under Saunders, winning the league in the 1980–81 season. To the surprise of commentators and fans, Saunders quit halfway through the 1981–82 season, after falling out with the chairman, with Villa in the quarter final of the European Cup. He was replaced by his softly-spoken assistant manager Tony Barton who guided them to 1–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in Rotterdam. Villa remain to this day one of only four English teams to have won the European Cup, along with Liverpool, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. This marked a pinnacle though and Villa declined for most of the 1980s culminating in relegation in 1987. This was followed by promotion the following year and second place in the football League in 1989.

Villa were one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, and finished runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural season. For the rest of the nineties though Villa went through three different managers and their league positions were inconsistent, although they did win two League Cups. Villa reached the FA Cup final in 2000 (for the first time since 1957) but lost 1–0 to Chelsea in the last game to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. Once again Villa's league position began to fluctuate under several different managers and things came to a head in the summer of 2006 when David O'Leary left under acrimonious circumstances. Martin O'Neill soon arrived though to jubilant scenes. After 23 years as chairman and single biggest shareholder (approximately 38%), Doug Ellis finally decided to sell his stake in Aston Villa(Click here to buy Aston Villa tickets) to Randy Lerner, the owner of NFL franchise the Cleveland Browns.The arrival of a new owner and manager marked the start of a new period of optimism at Villa Park and sweeping changes occurred throughout the club including a new crest, a new kit sponsor and team changes in the summer of 2007.

Early history

The club was founded in 1874 as Christ Church FC, but changed its name to Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) Wanderers in 1877. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888. Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) have spent more time in the top flight (Premier League/old First Division) than out of it.

In 1894 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the final of football's oldest competition, the FA Cup, for the first time, but lost 4–1 to Notts County at Goodison Park. A decade later they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on April 23, 1904. On April 28, 1923 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) won the cup at their third attempt to win their first major trophy, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first ever Wembley final. The match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets)'s centre-forward, David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley Stadium. They became the most successful cup side of the twenties, also winning in 1926 and 1929, beating Manchester City and Portsmouth respectively.

From 1935 to 1964, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) enjoyed an uninterrupted stay in the top flight – regarded by fans as a golden era, spearheaded in the 1950s by Nat Lofthouse. They would not return to the top flight until 1978, where they lasted but two seasons before a period of further decline set in. In 1953 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) played in one of the most famous FA Cup finals of all time - The Stanley Matthews Final of 1953. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) lost the game to Blackpool 4–3 after throwing away a 3–1 lead. Blackpool were victorious thanks to the skills of Matthews and the goals of Stan Mortensen.

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) Wanderers have not won a major trophy since 1958, when two Lofthouse goals saw them overcome Manchester United in the FA Cup final in front of a 100,000 crowd at Wembley. The closest they have come to winning a major trophy since then is finishing runners-up in the League Cup, first in 1995 and again in 2004.

At the end of the 1986–87 season, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) Wanderers suffered relegation to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history. But the board kept faith in manager Phil Neal and they won promotion back to the Third Division at the first attempt. The deciding goal was scored by Robbie Savage in a 1–0 win at Wrexham. Neal remained in charge until the summer of 1992 when he made way for Bruce Rioch, who a few years earlier had won two successive promotions with Middlesbrough.

In the early part of Rioch's tenure, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) gained a giantkilling reputation in cup competitions. In 1993 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) beat FA Cup holders Liverpool 2–0 in a third round replay thanks to goals from John McGinlay and Andy Walker. The club also defeated higher division opposition in the form of Wolves that year before bowing out to Derby County. In 1994 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) beat FA Cup holders Arsenal 3–1 in a fourth round replay, and went on to reach the Quarter Finals, bowing out 1–0 at home to local rivals (and then Premier League) Oldham Athletic. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) also defeated top division opposition in the form of Everton and Aston Villa that year.

Recent history

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the Premiership in 1995 under the management of Rioch, thanks to a victory over Reading in the Division One playoff final. Rioch left to take charge at Arsenal after the promotion success and was replaced by Roy McFarland, who was joined by his former assistant Colin Todd. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were bottom for virtually all of the 1995–96 Premiership campaign and Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) dismissed McFarland on New Year's Day 1996 and appointed Todd in his place. Todd was unable to save Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) from relegation but the board kept faith in him. The Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) board's loyalty in Todd was rewarded when they won promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt thanks to a season in which they achieved 98 league points and 100 goals in the process of securing the Division One Championship.

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were relegated on goal difference at the end of the 1997–98 Premiership campaign. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the 1999 Division One playoff final but lost to Watford. Todd resigned as manager soon after and was replaced by Sam Allardyce. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and play-offs but lost to Aston Villa and Ipswich Town respectively. In 2000–01 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were promoted back to the Premier League after beating Preston North End in the play-off final.

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) struggled in the following two seasons, but survived in the Premier League. They reached the League Cup final in 2004, but lost to Middlesbrough. Nevertheless, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) finished eighth in the league, at the time their highest finish for some time. In 2005 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) finished sixth in the league, thus earning qualification for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. The following season, they reached the last 32 but were eliminated by French team Marseille. In April 2007, towards the end of 2006–07 season, manager Allardyce resigned. In his final four seasons at Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets), Allardyce had recorded consecutive top ten finishes, a record of consistency bettered only by the big four of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Allardyce was replaced by his assistant Sammy Lee, who secured Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets)'s qualification for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. After gaining only one league win in eleven matches, Lee left Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) in October 2007 and was replaced by Gary Megson.