Sunderland v Aston Villa

Glasgow born Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)-based school teacher James Allan started the ‘Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) and District Teachers Association Football Club’ formed Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) A.F.C. on 17 October 1879. On 16 October 1880 the club changed its name to "Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) Teachers Association Football Club" ie the Teachers bit remained, but the statement which announced this indicated that the club opened its membership to all in order to relax financial troubles and increase the pool of players available to it. Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) Teachers AFC became Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) AFC on limited company status. Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) enjoyed an extremely "unhealthy" rivalry with Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) Albion F.C. (who confusingly had the same initials) until their demise in the early 20th century.

Ironically it was James Allan who founded Albion after being voted off the Committee of Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) AFC although he had formed Albion prior to the meeting.

Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) were admitted into The Football League for the 1890-91 season, replacing Stoke. It was the first time a new club had joined the league since its inauguration in 1989. During the late 19th century they were still famously declared as the "Team of All Talents" by William McGregor, the founder of the league, after a 6 v 1 over Aston Villa at Perry Barr (erroneously up to now attributed to a 7 v 2 home win against Aston Villa); and between 1892 and 1902 the team won the league three times and were runners-up a further three times.

In 1913, Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) again won the league and lost their first FA Cup Final 1-0 to Aston Villa. It was the closest the club has ever gone to The Double.

The club's sixth (and to this day last) league championship came in the 1935-36 season, and the next season the club finally won the F.A. Cup after a 3-1 victory against Preston North End at Wembley Stadium.

Following the Second World War, the club suffered a downturn in fortunes, despite breaking a number of transfer records and being labelled 'The Bank of England Club'. In 1957 the club were implicated in a major financial scandal (the second in their history after the Andrew MacCombie scandal in 1904), resulting in an unprecedented fine of £5,000 and the suspension of the club chair and three directors. In 1958 Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) were relegated from the top-flight for the first time in their 68-year league history.

Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) won their last major trophy in 1973 courtesy of 1-0 victory over Leeds United in the FA Cup Final. Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets), a second division club at the time, won the game thanks to an amazing double save of Jimmy Montgomery to deny Peter Lorimer, described by many as the greatest save at Wembley, and by some even as the greatest save of all time. Ian Porterfield scored a stunning volley in the 30th minute to stun Leeds and take the win. Since 1973 only two other clubs (Southampton in 1976 and West Ham United in 1980) have equalled Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)'s achievement of lifting the FA Cup while playing outside the top tier of English football.

In 1985, Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) appeared in their first and only (to 2007) League Cup final, losing 1-0 to Norwich City.

1987 saw one of the lowest points in Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)'s history, as they were relegated to the third division of the English league for the first and only time.

Under new Chairman Bob Murray and new manager Denis Smith the club were promoted as champions the following season. In 1990, they were promoted back to the top flight, after losing to Swindon Town in the play off final, but Swindon's victory being revoked after being found guilty of financial irregularities. They stayed up for one year before being relegated on the final day of the season.

Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)'s last outing in a major final came in 1992 when, as a second division club, they returned to the FA Cup Final. There was to be no repeat of the heroics of 1973, with Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) losing 2-0 to Liverpool.

The early 1990s was a turbulent period for the club. In 1995, they faced the prospect of a return the third-tier of English football. Peter Reid was brought in, and quickly turned things around. Reid's time in charge had a stabilising effect; he remained manager for seven years, one of the longest tenures in Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets)'s history.

In 1997, Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) left Roker Park, their home for 99 years. They moved to the Stadium of Light, a 42,000-seat arena that, at the time, was the biggest new stadium built in England since World War II. The move saw a renaissance at the club, as attendances jumped dramatically. The Stadium capacity was later increased to 49,000.

Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) returned to the top-flight as champions in 1999 with a then record points total of 105. Two consecutive seventh place finishes in the Premier League were followed by two less successful seasons and they were relegated to the second-tier with a record low points total of 19 in 2003.

Former Ireland manager Mick McCarthy took over at the club and in 2005 he took Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) up as champions (the third time in under ten years). However, the following season was a disaster; Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) finished on a new record-low total of 15 points. McCarthy left the club in mid-season and was replaced temporarily by Kevin Ball, a former player.

Following their relegation new hope was given to the club by ex-player Niall Quinn, along with the Irish Drumaville Consortium, successfully launched a bid to buy out former chair Bob Murray in July 2006. The consortium appointed former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, a former international team mate of chairman Niall Quinn, as their new manager. Quinn had been in charge for the first few games of the season in a disastrous start. However, under Keane the club rose steadily up the table with an unbeaten run of seventeen games from the start of 2007. Along with Birmingham City FC, Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) clinched promotion to the FA Premier League for the upcoming 2007-2008 season, following Derby County's 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on April 29th. Roy Keane was informed via a text message that Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) AFC had been promoted while walking his dog Triggs. On May 6th 2007 Sunderland(Click here to buy Sunderland tickets) were crowned winners of Championship after beating Luton Town 5-0 at Kenilworth Road.

Their form in the 2007-08 season has been better than the form they showed last time round at this level, and as of early November they occupy 15th place after 11 games and 9 points.

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.