Today’s ‘On This Day’ feature takes a look at Aston Villa’s programme from the 1977/78 season. Read the full review below and click here to see all the Division One programmes from the season.
For the 1977/78 season Aston Villa produced an expanded A4-size programme with 20 pages packed full of reading.
The cover of the issue for the club’s game against Manchester United showed an external shot of Villa Park that showed the new North Stand looming behind the older parts of the ground. The new stand had just been opened following a million-pound development of the old Witton End of the ground and the programme included four further pages that featured several colour images of the new stand, an extensive write-up on the development work, and information about the two levels of Executive Boxes within the stand.
The programme also featured plenty of other content. There was a brief column from manager Ron Saunders, which was accompanied by various action shots from Villa’s recent trip to West Ham, while ‘Press Call’ featured an interview with Midlands-based Daily Express reporter Alan Williams. There was a two-page interview with Villa winger Frank Carrodus, in which he reflected on his time with Manchester City, as well as Villa’s UEFA Cup form and their upcoming trip to Poland to face Gornik Zabrze.
‘Nationwide’ gathered news and information from around the leagues, while ‘Club Scene’ did the same for Villa. The latter section noted the form of the club’s youth team, noting that among the scorers in a recent cup game was Gary Shaw, who would feature so prominently in Villa’s Division One and European Cup successes in the early 1980s. There was also a comprehensive stats page that included information on the first team, reserves, and youth team.
Two pages of the programme were given over to visitors Manchester United. The first of these provided a focus on United boss Dave Sexton, who had recently replaced Tommy Docherty as manager. The article looked back at Sexton’s successes with Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers and the early steps he had taken in charge of United. The second page included notes on United’s form and featured notes on the club’s players, alongside pictures of Stuart Pearson, Brian Greenhoff, and Jimmy Nicholl. The two detailed articles offered an excellent level of depth to the visitor’s coverage.
The Villa programme was one of the most consistently impressive of its time and this issue was typically notable, with a range of detailed articles that made full use of the space afforded by the page-size.