1944: Almost 55,000 fans packed into Villa Park for the second-leg of the League North Cup Final against Blackpool. Trailing 2-1 from the first game at Bloomfield Road Villa were level inside a minute as Frank Broome found the net. Blackpool hit back through Dix but George Edwards, Eric Houghton and Broome added further Villa goals to complete a 4-2 win and set up a play-off against League South Cup winners Charlton. Villa later donated their trophy to the Red Cross and it was auctioned off for charity.

1974: Manager Vic Crowe was sacked four years after taking charge at Villa Park. Crowe had steered Villa back into the Second Division in 1972 but the failure to maintain that revival eventually proved costly.

Random Villa Fact

Billy Walker met with mixed fortune in his first two visits to Wembley in 1924. On Saturday 12th April, he scored England's first ever goal at the stadium in a 1-1 draw against Scotland. Two weeks later Walker was back with Villa for the FA Cup final where he crashed into a goalpost and was knocked out as Villa lost 2-0 to Newcastle United!