Bradley Howard Friedel is an American professional soccer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper.
William Henry Walker was a prominent English footballer of the 1920s and 1930s. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest footballers to ever play for Aston Villa and England. As a manager he won the FA Cup with each of Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest, some 24 years apart, a record which still stands.
James McIlroy was a Northern Ireland international footballer, who played for Glentoran, Burnley, Stoke City and Oldham Athletic. He was regarded as one of Burnley's greatest players, having played 497 matches and scoring 131 goals. McIlroy also managed Oldham Athletic and Bolton Wanderers.
John Joseph Carey was an Irish professional footballer and manager. As a player, Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 1953. He was also a dual internationalist, playing for and captaining both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. In 1947 he also captained a Europe XI which played a Great Britain XI at Hampden Park. In 1949 he was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and in the same year captained the FAI XI that defeated England 2–0 at Goodison Park, becoming the first non-UK team to beat England at home. Carey was also the first non-UK player and the first Irishman to captain a winning team in both an FA Cup Final and the First Division. Like his contemporary Con Martin, Carey was an extremely versatile footballer and played in nine different positions throughout his career. He even played in goal for United on one occasion.
John Blanchflower was a footballer from Northern Ireland. He graduated from Manchester United's youth system and played for the club on 117 occasions, winning one league title, before his career was cut short due to injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster. He was also capped 12 times at senior level by Northern Ireland.
William Laurence Bingham was a Northern Ireland international footballer and manager.
Christopher John Nicholl was a professional footballer who later worked as a coach and manager.
Alexander Derek Dougan was a Northern Ireland international footballer, football manager, football chairman, pundit, and writer. He was also known by his nickname, "The Doog". He was capped by Northern Ireland at schoolboy, youth, Amateur, and 'B' team level, before he won 43 caps in a 15-year career for the senior team from 1958 to 1973, scoring eight international goals and featuring in the 1958 FIFA World Cup. He also played in the Shamrock Rovers XI v Brazil exhibition match in July 1973, which he also helped to organise.
Patrick Joseph O'Connell, also known as Paddy O'Connell or Patricio O'Connell, was an Irish footballer and manager. He played as a defender, most notably, for Belfast Celtic, Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City and Manchester United. He has the distinction of being the first player from what is now the Republic of Ireland to play for and captain Manchester United.
The 1976–77 season was the 97th season of competitive football in England. This year The Football League revamped the tie-breaking criteria for teams level on points, replacing the traditional goal average tiebreaker with one based on goal difference to try to encourage more scoring. Coloured red and yellow cards were introduced for the first time in domestic English football.
Cornelius Joseph Martin was an Irish footballer. Martin initially played Gaelic football for the Dublin county team before switching codes and embarking on a successful soccer career, playing for, among others, Drumcondra, Glentoran, Leeds United and Aston Villa.
The 1957 FA Cup final was a football match played on 4 May 1957 at Wembley Stadium between Aston Villa and Manchester United. Villa won 2–1, with both of their goals scored by Peter McParland. Tommy Taylor scored United's goal. It was Villa's first major trophy for 37 years.
William J. Simpson was a Northern Ireland international footballer, who played for Linfield, Rangers, Stirling Albion, Partick Thistle and Oxford United.
Aston Villa Football Club were formed in 1874, by fifteen members [Report by the Sports Argus on a talk by co-founder Jack Hughes, 1899] of the Wesleyan Chapel at Villa Cross in Lozells. Four of the founders were Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood. The club won its first FA Cup in 1887. Aston Villa were one of the dozen teams that competed in the inaugural Football League in 1888 with the club's outgoing chairman William McGregor being the league's founder. Aston Villa emerged as the most successful English club of the Victorian era. By the end of Villa's "Golden Age" at the start of the First World War, the club had won the League Championship six times and the FA Cup five times.
James Warner was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Aston Villa and Newton Heath in the late 19th century. He helped Aston Villa win the FA Cup in 1887.
Jack Peter Grealish is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the England national team. Grealish is known for his dribbling and playmaking ability as well as his robust defensive capabilities. Grealish is often considered to be one of the most popular and marketable athletes in England.
The 1956–57 English football season was Aston Villa's 57th season in the Football League, this season playing in the Football League First Division. In the Second City derby Villa won both matches. In October 1956 they beat Birmingham 3–1 at home with goals by Jackie Sewell, Ken Roberts and Stan Lynn. They beat Birmingham 2–1 away, both Villa goals by Roy Chapman.
Aston Villa played the 1960–61 English football season in the Football League First Division.
