· Last season's game - Aston Villa 1 Spurs 1, 29.12.99
· See the current injury list for all Premier League Teams
· All the Spurs Stats you could hope for here! THFC6061 Sports Stats

This preview was written by Brian Judson

Full Record of Spurs -v- Aston Villa

Premier       Pl   W   D   L   For-Ag  Pts
Home           8   3   2   3   11 -12  11
Away           8   0   3   5    6 -13   3
=========================================
Total (Prem)  16   3   5   8   17 -25  14
=========================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 1)  47  25   6  16   99 -77  62
Away (Div 1)  47  17  11  19   72 -75  48
==========================================
Total (Div 1) 94  42  17  35   171-152 110
==========================================
Football Lge
Home (Div 2)   2   1   1   0    4 -3    3
Away (Div 2)   2   0   1   1    1 -3    1
=========================================
Total (Div 2)  4   1   2   1    5 -6    4
=========================================
Total (Prem)  16   3   5   8   17 -25  14
Total (Div 1) 94  42  17  35   171-152 110
Total (Div 2)  4   1   2   1    5 -6    4
==========================================
Grand Total  114  46  24  44   193-183 128
==========================================

As can be seen in the foregoing statistics, we have a deplorable record at Villa Park, which once used to be such a happy hunting ground for us. Our best sequence of results there is:

1950-51 W 3-2 Murphy Duquemin Medley
1951-52 W 3-0 Walters Duquemin 2
1952-53 W 3-0 Bennett Duquemin Dicker
1953-54 W 2-1 Walters Baily
1954-55 W 4-2 Dowsett Bennett 2 Baily
1955-56 W 2-0 Clarke McClennan
1956-57 W 4-2 Harmer Smith Stokes Robb
1957-58 D 1-1 Smith
1958-59 D 1-1 Norman
1960-61 W 2-1 R Smith Dyson
1961-62 A 0-0
1962-63 L 1-2 Medwin
1963-64 W 4-2 Jones Greaves 2 Dyson

One defeat in 13 visits to Villa Park. The missing season (1959-60) is accounted for as Aston Villa spent a single season in Division 2. I don't think Spurs have a better away record anywhere else, although I stand to be corrected. (We don't need to be reminded what is our current worst ever sequence against one club, do we?)

This week's match will be an emotive occasion for those Spurs fans at Villa Park if a certain player wearing the number 14 shirt appears in the Aston Villa line-up, either at the start of the match or as a substitute. David Ginola has been hampered by injury since his transfer to Villa Park and has, I think, yet to make a start, although he has made several substitute appearances. It bears out my belief that Spurs were right to dispense with his services as I don't think he was fully fit during his final season at Tottenham. Moreover, he did not appear to conform to the team ethos that George Graham is trying to promote. For those of you who argue that Spurs lack flair without Ginola, I would remind readers that you can have all the flair in the world but that is useless if it does not have work rate attached to it. Has anyone noticed how hard David Beckham is working for Manchester United these days, for example, and would they care to point out whether Ginola ever worked as hard as that? The trouble with Tottenham is they have always had great players but very few who could also match it with work rate. Cliff Jones and Dave Mackay had it in abundance in the Double side, for example, and both played a major part in our success that season.

Villa have the same problem as Tottenham at the moment. A fairly small squad, demanding fans, an injury list and an unpopular manager working in tandem with a boorish Chairman. The difference is that 'Deadly Doug' has been at the Villa Park helm for 30 years. In that time, Villa have sunk to the Third Division in the 1970s and won the European Cup ten years later. The Villa side that won the League and the European Cup in successive seasons was quite an attractive one. Ron Saunders and Tony Barton, neither of whom were charismatic managers, built a very attractive side that featured Dennis Mortimer and Trevor Morley as a very exciting left wing partnership and Peter Withe and Gary Shaw as the strikers. The sad thing was that Villa were not able to build on that success and faded quickly.

Unlike White Hart Lane, Villa Park is still being re-built. It is a mixture of old and new. I remember going to Villa Park for the 1982 FA Cup Semi-Final, which was the morning of the day the Argentineans invaded the Falkland Islands. Ardiles did not want to play and was left out of the team whilst Villa, if my memory serves me correctly, was injured at the time. The Holte End was the Tottenham end that day and I remember how it was packed with Tottenham fans, singing all afternoon and frightening the lives out of the Leicester City players that day.

There have been various players who have worn the colours of both teams but undoubtedly the finest of them all was Danny Blanchflower. In the 1950s, training for a football match largely consisted of a few laps jogging around the perimeter of the pitch and an afternoon playing snooker. Blanchflower complained about that at Villa Park, which considerably upset Eric Houghton, the Villa manager of the day. His idea was that if a player did not see the ball during the week, it made him all the more hungry to have it on the Saturday afternoon. This led Blanchflower to ask for a transfer as he felt Villa were going nowhere with that sort of attitude and Villa decided to let him go, deeming him a troublemaker. On such things do great events hinge ......

One of the most memorable away victories of all time was Spurs' 5-1 victory at Villa Park on 6th January 1934. This was Spurs' first season back in Division One after a five year absence. Spurs were destined to finish 3rd at the end of the season, something that made the following season's relegation all the more inexplicable. Spurs took the lead in the 10th minute. Morton, the Villa goalkeeper, foiled George Hunt by diving at his feet but Jimmy McCormick swept the rebound into the net. Defender David Colquhoun had to go off to have stitches inserted into a head wound but returned in time to see Tommy Meads hit home a 25-yard volley to increase Spurs lead. In the 23rd minute Hunt added a third goal with a glorious drive and twelve minutes later, Les Howe saw a shot hit the bar and drop over the goal line.

Spurs eased up in the second half, protecting the concussed Colquhoun as much as possible but managed to go further ahead when McCormick beat both Villa full-backs and waltzed round Morton to make it 5-0. Ten minutes from the end, Villa had a player sent off. 'Pongo' Waring had already been warned twice about his conduct and when he shoulder charged Arthur Rowe and 'keeper Joe Nicholls in successive tackles, he was sent off. No yellow cards in those distant days! The Villa crowd spent the closing minutes pelting Nicholls with apples, oranges and beer bottles. Who thought hooliganism was a modern phenomenon? With five minutes to go, Astley scored a consolation goal for Villa. The sides were:

Aston Villa: Morton; Blair, Mort, Gibson, Kingdon, Wood, Mandley, Dix, Waring, Astley, Houghton.

Tottenham Hotspur: Nicholls; Channell, Whatley, Colquhoun, Rowe, Meads, McCormick, Howe, Hunt, G W Hall, W Evans.

Referee: P Snape Attendance: 30,000.

Ronnie Dix played for Spurs for a couple of seasons after WW2. Eric Houghton was later the Villa manager. Whatley was a coach for Tottenham after he retired and Rowe was the manager of the 1951 team that won the League. George Hunt was our record scorer before the advent of Bobby Smith. Les Howe played in every position for Tottenham in a long career including goalkeeper in emergencies.

And tomorrow? Much will depend on how quickly Spurs settle. They will have to snuff out the threat Paul Merson will provide and watch Joachim very carefully but the longer the game goes on, the Villa fans will become impatient and get on the team's back. I feel sure we can win if we settle quickly but if we fall behind, we will again fall apart at the seams.

COME ON YOU SPURS!

Cheers, Brian

Follow @spursodyssey