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The history of Aston Villa F.C. from 1961 to the current season covers the fluctuating fortunes of the club during the 1960s and 1970s, the European Cup victory in 1982 and the present day's Premiership club. After a promising start to the 1960s, when Villa won the inaugural Football League Cup in 1961, the end of the decade was a turbulent time for the club and pressure from fans led to a change of ownership and management.〔Ward, Adam, p.100, "...cut little ice with the fans, who pointed the finger of blame unerringly in the direction of the directors' box."〕 The problems started when the club was relegated from the first tier of English football for the third time, under manager Dick Taylor in 1967. Within two years, pressure from supporters had led to the resignation of the board of directors. The club was then relegated to the Third Division at the end of the 1969-70 season, for the first time in its history. In the 1971–72 season Aston Villa returned to the Second Division as champions with a record 70 points. In 1974, Ron Saunders was appointed manager and by 1975 he had led the club back into the First Division and into European competition as League Cup winners.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Iron Man )〕〔Ward, Adam, p.115, "After finishing in the top four and winning the League Cup, Villa were now back in Europe"〕 The club was back among the elite and it continued to have much success under Saunders, winning another League Cup in 1977 and then winning the league title in the 1980–81 season - their first top division title since 1910. Saunders resigned halfway through the 1981–82 season, with the club mid table in the First Division but still in the European Cup. While Saunders make a quick return to football when he was appointed manager of local rivals Birmingham City, he was replaced at Villa Park by his assistant manager Tony Barton, who guided them to 1–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in Rotterdam.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1981/82: Withe brings Villa glory )〕 Villa finished sixth in Barton's first full season as manager, and were League Cup semi-finalists in 1983-84, but Barton was then sacked after Villa could only manage a 10th-place finish in the league. He was succeeded by Shrewsbury Town manager Graham Turner, whose second season in charge brought a semi-final appearance in the League Cup, but also saw them narrowly avoid relegation to the Second Division. He was sacked in September 1986, and his successor Billy McNeill lasted just eight months in job before Villa were relegated to the Second Division and he was sacked. Graham Taylor was appointed manager of Villa in the 1987 close season, and took the club straight back up to the First Division. He made two important signings during his first two years as manager - paying £200,000 for Crewe Alexandra's high-scoring midfielder David Platt during the promotion campaign of 1987-88 season, and then £450,000 for Manchester United defender Paul McGrath in August 1989. Although Villa finished just one place above the relegation zone on their First Division comeback, they emerged as title contenders the following season and finished runners-up behind champions Liverpool. Taylor left Villa for the England job in July 1990, and the club then made history by appointing Czech coach Jozef Venglos as the first foreign manager in the First Division. However, Venglos lasted just one season in charge as Villa slipped to 17th place in 1990-91, and was replaced by Ron Atkinson (who had won silverware with Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday) in June 1991. Despite the loss of David Platt to Italian side Bari before the start of the 1991-92, Atkinson spent heavily in his first few months in charge, bringing in the likes of Dalian Atkinson, Garry Parker and Earl Barrett, as well as giving regular action to young players like goalkeeper Mark Bosnich and striker Dwight Yorke. Villa improved to finish 7th in 1991-92, securing a place in the new FA Premier League for the 1992-93 season. Villa finished runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural season of the Premier League, going top of the table several times in a title race which was eventually won by Manchester United and also saw serious challenges by Norwich City and Blackburn Rovers. The 1990s saw Villa complete an entire decade in the Premier League and win two League Cups, as well as finishing runners-up in the league twice and in the top half of the table every year except 1991 and 1995. Their 12-year wait for silverware ended in 1994 when they beat Atkinson's former club Manchester United in the League Cup final, depriving them of a unique domestic treble. However, Atkinson was sacked eight months after the League Cup triumph and replaced by Leicester City manager Brian Little, who had been a Villa player in the 1970s. Little's first task was to keep Villa in the Premiership, a mere two seasons after they had almost won the league title. He achieved survival on the final day of the 1994-95 season, and spent the summer continuing a rebuilding of the first team which had started soon after his mid-season arrival. Many of Atkinson's big money signings including Earl Barrett, Garry Parker, Dalian Atkinson and even their top scorer Dean Saunders were sold during Little's first few months in charge. New signings like Mark Draper, Gareth Southgate, Tommy Johnson and Gary Charles featured in a revamped Villa side who improved to finish fourth in 1995-96, also winning the League Cup (equalling Liverpool's record of five victories in the competition) and reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Little resigned in February 1998 and was replaced by John Gregory. In Gregory's first full season in charge, Villa led the league for much of the first half of the season before finishing sixth.〔League tables relating to Premiership at Soccerbase〕 They reached the FA Cup Final for the first time since 1957 in 2000, but lost 1–0 to Chelsea in the last game to be played at the old Wembley Stadium. The first decade of the 21st century brought no silverware for Villa, although they maintained their Premier League status. They finished sixth on three occasions during the decade but finished as low as 16th on two occasions. Gregory resigned in January 2002, paving the way for Graham Taylor to be appointed Villa manager for the second time. Turner's comeback lasted for just over a year before he retired from management and was succeeded by David O'Leary, who guided Villa to sixth place in his first season before they slipped to 10th place in 2004-05 and 16th place in 2005-06. O'Leary then left Villa in July 2006. Martin O'Neill soon arrived and received a rapturous reception.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Sport - Fresh hope for Villa? )〕 After 23 years as chairman and largest shareholder, owning approximately 38% of the club, Doug Ellis decided to sell his stake to Randy Lerner, the owner of NFL franchise the Cleveland Browns. The arrival of a new owner and manager marked the start of sweeping changes throughout the club, including a new crest, a new kit sponsor and new players in the summer of 2007.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Aston Villa Kit: Current Crest )〕 == Instability == Winning the League Cup in 1961 was a pinnacle for the club. Although Villa finished seventh in 1961–62, the following season saw the beginning of a decline in form that would see them finish in 15th place in 1963 and fourth from bottom in 1964. The manager Joe Mercer parted company with the club in July 1964 because of these results and his declining health.〔Ward, Adam, p.97, "Mercer began to suffer ill health and in 1964 he left the club."〕 His replacement, Dick Taylor, managed to avoid relegation in the 1964–65 season as Villa finished 16th after a poor start to the season.〔Ward, Adam, pp.96–97〕 The following year Villa finished 16th once again. Following a 4–2 final day defeat by Everton the club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1966–67 season. Manager Dick Taylor was sacked and Tommy Cummings was appointed in his place. The decline was not solely the responsibility of the manager; the club had an ageing five-man board "who had failed to adapt to the new football reality."〔Ward, Adam, p.98〕 The club had neither developed a scouting network nor an effective coaching structure. The board had also sold two of Villa's best players, Phil Woosnam and Tony Hateley.〔Ward, Adam, p.96 "...but more worryingly the club continued to lose its best players; Phil Woosnam... headed for America and Hateley left for Chelsea."〕 The fans' calls for the board to resign became more and more pronounced when Villa finished 16th in the Second Division in 1968.〔 Events on the pitch came to a head in November 1968, with Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two; the board sacked Cummings. On 21 November 1968 the problems in the boardroom were highlighted when a board member, George Robinson, resigned. Following his resignation the board issued a statement: "(board ) would make available, by their resignation, such seats as new financial arrangements might require."〔Ward, Adam, p.100〕 Aston Villa F.C was up for sale. After much speculation, control of the club was bought by London financier Pat Matthews, who brought in local travel-agent Doug Ellis as chairman of the new board that was convened on 16 December 1968. Two days later Tommy Docherty was appointed as manager.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Aston Villa F.C. (1961–present)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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