But whatever could be said about the sight of Tom Dollery, Eric Hollies et al in action the real highlight was the end of the thirteen week absence of football and the thrill of returning to Villa Park for Colours 3 Whites 1. The only public practice game at the time. A prelude to the ‘real thing’. But a real thing without the guidance of manager Alex Massie who resigned during the summer for reasons known only to Alex Massie.

The season proper started with a spate of reserve games. Four of the first five matches at B6 being reserve games. Two with early evening kick-offs and I have no reason to suppose I did not attend them all.

First ‘proper’ visitors were Derby County whose outside-left was Frank Broome, hero of our wartime cup victory over Blackpool. Surely enough to add a few thousand to the gate, which accounts for the 53,080 on a Tuesday evening. Straight from work to the ground was the order of the day. Ford did what Ford was expected to do but we had to settle for 1-1. As had happened until we appointed James McMullen as manager during the crisis of the mid-thirties the directors were once again selecting the teams and no one was in any hurry to appoint a successor.

Fulham had just won the second division and were promoted with the Baggies so we now had a surfeit of local derbies to contend with. One of the highlights of the opening of the season and other big games at Villa Park used to be the appearance of a band pre-game and at half-time. Usually a marching military band would flatten the divots during the interval or annoy groundsman Bert Bond by tearing up the pitch. But for our first Saturday afternoon game we welcomed a local band from the City of Coventry.

The train fare for the return game at Derby was just 4/9 (24p) but then admission to the terraces was a princely 2/- (10p) Those who did make the journey – and there would not have been very many in those days – would have seen us go down 2-3 but they would have been back in Aston before most games finish these days.

It is doubtful whether many would have taken the trip to Newcastle. Those who did would have seen Eddie Lowe score one of the only three goals he ever managed for us. But a certain Jackie Milburn beat us on his own with a hat-trick, despite our Trevor scoring the best goal of the game. 57,669, mostly Geordies.

Back at Villa Park two days later new captain Ivor Powell scored his first Villa goal on the hour against champions Portsmouth. No Ford, injured, but hey Miller, Miller Craddock at number nine against a formidable half-back line; Scoular, Flewin and Dickinson. 1-0, joy unalloyed.

Stanley Matthews had a habit of crying off on the morning of the game when he thought he might be playing against his nemesis, George Cummings. But seeing that the directors had chosen Dickie Dorsett for the Villa Park encounter when they announced their team on Thursday he might as well give it a go. 60,837 paid to see him do it so one could only imagine the invective if he had taken a sick note. It was anything but a bore draw, but a nil–nil nevertheless.

Cowboy Billy Goffin (he of the bandy legs) scored a brace at Middlesbrough to bring respectability to the league table.

Everton next, and lo and behold another band. This time the Coldstream Guards, more than reason enough for arriving early. The most-played fixture in the league started disastrously for us whilst the band were still putting their instruments away. But Goffin, fresh from his exploits on Teesside, equalised on the quarter only for Powell, Everton’s Powell, not our skipper, to spoilt the half-time entertainment. In true Villa Park tradition fans were already heading for the buses when Ford averted a disaster.

For a fourth post-war season Huddersfield Town were again flirting with relegation when we headed north. Following an early injury to Hunter the game degenerated into a midfield morass. A nightingale sang in west Yorkshire when he of that name scored what turned out to be the winner on 27. Less said the better.

Not a good time to be going to the Hawthorns. Is there ever? I know I was at Villa Park to see the reserves beat Barnsley 1-0; the handwriting in the programme is mine And 53,930 was no place for a nine year-old on his own. How did 53,930 managed to squeeze into that ground? It was international Saturday and we were without Con Martin, they Dave Walsh, soon to be one of ours. After 53 Ford (why wasn’t he playing for Wales?) opened our account. Deputy centre-forward Wilcox (who?) opposed by Amos Moss, brought parity after 64.

People who were there were still talking about the greatest game ever played at Villa Park. You know, the one my mother would not let me go to, when Newton Heath came south again and left off where things had started so to speak by scoring in less than a minute. 0-3 at half time, Almost as bad from our point of view as 10th January 1948. This time there was no hint of a fightback. A penalty made it 0-4. We had been minus Ford – this time playing for Wales. Howarth (who?) (2 goals from 9 starts) deputised.

Ford was back for the visit to Stamford Bridge, assisted by Craddock. Both featured on the scoresheet along with Johnny Dixon as those who had paid the 15/- (75p) train fare to get there were rewarded with a 3-1 victory. As were the shareholders on their annual outing (they usually went to Highbury). They paid a total of £2/12/- for the train, their meals and a match ticket 10/- (50p).

Our record now read an alliterative P13 W4 D5 L4 F20 A 20 Pts 13.

Aided by Neil Franklin, Stoke City continued to defy their location and provide Albion and Wolves with a local derby. Jones, who had now made the goalkeeping role his own vice Rutherford, can rarely have had an easier Saturday afternoon. As is the way of things our superiority did not get the reward it should have done. But we were handicapped by having wingers Craddock and Gibson limping through the second stanza. Dixon back to form, 54, seemed to have secured the points but Sellars stole one towards the end. 40,250 in a ground that did not hold 40,250.

For reasons lost in the mist of time Villa used to play annual friendlies against Shamrock Rovers, often as part of a close-season holiday jaunt to the Republic. But it was only right that the Irishmen should turn up in Birmingham occasionally. Understandably I was not in attendance on Wednesday 2nd November. The Lord Mayor of Birmingham was amongst the 12,000 who had time to spare on early closing day in the city. I was only sorry to miss out on hearing the band of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

If the hopes had been to unearth a nugget from Dublin or beyond the game was a success insofar as we signed Pat Daly and Oswald Higgins the following week. Their scorer Ambrose also caught the eye. As did ours, Craddock and Dixon. 2-1

It was a quirk of the fixture list that bonfire night or thereabout always used to mean Burnley or Preston. This season it was Burnley and by tradition we never won at Burnley nor they at Villa Park. You do not need me to tell you that we lost 0-1 Passing through all the villages on the way home through a succession of bonfires might have made the return journey more memorable than the game.

Jones, Powell and Ford played together for Wales v Scotland.

The famous Sunderland came next. For some reason they were always referred to as the ‘famous’ Sunderland. More so than we were ever the famous Aston Villa. But then they did win the first division a few times so that must have meant something somewhere at the time.

Unfortunately Jones was injured in the first half in a collision with Dicky Davis. The irony of this is that Davis could easily have become a Villa player because he had guested for us several times in wartime football. He was also the league’s leading goal scorer at the time. But he did not add to his tally that afternoon. In the days before substitutes it was useful if a team had a capable deputy goalkeeper in their ranks. We had Con Martin, who had been chosen for Eire in the position. But more importantly we also led 2-0 at the time, Ford and Craddock, which is how it remained.

Anfield held no fears for us back then. Perhaps it should have done because at the time Liverpool were top of the league, undefeated after 16 games. It became 17 as we were tormented by Billy Liddell, scorer of their opener after only two minutes. 50,000 had to wait until the 84th minute for their second. Dixon’s goal came too late to make much difference. Rutherford made his seasonal debut, replacing the injured Jones.

For reasons of history Arsenal at home was a big game back then. So with the kick-off time now 2.30 it was disappointing when all we could manage was a 1-1. Ditto at Bolton where James Harrison, who had started the season at left-back reappeared at inside-right and had the pleasure of scoring the equaliser.

Anticipation now turned to the arrival of bottom-placed Satan City. With a 2.15 start you had to leave the pub early, if at all, to be there in time and only a meagre 44,008 bothered, not least because it was a bitterly cold afternoon. Rutherford had only touched the ball once in the first thirty minutes, and that for a goal kick, when Ford put us in front. Unlike Gil Merrick he did not get much to do afterwards, except that by then Blues had salvaged an equaliser. 1-1

A week later twenty first-placed Manchester City, who were Blues’ best hope for avoiding relegation, came next. Were in not for Bert Trautmann we would and should have won by a cricket score but it took a rare goal by Frank Moss (281 for 8 – a cricket score of sorts) to secure the points from a corner. 27,822, so maybe 18,000 could not afford two games in seven days.

Surprisingly the Villa directors had made a change in goal for the game, Alan Wakeman, There was no suggestion that Rutherford was not available. Craven Cottage was never a happy hunting ground but we would expect to beat second division champions Fulham. But no, although the 0-3 rather flattered them. Perhaps the enforced changes caused it.

Christmas, or rather Boxing Day, which was a Monday, could mean only one thing, Wolverhampton Wanderers. 54,571. 30, 1-0 Powell. 40, 1-1 Swinbourne. 42, 2-1 Edwards. 60, 2-2 Smyth. 75, 3-2 Ford. Their first home defeat of the campaign.

Tradition demanded that on the following day (three games in four days) everything would be reversed. 64,897 was a home league record gate at the time. All went well until a Swinbourne goal on the cusp of half-time had the effect normally attributed by commentators to such an occurrence. 1-4.

New Year’s Eve and we got to see Jackie Milburn. Rutherford had served his punishment in the reserves and returned in goal. There was no reason for most of the 40,909 to expect the worst. But although there was no demand for the appointment of a manager, the directors may have taken their eye of the ball. Little did they realise it but the answer lay a few seats away, where George Martin was sitting alongside his Newcastle directors as was the way of things before managers were expected to patrol the touchline like uncaged tigers.