Aston Villa go into their third round FA Cup tie on Sunday amid their worst run ever in the storied cup competition.
Horrifyingly, Villa have lost their last seven FA Cup games. The detailed sequence of that run reads – Manchester City, Spurs, Peterborough, Swansea, Fulham, Liverpool and Manchester United. Of course, to have that sort of run means you haven’t been progressing very far – and indeed the only fourth round tie amongst that sequence is the first one against the blue half of Manchester. As the keen eyed will have worked out then, Villa have failed to win a third round FA cup tie since the season they were relegated from the Premier League 2015-16. That was against Wycombe (after a replay, obviously) and was followed by a 4-0 evisceration by City. I think it’s fair to say even the dourest Villa fan would be hopeful of this run changing against Stevenage on Sunday teatime, especially with the Jurgen Klopp endorsed ‘King of Cups’ at the helm.
For some more positive recent FA Cup memories however, we only need to go back another season to 2014-15. To be clear this was not on balance a ‘positive’ season as Villa finished just above the relegation zone, but there was a smattering of memorable League moments. Beating Everton 3-2 at Villa Park, Christian Benteke sneaking a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane, Gabby doing the same at Anfield to name a few. But it was the side’s run to the FA Cup Final that is what can be remembered from that season – a last hurrah before the final unravelling and relegation to the second tier in the Summer of 2016.
The FA Cup run that unfolded in 2015 was notable for several reasons – not least that Villa played all their games at Villa Park until they moved to Wembley for the Semi Finals. Even in the Semi and Final Villa were technically the ‘home’ team. There is a lesson in the run of how a team can build momentum over a campaign and quickly progress round by round. There is also a relative lesson in how a Cup run can build some wider form and confidence.
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Third Round – Blackpool (h)
Paul Lambert was still clinging onto his job when the Championship’s bottom side rolled up at Villa Park in January 2015. Villa came into the game that day with another stinking FA cup record to end – they hadn’t kept a clean sheet in their previous 16 FA Cup matches. They managed it here thanks to Shay Given who was only playing as ‘first choice’ Brad Guzan was rested. At the other end Villa toiled in a performance reminiscent of their stuttering league form. Even the inclusion of Jack Grealish – making only his second start of the season – couldn’t rouse the side or a paltry 21,000 crowd. Not for the first or last time Christian Benteke rescued Villa with an 88th minute strike to defeat the Seasiders 1-0 and advance Villa to the fourth round. It was fair to say no one was getting too excited after a late winner against the Championship strugglers, but Lambert would take all he could get at that stage.
Fourth Round – Bournemouth (h)
A team from the other end of the Championship were next up – in fact Bournemouth were leading the second tier when they arrived in B6 in late January 2015. The game was preceded by the announcement that coveted midfielder Fabian Delph had signed a new contract which at the time was a genuine cause for celebration. Villa also unveiled a new signing in Carles Gil who woke Villa Park from its slumber in the 51st minute when he curled a superlative right footed finish high past the Bournemouth goalkeeper Lee Camp. Ironically, it was the first goal Villa had scored since Benteke’s winner in the third round. Andreas Weimann scored the second, with an assists from the Scottish Cafu Alan Hutton. Despite a late Callum Wilson goal at the other end, the win was relatively comfortable once Gil had scored. There was no glossing over that the FA Cup seemed to be offering Lambert and Villa some solace – it was only Villa’s second win in the previous nine games (the other one being the third-round win against Blackpool). Lambert recognised the impact too saying after the game that ‘we needed to try and get through and the win today will certainly help us’.
Fifth Round – Leicester (h)
It didn’t help him enough, and Villa had parted company with the Scot before the fifth-round tie with Leicester in mid-February. Newly appointed head coach Tim Sherwood was in the stands at Villa Park to witness a turgid first 45 minutes that only a Shay Given wonder save had prevented the home side going in a goal down. The story goes of course that Sherwood, went to the dressing room at half time and rallied the troops, almost certainly advocating a more direct approach that paid off in the second half. Villa Park itself responded and whilst still only a disappointing 28,000 inside there was a sense of something changing or at least building. Leandro Bacuna broke the deadlock in the 68th minute to release the pressure as Sherwood was ecstatic back in the Director’s box. Weimann had a goal disallowed before Scott Sinclair scuffed in a second that was ultimately needed as Leicester grabbed a late consolation. Bacuna’s goal incredibly was only Villa’s 16th of the entire season, but once again the FA Cup seemed to present some opportunity for positivity and togetherness a fact acknowledged by caretaker Scott Marshall.
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Quarter Final – West Brom (h)
Villa had beaten their near neighbours in the League just a few days previously, but the local rivalry took on another dimension in the crucible of a knockout Cup tie. Nearly 40,000 were in Villa Park and the resulting atmosphere was raucous and overpowering. The fuse was well and truly lit when West Brom’s Claudio Yacub was (unfairly) dismissed for a second bookable offence, although by that point Fabian Delph had put Villa ahead with a thumping low finish, assisted by the ever-frustrating Charles N’Zogbia. When Scott Sinclair scored a second with 85 minutes gone, toxicity levels erupted and a section of West Brom fans began ripping up seats and even before the final whistle sounded Villa fans had entered the playing area. Once the game was over several thousand Villans were on the pitch sparking altercations with several West Brom players. Lest we forget Jack Grealish was also sent off in the game’s dying embers – booked twice in 14 minutes, the second for diving. These scenes overshadowed what was probably Sherwood’s best week as a Villa manager – two wins against the same side giving some League stability and Cup progress. He was also not the first or last Villa manager to recognise that Villa Park can play a key part in results saying, ‘we need you’ even when things ‘are not rosy in the garden’.
Semi Final – Liverpool (Wembley)
Before the Play Off Final success of 2019, Villa’s semi final win over Liverpool at Wembley was the last great day as a Villa fan before the club descended into disarray and relegation. Villa went into the game as huge underdogs, but Sherwood summoned a performance of genuine composure and commitment that despite falling behind to a Phillipe Coutinho goal (imagine turning to someone at Wembley that day and saying, he’ll play for the Villa one day) sent Villa to the FA Cup final. Goals from Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph – arguably Villa’s two real star players – were enough and were greeted with jubilant scenes that belied the club’s perilous league position. Again, proof of the benefit and joy of a good FA Cup run. The game was also notable for the real emergence of Jack Grealish as a key figure for Villa. He had been used sparingly in the Cup campaign, but he sprang into maturity here and was involved in both goals, giving us a first lasting glimpse of what we could come to expect over the coming years. In Sherwood’s words Villa ‘bamboozled’ Liverpool and Grealish was the fulcrum of that. Either way, Villa were a game away from an entirely unprecedented FA Cup triumph.
Final – Arsenal (Wembley)
In retrospect, the FA Cup final in May 2015 was a game too far for Villa. Whilst not a fan of the adage, Villa had indeed played ‘their final’ against Liverpool a month previously. It was a hugely disappointing day as Villa were simply outclassed and became the first side to lose an FA Cup final by more than a single goal since 2004. It also represented the beginning of the end for Sherwood who would be gone by October, replaced by Remi Garde who only lasted until March 2016 himself. Soon enough Villa would be relegated, and that glorious Semi Final win would seem an age away. It was also a slight false dawn for Grealish who was anonymous in the Final and would suffer personally during the relegation season, being dropped for overzealous partying. It would take a drop down for him to take some responsibility and become the player he did – but that talent was burnished in the FA Cup run of 2015.
When the FA Cup makes its return to Villa Park on Sunday let’s hope that it is a positive return and can be the beginning of a run like 2015 when the grand old competition gave some solace and pride to our grand old club.
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AUTHOR | IVAN MCDOUALL
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