When Aston Villa won the 1957 FA Cup we became the first team to win it 7 times, a feat now matched or surpassed by Liverpool (7), Tottenham (8), Arsenal (10) and Man Utd (11). Small wonder really, we’ve made it to the final just once since; the 1-0 loss to Chelsea in 2000. You’ve got to be in it to win it after all.

The game has changed a wee bit since 1957 though. Martin O’Neill was just 5 years old when Wembley hosted this final and I suspect that the overwhelming majority of you reading this now were not even born yourselves. That’s an awful long time for a club of our size and stature to go without winning this trophy. An awful long time.

The gaffer comes in for some stick here and there when it comes to tactics and strategy, but I wonder what would be said about him if he adopted a 1950’s style system and sent the team out to face Chelsea tomorrow in a 2-3-5 formation. People would think he was a stark, raving lunatic, but it was very popular in the 50’s and both teams used it at Wembley in the ’57 final:-

Controversy

As you’ll see in the video footage at the foot of the post, the game was bathed in controversy from early on. Capping an Aston Villa “lightening counter attack” in the 6th minute, the ball was crossed from right to left for outside left (left winger), Peter McParland, to head on goal. The attempt was easily gathered by Utd goal keeper, Ray Wood, but for some reason that probably made perfect sense in the 1950’s, McParland continued his run towards goal and made what he later described as a “shoulder charge” on Wood.

Oh, that’s OK then. It was a shoulder charge everyone.

Unfortunately, it was a more a case of clashing heads and Wood was knocked out before being stretched off with what turned out to be a broken cheekbone. As this was before substitutes were introduced, Utd had to play on with 10 men, Jackie Blanchflower taking over between the sticks.

Wood came back on and finished the first half as an outfield player on the right. Obviously, if you have to field semi-conscious players with broken bones in their face, the right wing is where you’d play them. It remained goalless at the break, but McParland got the vital goals for Villa in the 68th and 73rd minutes.

Wood eventually came back on again in the second half. Perhaps he just stumbled back into the action by accident in some kind of concussed haze, but he finished the game back in goal as Utd chased the game. Centre forward, Tommy Taylor, did get one back for Utd inside the final 10 minutes, but in the end it was just a consolation and Villa won the cup.

I recently saw some footage of Villa captain Johnny Dixon making a post-match speech where he commiserated with Utd for their loss and wished them the best of luck in the competition the following year. He looked like he meant it too. Quite astounding.

Anyway, enjoy the video. It’s the last time we won the FA Cup, 53 years ago.

[Picture: Evening Standard/Getty Images]