Aston Villa - English Football's Most Unlikely Champions

http://talksport.com/football/english-footballs-most-unlikely-champions-forest-leeds-villa-liverpool-14042588749?


English football's most unlikely champions: Forest, Leeds, Villa… Liverpool?


Birmingham City have lobbied the council for something similar to this should Villa be relegated.


Apart from Micky Quinn, most Reds could not have seen Brendan Rodgers' side challenging for a first title since 1990 having finished seventh last season. Similarly, no one could have seen these teams make room for a championship trophy in their cabinets...

Forest – From third in the Second Division to Kings of England and Europe
In 1977 Forest won promotion back to England's top flight under manager Brian Clough, who was remarkably celebrating winning the top flight title by seven points just a year later. Forest only just managed to get out of the second tier, with Bolton losing their last game of the season to champions Wolves meaning Cloughie and co. edged the Trotters to third place and automatic promotion (in the days before play-offs) by a point.

It was expected to be a tough campaign back in the top flight, but Forest lost just three times all season to brush back-to-back English and European champions Liverpool aside, while also beating the Reds to lift the League Cup. Then in 1979 and 1980, the Midlanders lifted the European Cup themselves, as well as adding another League Cup.


Leeds – Unlikely winners of the last top flight Football League Championship
With Gordon Strachan and Lee Chapman in the side, Leeds surged to the Second Division title in 1990, returning to the top flight after eight seasons away.

Howard Wilkinson's team finished a very respectable fourth in their first season, 19 points behind champions Arsenal, but a wonderful midfield of Strachan, Gary McAllister, David Batty and Gary Speed, along with Chapman and Rod Wallace in attack, pipped rivals Man United to top spot in 1992. Fergie's United had looked like champions in waiting for most of the season, but lost to West Ham, Forest, Liverpool and drew with Luton in the title run-in to hand Leeds a chance to steal the trophy.

The Yorkshire side were partly inspired to top spot by the signing of a certain Eric Cantona, who arrived at Elland Road in February after failing to agree a deal with Sheffield Wednesday. Wilkinson remains the last English manager to win the league, but any hope he would build on his unlikely triumph ended, with hindsight, when he allowed Eric Cantona to leave Elland Road for Old Trafford just a few months later. While Cantona went on to win four Premier League titles in the next five seasons with Man United, Leeds made a mess of their title defence, finishing two points off relegation in 17th place, and missed out on the inaugural Champions League group stage when they crashed out of Europe to Glasgow Rangers.

Still, they can look back with pride on the fact that they won the last ever top division Football League Championship, before the era of the Premier League dawned.


Aston Villa – 71 years of hurt
Ron Saunders' Villans were not expected to challenge teams like Forest, Ipswich and Liverpool for First Division gold in 1981 having finished seventh and 14 points off the Reds. Given that Jimmy Rimmer and Des Bremner were the side's only internationals – one cap each for England and Scotland – Villa were the surprise package, winning the league using just 14 players.

It was the club's first title in 71 years and with Ipswich winning the UEFA Cup and Liverpool crowned kings of Europe in 1981, Villa continued English dominance on the continent by winning the 1982 European Cup, though they did it without manager Saunders. He had left in January after contract disputes and club scout Tony Barton guided the team to victory against Bayern.




Ipswich Town – Sir Alf Ramsey's greatest achievement?
Sir Alf Ramsey took Ipswich from old Third Division South (fourth tier) winners in 1957 to top flight champions in only a few years. A year after emerging victorious from the Second Division, the club celebrated an unlikely First Division success in 1962, beating 1960 champions Burnley and legendary 1961 double winners Tottenham to top spot.

The league had been won convincingly by Tottenham the previous season, but with Spurs in the hunt for European glory and successive FA Cup triumphs, Alf Ramsey's Tractor Boys capitalised to claim their historic success. They capitulated the following year, however, and were relegated back to the Second Division in 1964 by which time Ramsey was already planning England's World Cup assault.

Didn't Villa finish fourth in 76-77? Not to mention the two league-cup wins. We were well established in the top eight  when we won the league. To read that article you'd think we came from absolutely nowhere in 80-81.

The days of a team coming up and winning the top flight the next season are well and truly over.

I remember reading Shoot! in pre season in 1980 and them tipping us as dark horses for the League.