The 1983–84 English football season was Aston Villa's 5th season in Europe and 85th season in the Football League. Villa competed in the Football League First Division.
Graham Turner left Shrewsbury after six seasons to take charge of Aston Villa in the summer of 1984.
There were debut appearances for Paul Birch (173), Tony Dorigo (111), Steve McMahon (75), Paul Rideout (54), Mervyn Day (30), Dean Glover (28), Paul Kerr (24), and Steve Foster (15). The pitch has been repaired following a Duran Duran concert in the summer at Villa Park.
First Division
Matches DateOpponentVenueResultNoteScorers 27 August 1983 West Bromwich Albion H 4–3 The Football League season commences. A seven-goal thriller at Villa Park sees Villa beat local rivals West Bromwich Albion 4–3. Steve McMahon becomes the 621st Villa player. Allan Evans 17', Mark Walters 36', Gary Shaw 41', Brendan Ormsby 66' 29 August 1983 Sunderland H 1–0 Notts County, West Ham United, Villa and Arsenal all win their first two matches of the First Division season to lead the table at the end of August. Mark Walters 73' 3 September 1983 Queens Park Rangers A 1–2 — Peter Withe 90' 7 September 1983 Nottingham Forest A 2–2 — Peter Withe 17', Gary Shaw 69' 10 September 1983 Norwich City H 1–0 — Dennis Mortimer 12' 17 September 1983 Liverpool A 1–2 — Colin Gibson 84' 24 September 1983 Southampton H 1–0 Southampton's title challenge is hit with a 1–0 defeat away to Aston Villa, who go sixth in the table. Peter Withe 25' 1 October 1983 Luton Town A 0–1 — — 15 October 1983 Birmingham City H 1–0 In the first Second City derby of the season Villa beat Blues 1-0 at home in front of a crowd of 39,318. Peter Withe 29' 23 October 1983 Wolves A 1–1 The only league action of the day sees Villa draw 1–1 at home to local rivals Wolves. Peter Withe 32' 29 October 1983 Arsenal H 2–6 Tony Woodcock scores five goals in Arsenal's 6–2 away win over Aston Villa Tony Morley 37', Allan Evans 65' (pen) 5 November 1983 Manchester United A 2–1 Peter Withe scores twice as Aston Villa inflict a 2–1 defeat on Manchester United at Old Trafford, meaning that Liverpool can return to the top of the table if they win their game tomorrow. Peter Withe 34', 62' 12 November 1983 Stoke City H 1–1 — Peter Withe 54' 19 November 1983 Leicester City H 3–1 — Peter Withe 21', Paul Rideout 34', Steve McMahon 70' 26 November 1983 Notts County A 2–5 Notts County boost their bid to keep clear of the relegation zone with a 5–2 win over Aston Villa. Dennis Mortimer 53', Allan Evans 90' (pen) 3 December 1983 West Ham United H 1–0 West Ham United are beaten 1–0 by Aston Villa at Villa Park. Paul Rideout 78' 10 December 1983 Everton A 1–1 — Paul Rideout 60' 17 December 1983 Ipswich Town H 4–0 Liverpool return to the top of the First Division with a 5–0 home win over Notts County. Aston Villa keep up the pressure on the leading pack with a 4–0 home win over Ipswich Town. Caretaker manager Don Howe begins his spell in charge of Arsenal with a 3–1 home win over Watford. Coventry City miss the chance to close the gap on the leaders with a goalless draw at Norwich. QPR go fourth with a 2–0 home win over Everton. Own goal 3', Paul Rideout 56', Steve McMahon 68', Allan Evans 76' (pen) 26 December 1983 Watford A 2–3 — Alan Curbishley 70', Mark Walters 79' 27 December 1983 Tottenham Hotspur H 0–0 — — 31 December 1983 Queens Park Rangers H 2–1 — Allan Evans 69' (pen), Steve McMahon 80' 2 January 1984 Southampton A 2–2 — Steve McMahon, Gary Shaw 14 January 1984 West Bromwich Albion A 1–3 — Gary Shaw 46' 20 January 1984 Liverpool H 1–3 Ian Rush scores a hat-trick in Liverpool's 3–1 away win over Aston Villa in the First Division, increasing their lead at the top to five points, although their nearest challengers Manchester United can cut the gap to two points if they win at the weekend. Dennis Mortimer 16' 4 February 1984 Luton Town H 0–0 — — 11 February 1984 Norwich City A 1–3 — Gary Shaw 90' 18 February 1984 Arsenal A 1–1 In the First Division, Arsenal draw 1–1 with Aston Villa at Highbury. Allan Evans (pen) 25 February 1984 Wolves H 4–0 Wolves are now 13 points adrift of safety after losing 4–0 to local rivals Aston Villa in the First Division at Villa Park. Peter Withe (2), Paul Birch, Mark Walters 3 March 1984 Manchester United H 0–3 The Merseyside derby at Goodison Park ends in a 1–1 draw, allowing Manchester United to cut Liverpool's lead to two points by beating Aston Villa 3–0 at Villa Park. — 10 March 1984 Stoke City A 0–1 — — 13 March 1984 Coventry City A 3–3 Midweek action in the First Division includes a six-goal thriller at Highfield Road, where local rivals Coventry City and Aston Villa draw 3–3. Allan Evans (pen), Peter Withe, Paul Rideout 17 March 1984 Nottingham Forest H 1–0 Nottingham Forest's title challenge is fading as they go down 1–0 at Aston Villa, as is West Ham's following a 4–1 defeat to Leicester City at Filbert Street. Steve McMahon 82' 24 March 1984 Sunderland A 1–0 — Mark Walters 43' 31 March 1984 Birmingham City A 1–2 — Peter Withe 29' 7 April 1984 Coventry City H 2–0 — Brendan Ormsby 34', Paul Birch 46' 14 April 1984 Leicester City A 0–2 — — 18 April 1984 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–2 Tottenham Hotspur remain in the hunt for another top-five finish by beating Aston Villa 2–1. Mark Walters 33' 21 April 1984 Watford H 2–1 — Dennis Mortimer 2', Steve Foster 59' 28 April 1984 Notts County H 3–1 — Mark Walters (2), Peter Withe 5 May 1984 West Ham United A 1–0 — Dennis Mortimer 19' 7 May 1984 Everton H 0–2 — — 12 May 1984 Ipswich Town A 1–2 — Peter Withe 29'
Source: avfchistory.co.uk
FA Cup
League Cup
30 Nov 1983: In the League Cup, there is a local derby at The Hawthorns, where Aston Villa beat West Bromwich Albion 2–1.
Semi-final
15 Feb 1984: Everton beat Aston Villa 2–0 in the League Cup semi-final first leg.
22 Feb 1984: Despite losing 1–0 to Aston Villa in the semi-final second leg, Everton are through to the League Cup final, securing them their first cup final for seven years.
UEFA Cup
First round
28 Sep 1983: All four English entrants in the UEFA Cup – Watford, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa – progress to the second round.
Second round
2 Nov 1983: Tottenham eliminate Dutch side Feyenoord 6–2 on aggregate in the second round of the UEFA Cup. Watford eliminate Levski Sofia from the competition and Nottingham Forest oust PSV Eindhoven, but Aston Villa are edged out 4–3 on aggregate by Spartak Moscow.
See also List of Aston Villa F.C. records and statistics
References