1896–97 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1896–97 season
Chairman
Manager	George Ramsay
First Division	1st
FA Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Fred Wheldon (18) All: Fred Wheldon (22)
← 1895–96 1897–98 →

The 1896-87 season was Aston Villa's ninth season in the Football League since being one of its 12 founding members in 1888.

The season got off to a slow start, with Villa recording only two wins in the first six games. An unbeaten run of 12 games took them to the top, where they finished with a lead of 11 points. The title was won when Derby County F.C. failed to win on 10 April; Villa had three games left to play, all of which were won.

For good measure, the FA Cup was also won, to make Villa the second team to complete "The Double".

This was the season during which Villa moved from Wellington Road to their current home at Villa Park, although it was still referred to as 'Aston Lower Grounds' for some time.

John Campbell was not quite as productive as in the previous season, and the leading scorer honours went to Fred Wheldon. Fred had been signed in 1896 from local rivals Small Heath (today’s Birmingham City). He was a good dribbler with the ball and won four caps for England. He played first class cricket for Worcestershire.

Results

Football League

FA Cup

Trivia

Ever-present: Charlie Athersmith, Jimmy Cowan, Fred Wheldon

First at top: 28 Nov

Players used: 17

See also 1897 FA Cup Final

Aston Villa F.C. seasons

1888–89
1889–90
1890–91
1891–92
1892–93
1893–94
1894–95
1895–96
1896–97
1897–98
1898–99
1899–1900
1900–01
1901–02
1902–03
1903–04
1904–05
1905–06
1906–07
1907–08
1908–09
1909–10
1910–11
1911–12
1912–13
1913–14
1914–15
1915–16
1916–17
1917–18
1918–19
1919–20
1920–21
1921–22
1922–23
1923–24
1924–25
1925–26
1926–27
1927–28
1928–29
1929–30
1930–31
1931–32
1932–33
1933–34
1934–35
1935–36
1936–37
1937–38
1938–39
1939–40
1940–41
1941–42
1942–43
1943–44
1944–45
1945–46
1946–47
1947–48
1948–49
1949–50
1950–51
1951–52
1952–53
1953–54
1954–55
1955–56
1956–57
1957–58
1958–59
1959–60
1960–61
1961–62
1962–63
1963–64
1964–65
1965–66
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970–71
1971–72
1972–73
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78
1978–79
1979–80
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93
1993–94
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–00
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03
2003–04
2004–05
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15

1896–97 in English football

« 1895–96

1897–98 »

FA competitions

FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds
Final)

Football and Southern Leagues

Football League (First Division
Second Division)
Southern League

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Home Championship

Club seasons

First Division	Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Burnley Bury Derby County Everton Liverpool Nottingham Forest Preston North End Sheffield United Stoke Sunderland The Wednesday West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackpool Burton Swifts Burton Wanderers Darwen Gainsborough Trinity Grimsby Town Leicester Fosse Lincoln City Loughborough Manchester City Newcastle United Newton Heath Notts County Small Heath Walsall Woolwich Arsenal

Southern League	Chatham Town Gravesend United Millwall Athletic New Brompton Northfleet Reading Royal Ordnance Sheppey United Southampton St Mary's Swindon Town Tottenham Hotspur Wolverton L & NWR

Others	Thames Ironworks