See main article: History of Aston Villa F.C. (1961–present).
| Club: | Aston Villa |
| Season: | 1995–96 |
| Manager: | Brian Little |
| Chairman: | Doug Ellis |
| Stadium: | Villa Park |
| League: | Premiership |
| League Result: | 4th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | Semi-finals |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Winners |
| League Topscorer: | Dwight Yorke (17) |
| Season Topscorer: | Dwight Yorke (25) |
| Highest Attendance: | 39,336 vs Manchester City (27 Apr 1996, Premier League) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 17,679 vs Stockport County (25 Oct 1995, League Cup) |
| Average Attendance: | 31,688 |
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| Prevseason: | 1994–95 |
| Nextseason: | 1996–97 |
The 1995–1996 English football season was Aston Villa's 121st professional season, their 85th season in the top flight and their 8th consecutive season in the top tier of English football (the fourth in the Premier League).
Villa made huge progress in their first full season under Brian Little's management. He had arrived at Villa Park in November 1994, taking charge of a side faced with a real threat of relegation just 18 months after almost winning the Premier League title. The rebuilding process had started almost immediately, with Little quickly discarding the likes of Kevin Richardson, Garry Parker, Earl Barrett and Ray Houghton, and bringing in Ian Taylor, Gary Charles, Alan Wright and Tommy Johnson as mid-season signings. The rebuilding process had continued over the summer of 1995, with Shaun Teale, Dalian Atkinson and even top scorer Dean Saunders heading out of the Villa Park exit door, in favour of new signings including Gareth Southgate and Serbian striker Savo Milosevic - who both broke the club's transfer record in quick succession.
Villa finished fourth in the league and matched Liverpool's record of five League Cup victories (Liverpool have since reclaimed the record with victories in 2001, 2003 and 2012) thanks to a 3–0 Wembley win over Leeds United in March.[1] Villa were also FA Cup semi-finalists, but their hopes of a Wembley double were ended with a defeat to Liverpool.
A new-look Villa side proved itself to be one of the finest in the country thanks to the likes of Gary Charles, Alan Wright, Ian Taylor and Mark Draper. Trinidadian striker Dwight Yorke proved himself as one of the Premier League's most competent goalscorers, though there were some doubts regarding the suitability of Savo Milošević as the man to replace Dean Saunders.
The club's longest-serving player, veteran goalkeeper Nigel Spink (361), left Villa halfway through the season after nearly 20 years to sign for local rivals West Bromwich Albion in Division One.
After the season ended, Little paid a club record £4million for Serbian midfielder Saša Ćurčić. With Gary Charles facing a long stretch on the sidelines with a serious ankle injury picked up during the final weeks of the season, Little signed Portuguese right-back Fernando Nelson.
| Date | Pos | Player | From | Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 June 1995 | £3,500,000 | ||||
| 1 July 1995 | £2,500,000 | ||||
| 5 July 1995 | £3,250,000 | ||||
| 28 October 1995 | £750,000 | ||||
| 24 February 1996 | £1,890,000 | ||||
| £11,890,000 |
| Date | Pos | Player | To | Fee | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 July 1995 | Retired | ||||
| 1 July 1995 | £2,350,000 | ||||
| 31 July 1995 | £150,000 | ||||
| 1 August 1995 | £1,600,000 | ||||
| 14 August 1995 | £450,000 | ||||
| 14 September 1995 | £100,000 | ||||
| 13 October 1995 | £100,000 | ||||
| 6 November 1995 | £1,500,000 | ||||
| 30 January 1996 | Free transfer | ||||
| 1 March 1996 | Free transfer | ||||
| 21 March 1996 | £100,000 | ||||
| £6,350,000 |
£11,890,000
£6,350,000
£5,540,000
| Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth (Age) | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | Apps | Gls | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| 1 |  | 1995 7, df=yes | 28 February 1992 | Free transfer | 94 | 0 | |||||
| 13 | 1995 7, df=yes | 4 January 1977 | £4,000 | 450 | 0 | ||||||
| 30 | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1991 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| 35 | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1995 | - | - | |||||||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| 2 | 1995 7, df=yes | 6 January 1995 | £1,450,000 | 16 | 0 | ||||||
| 3 | 1995 7, df=yes | 7 August 1991 | £1,100,000 | 173 | 12 | ||||||
| 4 | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1995 | £3,500,000 | - | - | ||||||
| 5 | 1995 7, df=yes | 3 August 1989 | £400,000 | 268 | 8 | ||||||
| 6 | 1995 7, df=yes | 28 October 1995 | £750,000 | - | - | ||||||
| 12 | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 August 1994 | £200,000 | 23 | 0 | ||||||
| 14 | 1995 7, df=yes | 10 March 1995 | £1,000,000 | 8 | 0 | ||||||
| 16 | 1995 7, df=yes | 12 July 1991 | £40,000 | 81 | 4 | ||||||
| 20 | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1995 | - | - | |||||||
| 21 | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1995 | - | - | |||||||
| 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1990 | 43 | 0 | ||||||||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| 7 | 1995 7, df=yes | 21 December 1994 | £1,000,000 | 24 | 1 | ||||||
| 8 | 1995 7, df=yes | 5 July 1995 | £3,250,000 | - | - | ||||||
| 11 | Andy Townsend (c) | 1995 7, df=yes | 26 July 1993 | £2,100,000 | 87 | 6 | |||||
| 15 | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1993 | 34 | 3 | |||||||
| 15* | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1995 | - | - | |||||||
| 19 |  | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1995 | - | - | ||||||
| 22 | 1995 7, df=yes | 6 January 1992 | £45,000 | 8 | 0 | ||||||
| 24 | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1995 | - | - | |||||||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| 9 | 1995 7, df=yes | 26 June 1995 | £3,500,000 | - | - | ||||||
| 10 | 1995 7, df=yes | 6 January 1995 | £1,450,000 | 15 | 4 | ||||||
| 17 | 1995 7, df=yes | 10 February 1995 | £250,000 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 18 | 1995 7, df=yes | Signal Hill | 19 July 1991 | £120,000 | 146 | 37 | |||||
| 23 | 1995 7, df=yes | 1 July 1995 | - | - | |||||||
| 26 | 1995 7, df=yes | 24 February 1996 | £1,890,000 | - | - | ||||||
See main article: 1995–96 FA Premier League.
See main article: 1995–96 FA Cup.
See main article: 1995–96 Football League Cup.
| Rank | Nat | Player | Pos | Apps | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XI | Sub | XI | Sub | XI | Sub | XI | Sub | |||||||
| 1 | 1 | | 51 | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 51 | 0 | |||
| 2 | 14 | 51 | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 51 | 0 | ||||
| 3 | 16 | 50 | 37 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 50 | 0 | ||||
| 4 | 8 | 49 | 36 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 49 | 0 | ||||
| 5 | 9 | 49 | 36 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 48 | 1 | ||||
| 6 | 18 | 48 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 48 | 0 | ||||
| 7 | 2 | 47 | 34 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 47 | 0 | ||||
| 8 | 11 | | 44 | 29 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 42 | 2 | |||
| 9 | 4 | 43 | 32 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||||
| 10 | 5 | | 41 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 38 | 3 | |||
| 11 | 7 | 35 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 32 | 3 | ||||
| 12 | 10 | 31 | 18 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 7 | ||||
| 13 | 20 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 12 | ||||
| 14 | 3 | | 17 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 5 | |||
| 15 | 26 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | ||||
| 16 | 19 | | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | |||
| 17 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 18 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| 19 | 15* | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 20 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| 21 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 22 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 23 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 24 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| Rank | Nat | Player | Pos | Apps | Goal Inv. | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists | ||||||||
| 1 | 18 | 48 | 36 | 17 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 25 | 11 | ||||
| 2 | 9 | 49 | 23 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 | ||||
| 3 | 10 | 31 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | 7 | 35 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | ||||
| 5 | 8 | 49 | 13 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | ||||
| 6 | - | - | - | - | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 7 | 11 | | 44 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | |||
| 8 | 5 | | 41 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| 9 | 4 | 43 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 10 | 16 | 50 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 11 | 14 | 51 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 12 | 26 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 13 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 14 | 2 | 47 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| 15 | 3 | | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Rank | Nat | Player | Apps | Conceded | Clean Sheets | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Con | CS | Con | CS | Con | CS | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | | 51 | 42 | 22 | 32 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | ||
| 2 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||