Seventeen months on from Aston Villa winning the European Cup, Arsenal visited Villa Park at the end of October 1983. Villa had won all seven home games since the start of the 1983/84 season however were four goals down by half time, with the final score turning out to be a 6-2 win to Arsenal with Tony Woodcock bagging five, as well as one for substitute Brian McDermott while Villa’s goals were scored by Tony Morley and Allan Evans. Sadly, nothing of this match seemed to be captured on video. Also, a google image search provides nothing in the way of action shot from this game either, but yes it did actually happen! After a couple of seasons of mid-table mediocrity for Villa, by 1985/86 they were languishing in the bottom half of the table along with neighbours West Brom and Birmingham (both managed by former Villa boss Ron Saunders that season as both headed for a long term exit from the top tier of English Football) in somewhat of a West Midlands super league of itself, though Villa finished three points above the relegation zone in 16th position.

Arsenal by the start of 1986 in contrast began to put together something of a run of results, in the previous month beating league Leaders Man Utd and the eventual champions Liverpool with Charlie Nicholas in fine form, meaning that Arsenal were hugely optimistic ahead of their League Cup Quarter Final clash at Villa Park. This match gave a long awaited debut to Arsenal’s Welsh understudy keeper Rhys Wilmot, who had been on Arsenal’s books as a professional since 1980 and stayed at the club until the summer of 1989, though only made eight first team appearances for Arsenal during that time. The Gunners took the lead through a Charlie Nicholas goal, though Villa drew level with a strike from Dean Glover taking the game to a replay.

Two weeks on however, Villa knocked Arsenal out in the replay at Highbury which heaped more pressure on Don Howe, who resigned few weeks later. Aston Villa’s though failed to reach Wembley after losing to Robert Maxwell’s Oxford United in the Semis. After the League Cup defeat in early 1986, Arsenal got their revenge over Villa in the League at Villa Park a month later with a 4-1 win, with goals from Martin Hayes, Charlie Nicholas, David Rocastle and an own goal. Villa’s poor form continued into the following season and when the two sides met the following November, Arsenal would put four past them again. Martin Keown scored his first goal for Arsenal, though unfortunately for him he’d transferred to Villa the previous summer after clashing with George Graham over wages.

After Keown had put the ball into his own net, there followed strikes from Perry Groves, Martin Hayes and David Rocastle to give the Gunners a 4-0 win. Villa finished 1986/87 rock bottom of the top tier and relegated to the old First Division just five years after winning the European Cup. Luckily for them, after securing the services of Watford’s Graham Taylor as manager, they would only last one season in the second tier, bouncing back immediately obtaining automatic promotion after finishing runners up to Millwall having scored more goals than third placed Middlesbrough. Arsenal returned to Villa Park on New Years’ Eve of 1988, comprehensively seeing off Villa with a 3-0 win with goals from Alan Smith, David Rocastle and Perry Groves.

Villa finished their first season back in the top flight just one point above the relegation, though incredibly actually finished the 1980s somewhere near the position they’d been in at the start of the decade. In November they met Everton live on ITV and thrashed the Merseysiders 6-2 at Villa Park, which went some way to announce the arrival of David Platt to the big time, who picked up two goals that day. Arsenal visited Villa Park in 1989/90, this time the day before New Years’ Eve, with David Platt opening the scoring and Derek Mountfield putting Villa two up. Tony Adams would pull back a consolation toward the end of the match, however it failed to stop Arsenal suffering a 1-2 loss.

Tony Adams would actually be the focal point of Arsenal’s next visit to Villa, which again occurred around the Christmas period. Adams stood trial for drink driving six days before Christmas in 1990, receiving a four month prison sentence in HMP Chelmsford, as told by this CBBC Newsround bulletin from the time (such is the dumbing down of TV news in the twenty five years since, this Newsround edition actually looks quite high brow in comparison!). Arsenal’s first game after their captain was incarcerated was featured live on ITV away at Villa. Adams claimed afterwards that he managed to catch the game on telly while inside, however the scoreless draw probably wouldn’t have done much to keep Adams’s spirits up (nor would being the butt of sketches such as this from the Mary Whitehouse Experience @01.08) though Arsenal’s unbeaten run would stretch into the New Year and ensure that Adams returned in February to an Arsenal side still in the hunt for the title, which they duly won in May.

By now Graham Taylor had moved on to the England job, with the Villa hot seat now occupied by Czech boss Dr Josef Venglos – the very first foreign manager of a top tier side in English football, pre-dating Arsene Wenger by six years. Venglos however had sunk Villa back to the relegation zone and hence was dismissed after just one season. During the summer David Platt would also move on to Bari in Italy, spending the next five seasons in Serie A among many of the top names in World Football, with the Lure of the Lira still as strong as it was in the days of Gerry Hitchens. The Aston Villa manager’s role from the start of the 1991/92 season would be occupied by former Aston Villa reserve player Ron Atkinson.

Big Ron would meet Arsenal at Villa Park in his third game in charge, inflicting a 1-3 defeat on the reigning champions with Steve Staunton, Gary Penrice and the dynamic Tony Daley on target for Villa, with Alan Smith bagging one for the Arsenal, who after their first three games would accrue just one point though would finish the season twelve points and three places above Aston Villa who finished that season in seventh. The following season would be the inaugural Premiership season, in which Aston Villa would return to form quite spectacularly by giving Alex Ferguson and Man Utd a run for their money.

Aston Villa would poach Dean Saunders from Liverpool in September 1992, who would team up with former Reds Ray Houghton and Steve Staunton as well as striking up a dynamic partnership with Ron Atkinson’s ‘son’ Dalian. Ironically, Saunders’s debut would come in an exciting encounter with the Merseysiders at Villa Park in which Deano would score two goals in a 4-2 triumph. Saunders would be the difference between Aston Villa and Arsenal when the Gunners made their first visit to Villa Park during the Premiership era, inflicting a 0-1 loss from the penalty spot. Villa however would have to make do with the runners up spot that season, as an Eric Cantona-inspired Man Utd won their first league title since 1967.

In 1993/94, Villa were not so potent in the League, however literally stood in the way of a Man Utd treble by defeating them 3-1 in that season’s League Cup Final at Wembley. A few weeks later, Arsenal would visit Villa Park and achieve their first away win there for four and a half years with a 2-1 win secured by two goals for Ian Wright. In 1994/95, after sacking Ron Atkinson for a poor start to the season, Villa only missed out on relegation by three points. Though Arsenal were six positions above them in twelfth, the gap between them and Villa was also just three points. When Arsenal visited Villa Park on Easter Monday therefore, a win would be key to the survival of either side in the Premiership. Arsenal emphatically triumphed 4-0 with two goals each for John Hartson and Ian Wright. This would be Arsenal’s biggest win of the season and their eighth goal that Easter weekend after beating bottom club Ipswich 4-1 at home on Saturday.

In 1995/96, now managed by former Villa player Brian Little, the Midlanders had improved enough for a top four finish, just above Arsenal on goals scored. In the league in early December, David Platt marked his return to Villa Park with the Arsenal, with a superb header. Five minutes later however a Dwight Yorke goal levelled the score at 1-1. The two sides met in the League Cup Semi Final, in which Villa came back from Highbury with a 2-2 draw. At Villa Park, Arsenal were held to a 0-0 draw meaning that Aston Villa would proceed to their second League Cup Final in three years on away goals. In the final, Aston Villa secured their fifth League Cup win with a comfortable 3-0 win over Leeds Utd., with goals from Savo Milosovic, Ian Taylor and Dwight – all three of which were fairly impressive.

The following September it was Arsenal’s turn to pull back a two goal deficit away from home. Villa raced into a two goal lead with Savo Milosovic bagging both goals, though strikes from Paul Merson and Andy Linighan gave an Arsenal side awaiting the arrival of Arsene Wenger from Japan a 2-2 draw. By the next time Arsenal visited Villa Park for a League fixture for the final game of the 1997/98 season, Arsenal had already bagged the League title and would appear in the FA Cup Final a week later. The Gunners however, more than likely saving themselves for Wembley, suffered a 0-1 loss to Villa with an audacious penalty from Dwight Yorke.

The following December Arsenal would return to Villa Park in the Premiership, taking a two goal lead through two strikes from Dennis Bergkamp. Aston Villa however were riding high in the League at the time under John Gregory and staged a great comeback with goals from Julian Joachim and two for Dion Dublin, to inflict a 2-3 defeat on the Gunners, which to date is Aston Villa’s last home victory over Arsenal. It would also be Arsenal’s last visit to Villa Park before the millennium. The Gunners next visit would come in early March 2000, where Richard Walker had put Villa head, though veteran full back Lee Dixon would equalise with six minutes to go, resulting in a 1-1 draw.

A month later, Aston Villa reached the Semi Final of the FA Cup at Wembley against Bolton, which they won on penalties after the game went to extra time. The FA Cup Semi Final replay had been abolished this season, meaning that this would be the very first Semi Final to be decided on the day by a penalty shoot-out, without recourse to a replay. Aston Villa reached their first FA Cup final since 1957, however lost 0-1 to Chelsea in old Wembley’s last ever final, with Roberto Di Matteo bagging the winner for the Blues. Lining up for Aston Villa in the FA Cup Final was former Arsenal legend Paul Merson, who the following season scored an incredible goal for Villa against Everton at Goodison Park.

Arsenal’s next visit to Villa Park came in March 2001, though would end as an uninspiring 0-0 draw. Arsenal would finally secure their first away win over Aston Villa for seven years, as well as Arsene Wenger’s first away win over Villa in five attempts. Brazilian star Edu would give the Gunners the lead, Villa lost the chance to equalise as David Seaman pulled off a superb penalty save from Gareth Barry, before a moment of genius by Robert Pires would put the game out of Villa’s reach by chipping all six foot plus of the Great Dane Peter Schmeichel. Though Dion Dublin would pull one back for Villa, the game finished in a 2-1 win for the Gunners and nothing could stop Arsenal’s forward march toward the double (that included the injury which put Robert Pires out for the rest of the season six days later at Highbury against Newcastle).

Arsenal’s run in the following season however was not quite so blistering. Though Freddie Ljungberg would give Arsenal the lead, a Kolo Toure own goal ensured that the Gunners’ visit to Villa Park that year would be a case of two points dropped as the match ended in a 1-1 draw. The following season, Arsenal would be in much more formidable form. On visiting Villa Park in January 2004, the Gunners took the lead with a quickly taken Thierry Henry free kick. A further Henry goal from the penalty spot gave Arsenal a 2-0 win over a Villa side now managed by former Arsenal legend David O’Leary. Arsenal would fail to retain their title in 2004/05, however showed in their visit to Villa Park in early February that class still oozed throughout the side.

Freddie Ljungberg, Thierry Henry and Ashley Cole gave Arsenal a three goal lead after twenty eight minutes – the latter having made headlines in the days prior to this fixture for his being ‘tapped up’ in a London hotel room with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and CEO Peter Kenyon which was the beginning of the end of his time at Arsenal. Juan Pablo Angel pulled one back for Villa, with the game finishing in a 3-1 win for the Arsenal. Arsenal returned to Villa Park at the very end of that calendar year, on New Years’ Eve of 2005, the game however ended in a 0-0 draw. Arsenal’s next two visits to Villa Park would be victorious – a 1-0 win in March 2007 from an Abu Diaby goal after ten minutes, as well as a 2-1 win the following December with goals from Mathieu Flamini and Emmanuel Adebayor, after Aston Villa took the lead through a goal from Craig Gardener.

By the time Arsenal visited Villa Park on Boxing Day of 2008, the fixture became a fight for the fourth place spot in the Champions League, with Villa in great form under Martin O’Neill. Arsenal took a two goal lead with goals from Denilson and Abu Diaby, however Aston Villa pulled two goals back courtesy of a Gareth Barry penalty and a last minute goal from Zat Knight, with the game finishing in a 2-2 draw. Arsenal would return to Villa Park thirteen months on, resulting in another draw, this time the final score being 0-0. In 2010/11 Arsenal would visit Villa Park in late November, pulling off a 4-2 win with goals from Andrei Arshavin, Samir Nasri, Marouane Chamakh and Jack Wilshire, while both Villa goals would be scored by Ciaran Clark.

The following season, Arsenal’s visit to Villa Park would come four days prior to Christmas. Arsenal took the lead with a goal from Robin Van Persie, Villa would equalise through a goal from Marc Albrighton, but a late strike from Yossi Benayoun gave Arsenal all three points, with a 2-1 win. In 2012/13, Arsenal’s away visit to Aston Villa in late November resulted in a 0-0 draw. The following season Arsenal would visit Villa Park in mid-January 2014, racing into a two goal lead through Jack Wilshire and Olivier Giroud bagging two in two minutes. Christian Benteke pulled one back, however Arsenal took all three points with a 2-1 win.

The following September, Aston Villa actually made a reasonable start to the 2014/15 season. It would however be a case of ‘Ozil (pronounced ‘Ur-zul’) Brummidge’ for Villa, as the German international gave Arsenal the lead, followed by an assist for Danny Welbeck’s first Arsenal goal. An Aly Cissokho own goal completed the scoring as Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners. For Villa it has a downhill trajectory from thereafter, they did however reach the FA Cup Final at Wembley last season to face Arsenal, the last fixture between the two sides. The experience of the big day for several Arsenal and Villa fans would be captured by a BBC Three Documentary.