(Previous Flashbacks for Aston Villa can be found here and here, while yesterday’s edition can be found here)

Graham Taylor’s immediate start to life as Aston Villa manager would be underwhelming, with the Midlanders winning just one of their first six games in the old Second Division. A turning point however came in September with a 2-0 win away to local rivals West Brom, now briefly managed again by Ron Atkinson. Also, in late October, Villa eliminated a hapless Spurs side reeling from David Pleat’s resignation, from the League Cup in the third round with a 2-1 win at Villa Park.

Aston Villa took the second division top spot after Christmas and remained there until a run of five defeats out of six, which saw them overtaken by Millwall and drop to fourth place before promotion back to the top tier would be confirmed after a 0-0 draw with Swindon Town on the final Saturday of the season. On their return to the old First Division, Villa’s first game would be a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VrmAUGlgdM target="_blank">2-2 home draw with the Millwall side which pipped them to the title the season before, after going two goals down.

The following week, Villa visited Highbury to meet an Arsenal side who walloped Cup holders Wimbledon 5-1 on the opening day. Villa raced into a two goal lead with Nigel Winterburn struggling to come to terms with the lightning speed of Tony Daley, who crossed for future Sky Sports pundit Alan McInally to put Villa ahead. In the second half, McInally sprung the Arsenal offside trap to bag his second. For the second time in two weeks however, Villa let a two goal lead slip with the in-form Brian Marwood pulling one back and Alan Smith equalising with a near post header. Villa however regained the lead with a free kick from Andy Gray (the former Crystal Palace midfielder of Afro-Caribbean origin and not the Scots former Sky Sports pundit who had two spells at Villa Park), which inflicted a 2-3 defeat on the Gunners.

This match had the dubious distinction of being the first Arsenal defeat which I experience in the flesh, however for an Arsenal fan the 1988/89 season would of course be remembered for positive reasons on the pitch for winning the League title. Arsenal’s attempt at a title defence in 1989/90 however would be mediocre in comparison. After failing to win any of their last five games, Aston Villa avoided relegation by just one point. The Midlanders effectively kept their place in the top tier by virtue of Liverpool’s 5-1 hammering of West Ham, which required an Arsenal win by two clear goals three days later. In 1989/90 however, Villa very nearly pulled off a Leicester by transforming from relegation candidates into title challengers in the space of a few months.

Aston Villa seized the top spot in late February after a run of seven straight wins, which started on Boxing Day with a 3-0 win over a Man United side managed by an under fire Alex Ferguson and teetering above the relegation zone by just two points (which includes a superb goal from former United youth and future Arsenal star David Platt). The run at the top of the table however ended with back to back defeats - 0-1 away to Crystal Palace and 1-2 at home to Manchester City. Just ahead of Villa’s televised mid-week visit to Highbury, the Midlanders had fallen three points behind Liverpool at the top having played one game more, while Arsenal were further off the pace, nine points behind in fourth place.

Villa however kept their title hopes alive by inflicting a 0-1 defeat on Arsenal with a late breakaway goal from full back Chris Price. A further 0-2 away defeat to a Man United side rediscovering form ahead of the 1990 FA Cup Final and a failure to beat Norwich at home with a 3-3 draw at Villa Park gave the title to Liverpool. Effectively, on the back of that title challenge Villa lost Graham Taylor to the England national side after Bobby Robson’s resignation after Italia ’90. The very same tournament spawned his replacement – Czechoslovakian national coach Dr Joseph Venglos.

Part of the thinking behind Villa chairman Doug Ellis hiring a European coach might well be because Aston Villa would also be the first English side to participate in the UEFA Cup after the ending of the Post-Heysel ban and ironically drawn against Czech side Banik Ostrava in the first round. After seeing off the Czech side 5-2 on aggregate, the Midlanders got a plumb tie against Italian giants Inter Milan – which included the German World Cup winning triumvirate Andreas Brehme, Jurgen Klinsmann and captain Lothar Matthaus. Villa pulled off a 2-0 win at Villa Park in the first leg with a superb opener from Danish international Kent Neilsen and David Platt continuing his affinity with Italy by scoring the second. Sadly Inter overturned the deficit with a 0-3 defeat for Villa in the San Siro.

David Platt’s attentions were no doubt turned to the Lure of the Lira after Villa’s form returned to where it had been a couple of years earlier. By the time of Aston Villa’s visit to Highbury in early April 1991, they were just two points above the relegation zone, while the Gunners were two points clear of a Liverpool side who had a disastrous Easter with back to back defeats at home to QPR and away to Southampton. A blistering performance from Arsenal stretched the lead to five points with Kevin Campbell opening the scoring with the Gunners going one up at half time. Into the second half, a superb Brazilian-style volley by Paul Davis put Arsenal two up. An Alan Smith header was deemed over the line by the referee to make it three, before Smith bagged a second to make it four. @04.16 came a superb save from David Seaman almost caught out by a deflection, possibly second only to his save against Sheffield United in 2003 among Safe Hand’s Greatest Hits collection. Dave later got some unexpected competition in his quest for the England number one jersey, as @04.40 Nigel Spink (Villa’s hero from the European Cup Final of nine years prior) injures himself preventing Kevin Campbell from scoring (big Kev sportingly bringing the refs attention to Spink’s injury). As Spink is stretchered off, in the days before substitute goalkeepers were permitted David Platt pops up as the emergency goalkeeper. Platt however was unable to stop Campbell adding another as Arsenal ran out 5-0 winners.

Villa finished a disappointing seventeenth place, but safe from relegation by seven points due to that fact that as the Football League extended the top tier from twenty to twenty two sides only two sides were relegated that year. Dr Venglos however would be sacked and David Platt sold to Bari to embark on a four year stint in Italy’s Serie A. In replacing Venglos, Villa would poach Birmingham raised Ron Atkinson from newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday. Aston Villa visited Highbury just one week after Arsenal were humiliated with an FA Cup exit to Wrexham and a run of four games without a win. A 0-0 draw against Villa would do little to lift Arsenal’s spirits.

Atkinson mounted a title challenge with Villa during the inaugural season of the Premiership in 1992/93. When Villa visited Highbury on Easter Monday they were one point behind a Man United side who famously pulled off a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday with two injury time goals from Steve Bruce forty eight hours prior. Villa were therefore keen not to slip up at Highbury and secured three points when a Tony Daley goal inflicted a 0-1 defeat on Arsenal. Villa however would have to make do with the runners up spot in 1992/93, while Arsenal suffered a mid-table finish, though had won both Cup competitions that season.

Arsenal’s Premiership mediocrity however continued into 1993/94 and despite being level on points with United by the time of their visit to Old Trafford in early September, October 1993 brought four straight scoreless draws in the Premiership, leaving Arsenal eleven points behind Fergie’s men. Villa’s visit to Arsenal in early November saw the goal drought finally end with a goal from Ian Wright. Two late goals however from Guy Whittingham and Andy Townsend saw Villa inflict a 1-2 defeat on Arsenal, finishing the weekend fourteen points behind Man United in sixth place.

Arsenal’s pride and joy back then however was their Cup form with a record of twenty three games unbeaten in knockout Cup competitions. At the end of November however, Villa would return to Highbury to end this run also. Arsenal however lost their hold on the League Cup, as well as their unbeaten record, as Villa inflicted 0-1 defeat on Arsenal with a goal from Ron Atkinson’s ‘son’ Dalian (as Big Ron actually once managed to convince a young Karen Brady in conversation that the Afro-Caribbean Dalian was actually his offspring). This turned out to be Villa’s last ever win at Highbury. The Midlanders also went on to land the League Cup that season, beating Man United and preventing a domestic treble in the process.

By the time of Villa’s next trip to Highbury on Boxing Day 1994 however, the Atkinson era was over at Villa Park as Deadly Doug Ellis sacked Big Ron after a poor start to the 1994/95 season. By the Christmas period Villa, now under Brian Little, were languishing in the relegation zone, while Arsenal in eleventh place were suffering their worst start to the season for many years. Both sides played out a 0-0 draw, which was a result of no use to either of them. Arsenal finished 1994/95 in twelfth place, but just six points off of the relegation zone. Aston Villa however finished just three points off of relegation effectively saved by a 1-0 win over Liverpool at Villa Park in their penultimate fixture.

When Villa visited Highbury in late October 1995, both sides were back in the top half of the Premiership and separated by just one point. Second half goals for Paul Merson pouncing on a Mark Bosnich error and Ian Wright gave Arsenal a 2-0 win to put them within six points of Newcastle United at the top of the table. On Valentine’s Day 1996, Villa returned to Highbury in the first leg of the League Cup Semi Final. Arsenal took a two goal with both goals from Dennis Bergkamp, however Bruce Rioch’s men let Villa back into the game with two goals for Dwight Yorke, for a 2-2 draw which would make all the difference after a 0-0 draw in the second leg, as Villa proceeded to the final on the away goals rule.

Villa’s first visit to Highbury during Arsene Wenger’s managerial reign came in the interim between Christmas and New Year in 1996. The Gunners were three points off of Liverpool at the top of the Premiership with a game in hand, while Villa were only three points behind Arsenal in fifth place. Arsenal took the lead after thirteen minutes with a goal from Ian Wright, while Savo Milosevic equalised with twenty minutes left. Paul Merson put Arsenal back in the lead five minutes later, however one minute later Dwight Yorke pulled it back with the game ending in a 2-2 draw. Both Arsenal and Aston Villa finished the season with a top five finish.

During Arsene Wenger’s first double season in 1997/98, Aston Villa came to Highbury in late October. The Gunners by that point were unbeaten and topping the Premiership. The two sides however played out a 0-0 draw, which saw pole position conceded to Manchester United, who beat Barnsley 7-0 at Old Trafford that same weekend. It would be another seventeen months before Villa came to Highbury again, in the interim Arsenal had won the double in 1998/99 but this season lost the FA Cup to Manchester United in the Semi Final and conceded pole position in the title race to Old Trafford after a 0-1 defeat away at Leeds United, while Alex Ferguson relegated Brian Kidd’s Blackburn Rovers with a 0-0 draw at Ewood Park.

On the final Sunday of the season, Arsenal needed a win at home to Villa while hoping a Spurs side managed by George Graham could prevent a United win at Old Trafford. Arsenal did their part with a Kanu goal giving them a 1-0 win, however United beat Spurs 2-1 to regain the Premiership title and would the first leg of their historic treble. As told in my article covering the 1998/99 season from February 2013, the Gunners were arguably the best side to ever finish a season trophy-less. Aston Villa would be back at Highbury the following September in the Premiership and under John Gregory had a good start to the season standing in second place with just one defeat. Goals for Nwanko Kanu and two for new signing Davor Suker gave Arsenal a 3-1 win, with Julian Joachim on target for Villa.

Ahead of Villa’s visit to Highbury in October 2000, the Premiership was led by Leicester City (imagine that!), with Arsenal on level points with Manchester United in third after beating them 1-0 in the previous fixture. Arsenal kept the winning run going with a 1-0 victory attained with another goal from Thierry Henry. Arsenal failed to put in a sufficient challenge for the title in 2000/01, however would develop as a force the following season. With Villa visiting Highbury in early December, Arsenal would be six points off leaders Liverpool in second, while Villa were two points behind in fifth and Champions Man United sat in ninth place after losing three matches on the trot.

Villa raced into a two goal first half lead, with former Arsenal star Paul Merson scoring Villa’s opener five years on from his Highbury exit. Steve Stone made it two just past the half hour. Arsenal however staged a superb second half fight back, with Sylvain Wiltord scoring just after the restart, while two goals for Thierry Henry gave Arsenal a 3-2 win to close the gap on Liverpool to three points, eventually winning the title back at Old Trafford in May. John Gregory would last another six weeks as Villa manager before resigning, despite the Midlanders standing in a reasonable seventh place in the table. Villa would finish the season in eighth position after the return of Graham Taylor after a twelve year absence.