Record Beating for Villa at Perry Barr Sunderland are usually full of confidence when they take the field but there was plenty of justification for doubts when they took on Aston Villa at Perry Barr. In the first place Sunderland have never beaten Villa away from home and again they were handicapped by the absence of Scott and Millar. With their two best forwards missing Sunderland's prospects did not look bright and although new man Harvie was available the fine balance of the front rank can easily be upset when a new man is brought in.
(Tom Watson – left – Secretary/Manager of the Team Of all The Talents) One of the largest and most comfortable saloons in the area was attached to the Southbound express which Sunderland joined at Durham to catch a special train from York. Birmingham was reached at 9pm and there was plenty of time for a meal before a good nights rest at the Colonnade Hotel. Mr. Watson was the only member of the executive with the team but a half a dozen ardent supporters had travelled and there is no doubt that they would have been desperately sorry to have missed this performance. The morning was bright and spent walking round the great Midland city and at 2-30 a four in hand coach was waiting outside the hotel to take the players to the ground. Sunderland passed hundreds of spectators wending their way to the ground and were frequently cheered. On reaching the ground they found the stands already crowded with what was sure to be an enormous gate. Villa made 2 changes with Fleming and Dowds, who is suspended, standing down with Devey and George Campbell coming in. For Sunderland J.Hannah moved to outside left to accommodate Harvie and he was partnered by D.Hannah with Gillespie and Harvie forming the other wing. New full back John Gillespie was left out and Smellie played at left back. Sunderland received a fine reception when they took the field for they are popular visitors in Birmingham. Sunderland won the toss and chose to attack the Wellington Rd end leaving Villa with a strong sun in their eyes. Devey kicked off and Campbell made a quick rush but Stokes got the ball away and then a free kick took the home side over the centre line. Gibson stopped them getting any further and when Harvie swung the ball across Campbell failed to get a touch. Cowan sent the ball sailing into Sunderland territory where L Campbell had a shot but it went behind. Another Sunderland attack was checked by Cowan and Ramsey but when the ball was forced out it fell to Wilson. He caught the ball perfectly and crashed in a grand effort that flew past Dunning like a gunshot for what many onlookers described as the finest goal ever scored on the ground. The game had hardly been restarted when J.Campbell got possession and cleverly beat Cowan to lash in a hotshot that left Dunning helpless in the 5th minute. Villa were stunned and made an effort to redress the balance but there was little vigour in their attacks and Porteous and Smellie easily handled the attacks. After a few minutes defending Sunderland moved forward again and forced a corner off Stokes. J.Hannah took it and curled the ball straight into the net without a touch and no goal was claimed. Sunderland were in fine form and pressed strongly but were eventually beaten back and Villa rushed down on the Sunderland goal. Hodgetts fired in a capital shot that Porteous blocked. They sustained the pressure for a while but the visitors defence was too good for them and the coped comfortably. Auld sent a long dropping pass up to J.Campbell standing on the centre line and he set off for goal. Campbell shrugged off the challenge of Cowan and raced round Stokes and Ramsey to let fly with a terrific shot from 10 yards that Dunning could only stand and watch as it crashed into the net. At 3-0 down things were looking black for Villa but Sunderland were not satisfied and applied strong pressure and but for some fine saves from Dunning they would have added more goals. Harvie drove in a shot and when Dunning beat the ball out Gillespie following up looked a certain scorer. However the winger fell when only 3 yards out and before he could recover Dunning had grabbed the ball and threw away. Seconds later a hotshot from J.Campbell produced another good save from Dunning. Good play from Hodgetts took Villa to the Sunderland end where he had a great shooting opportunity but delayed his shot and allowed the ball to run out. Athersmith had a try but it came to nothing and Sunderland pressed again. Harvie put in a shot that Stokes and Ramsey failed to block and Dunning had a lot of trouble to get the ball away. A very half hearted Villa attack was easily repulsed by the cool play of the Sunderland halfbacks and then Hodgetts had a glorious chance but he was not quick enough and Porteous cleared. Sunderland raided again and Dunning had a lot of work to do but managed to keep his goal intact and the interval arrived with Sunderland leading 3-0. Villa took fresh heart in 2nd half but the early stages were certainly disappointing for them for as soon as the ball was kicked off Sunderland swept down on the Villa goal. The raid was only brief and was not as determined as before with Sunderland seemingly happy to rest on their laurels. At last the home left wing broke away but Wilson was too good for Hodgetts. Villa tried again but were beaten back as the home forwards could make no headway at all against the Sunderland halfback line. L. Campbell worked well but had as little success as the rest of the Villa forwards. A spell of midfield play ensued and was rather uninteresting but at last L. Campbell made another run and fired in a good shot that Doig saved well. Doig threw the ball out but Athersmith returned and Smellie in attempting to clear sliced the ball out for a corner. Athersmith swung the kick into the goalmouth and after Devey had missed the ball with his head Hodgetts ran in behind him and scored an easy goal. This perked the home side up but the cheers of the crowd were quickly stifled when Sunderland went straight up the field from the kick off and J.Hannah banged in Sunderland's 4th goal with a capital shot. The visitors continued to attack and after Dunning had made a good block the ball ran out to Harviewho promptly popped in Sunderland's 5th goal. This was the last straw for Villa and they threw in the towel and made no further attempts to redeem their position. The rest of the game was played entirely in home territory apart from a smart run from Athersmith which he wasted by getting too close to the corner flag. With 10 minutes left and after having forced the game almost continuously Sunderland scored again through J.Hannah. Doig had to make a save from Devey but it was an isolated Villa effort and at the close Sunderland had recorded a magnificent victory. A very weary Sunderland side arrived home at 1-30am on Sunday morning and must now prepare themselves for a trip to Edinburgh on Monday morning to fulfil the last of their heavy series of guarantee matches. Here they will play Leith Athletic who have given the Sunderland club a large cash guarantee for the game. Aston Villa: Dunning, Stokes, Ramsey, Brown, Cowan, Campbell (G), Athersmith, Paton, Devey, Hodgetts, Campbell (L). Sunderland: Doig, Porteous, Smellie, Wilson, Auld (Captain), Gibson, Gillespie, Harvie, Campbell (J) (2), Hannah (D), Hannah (J) (2) Referee: Mr., T Armitt, Leek ___________________________________ Comments This was the day that The Team Of all The Talents was officially named following glowing praise from William McGregor a Director of Aston Villa and the Founder of the Football League. His actual quote was that “Sunderland had a talented man in every position”. However the true birth of “The Team” was, according to the Team’s Captain Johnny Auld, 3 October 1891. This was recollected by Mr. W Perry in the Sunderland Echo on 3 October 1931 in an article celebrating the 40th anniversary of “The Team”. Auld had stated that, “October 3 1891 was the day when that wonderful combination, which enchanted the football world with its brilliance, played its full strength for the first time”. The origins are clear; a legend was born. W Perry went on to say that “it was utterly impossible for those who never saw “the Team Of All The Talents”, and especially the first side, to imagine what that team was like. It is only those whose fortunate lot it was to see them who are qualified to judge”. |
It was therefore not surprising to hear talk of how many they would lose by. Auld assured the pressmen however that the whole side were determined to play their hardest and suggested that they should not be surprised if Sunderland put on a show. And what a show it was. Not only did Sunderland win but they won magnificently and put on a display of football skills that has never been equalled on the great Birmingham enclosure. In view of the importance of the game and the amount of travelling done by the team lately the committee decided to travel early on the 1-30pm train on Friday afternoon.