Villa Park for Clarets in Carling Cup

Last updated : 24 September 2005 By Tony Scholes


The 3-1 win over Villa is still fresh in our minds on a night when we turned in a superb performance and this time we will be playing our first game at Villa Park for thirty years, that being a First Division game when Peter Noble scored at both ends in a 1-1 draw. Ironically that game was played on 25th October 1975 and this tie is expected to go ahead on 25th October 2005.

We have met twice previously in the League Cup, before last season, and Villa won both of them. The first was in the inaugural season of the competition and we went down in a semi-final replay at Old Trafford.

Ten years later, with the Clarets enjoying football two divisions higher than the Villa, we were well and truly dumped out 2-0 down at Villa Park with Andy Lochhead playing against us.

Apart from new clubs in the league, we have visited all of them since we were last at Villa, although the youth team did play there in 1978 in an FA Youth Cup Semi – so for many Burnley fans this will be our first visit to Deadly Doug’s place in a long, long time, for others a first ever visit.