1893–94 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
1893–94 season
ManagerGeorge Ramsay
GroundWellington Road
First DivisionChampions (1)
FA CupRound 3
First Division
Season1893–94
ChampionsAston Villa (1/7, >> 1895–96)
RelegatedDarwen
Newton Heath
Matches240
Goals939 (3.91 per match)
Top goalscorerJack Southworth
(27 goals)
Biggest home winAston Villa 9–0 Darwen
(26 December 1893)
Biggest away winWolves 0–8 West Brom
(27 December 1893)
Highest scoringEverton 8–1 Darwen
(21 October 1893)
West Brom 3–6 Aston Villa
(21 October 1893)
Everton 8–1 The Wednesday
(23 December 1893)
Aston Villa 9–0 Darwen
(26 December 1893)
Burnley 3–6 Aston Villa
(7 April 1894)
Longest winning run6 matches
Aston Villa
Sheffield United
Sunderland
Longest unbeaten run7 matches
Nottingham Forest
Sheffield United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Longest losing run11 matches
Newton Heath
Highest attendance27,500
Everton 7–1 Sunderland
(30 September 1893)
Lowest attendance400
Derby County 2–1 Darwen
(18 November 1893)
Average attendance7,012

The 1893–94 English football season was Aston Villa's 6th season in the Football League since its formation. They finished the season as champions for the first time, and for the next few years they would be very much the dominant side of English football, winning a total of five championships and two FA Cups by 1900.

For the first two of these championship seasons, they were based at Wellington Road. Though reporters claimed gates of 20,000, it is not clear how many of these would have been able to see the game!

Villa built up a six-point lead by the end of December and maintained that margin to the end of the season, with only Sunderland providing a serious challenge.

Jack Devey was an all-round sportsman who enjoyed a long cricket career with Warwickshire. He played football for local clubs in Birmingham before joining Villa in 1891. He was capped twice by England.

Jimmy Cowan was an attacking centre-half in the days when this was a common tactic. He was well known as a sprinter and won the Powderhall Handicap in 1896. He was just 5 ft 612 in (1.69 m) tall, but his quoted weight of 12 st 3 lbs (77.6 kg) indicates a sprinter’s powerful build.

There were debut appearances for, Len Benwell, George Russell, Jack Reynolds, Jim Elliott, Jimmy Welford, James Gillan, Willie Groves, Steve Smith and Bill Randle.