Aston Villa F.C. in the 1870s

Aston Villa Football Club was formed in 1874, by members of the Villa Wesleyan Cross Chapel. These were players of cricket in search of a winter pastime. The first meeting to discuss the new team was held on the fringes of Birchfield and Lozells, not far from where Villa Park now stands on Trinity Road, Aston, Birmingham.

After appointing Walter H. Price as first-ever captain, the newly formed 'Aston Villa Football Club' set about the task of trying to find suitable opponents. This was difficult, as rugby was more popular in Birmingham at the time. Some football clubs, such as Calthorpe F.C. were considered too strong.

Finally, in March 1875, Aston Villa was set for its first match. It was against Aston Brook St Mary's rugby team, with one half to be played under rugby and one half under the 'Sheffield Rules' laws of association football. Actually, this sort of arrangement was not too unusual in those days, with both games' laws being in their infancy. Villa managed to hold their opponents to a try-less draw at half-time, before triumphing one-nil after the second, football-rules, half. Scorer of Villa's first-ever goal was Jack Hughes.

Villa failed to find another fixture that season, but had more success the following year. Some of the clubs they played included Aston Unity (who Villa continued to play every year at cricket into the 1960s) and St. George's Excelsior. Most home matches were played in Aston Park, across the road from present-day Villa Park, and in the shadow of Aston Hall. Other games were played in Aston Lower Grounds, where Villa Park now lies. Villa were did not have exclusivity in this area, with other sports regularly played there. Indeed, W G Grace played cricket there, as the touring Australians defeated England in under four hours.

Aston Park, though, was where Villa met with their most significant fate of the decade. A 21-year-old Scot called George Ramsay turned up and begged a game. His dribbling wizadry entranced the young Villa players. Ramsay was immediately offered membership, and the captaincy, by his new Villa team-mates. He became a Villa legend on and off the pitch. He helped develop Villa's first permanent home, Wellington Road, and enthralled crowds with his skills there. A fixture of Villa's history until his death in 1935, Ramsay also helped Frederick Rinder negotiate the purchase of Villa Park in 1896.

While Ramsay was the first famous Scot in Villa's history, he would not be the last.

A stroke of extreme fortune presented Villa with the second, 1878. Their most legendary captain until Dennis Mortimer, Archie Hunter was also recognised as the first in the Football League's list of 100 greats released more than a century later. In the region to sign for the Calthorpe club, Hunter was unable to find the way. However, he had heard of a fellow Scot in the area who was trying to recruit new stars to his football club. That Scot was Ramsay who hastily signed Hunter up to the Villa cause, to their gain and the Calthorpe club's considerable loss.

At about this time, a much-improved Villa began to search for higher quality opposition, and a high quality home to play them in. Wellington Road was attained for the sum of £5 per year. This gave Villa a massive advantage over many of their local rivals, as an enclosed ground meant they could now charge 'gate money' to spectators. The venue is now a bus depot, but was then home to a fresh and innovative club, who would blossom into a national power during the 1880s.