By Paul Brown

Villa have had some tremendous teams through the years.

How about the side which won the European Cup in 1982? Or any one of the seven teams who won the League Championship? Or our five League Cup-winning outfits?

But it would be hard to argue that the best - certainly the most exciting - team in the club's history was that of 1930-31 - and, incredibly, they never won a thing!

That legendary side included some of the greatest names in the history of our monumental club.

How about legendary centre-forward Pongo Waring, who scored an incredible 49 goals during the season - a club record.

Then there was Eric Houghton, known for having the "hardest shot in football." Houghton had amazing power in both feet and twice burst the net in league games during his era in claret and blue. He scored 30 goals from the wing this season!

How about inside-forward Billy Walker, our record-goalscorer and respected as the club's greatest-ever player? Fans used to scream "Give it to Walker" such was the ace's ability in front of goal.

And in the half-back line of Jimmy Gibson, Alec Talbot and Joe Tate - we boasted the most efficient midfield in football.

Gibson had long legs but could bring the ball under control with ruthless efficiency. He was an excellent ball player and a fine dribbler.

Talbot was known for his solid defensive work but he was also a stylish player whose distribution was excellent, often featuring long, accurate passes.

Tate was quite simply pure class, a strong player with a tactical brain. He rarely resorted to booting the ball clear, instead preferring to play it on the ground and instigate moves to put the opposition under pressure.

It was going to take something monumental to stop this Villa side.

Unfortunately, Arsenal's team was amazing too and in Herbert Chapman they had the first great football manager.

Chapman was, in all honesty, the driving force behind his team condemning Villa to a runners-up spot.

Incredibly Villa's great team of 1930-31 finished second despite scoring an unbelievable 128 goals, 86 of which came from just 21 home games.

That was every home game, by the way! And they only failed to score in three away matches.

Waring set the pace with four in a 4-3 win at Manchester United on the opening day and then repeated the feat the following weekend at Villa Park in a 6-1 win against West Ham.

Waring scored in each of the first seven games, by which time he had netted thirteen times and he went on to score 49 goals in 39 games.

A strike against Arsenal in his only FA Cup match bought the centre-forward's tally to 50!

During a seven-game winning run from the end of January, culminating in a 5-1 win against Arsenal in March, a total of 33 goals were scored, 12 being contributed by Waring, including another four goal salvo in a 4-2 win against Sunderland.

Despite the fine win over the Gunners, Villa were unable to catch Arsenal in the end.

Sheffield United, who finished third, scored 102 goals.

The overall number of goals scored in that season's top tier was 1,823, which worked out at an average of four per game.

Of the 462 games played that campaign, only thirteen were goalless!

It was quite some season for the claret and blues and the contribution of the likes of Waring, Walker, Houghton, Tate, Gibson and Talbot should never be forgotten!

Picture Caption
Back Row [left to right]: Teddy Bowen, H Cooch [trainer], Alec Talbot, Fred Biddlestone, Tommy Smart, Jimmy Gibson, Billy Walker, Joe Tate, Dickie Yorke.
From Row [left to right]: Jack Mandley, Tommy Mort, Arthur Dorrell, Tommy 'Pongo' Waring, Reg Chester, George Brown, Eric Houghton.
On Ground: Billy Kingdon, Joe Beresford.

Make sure you're here to back the boys against Norwich City.