Forty years ago today, the players, staff and fans of Aston Villa were celebrating winning the First Division title.
It was the club’s seventh time as English champions, ending a 71-year wait and etching the Villa players into the history books forever.
Despite a final-day 2-0 defeat against Arsenal on May 2, 1981, the title was headed to the midlands after second-placed Ipswich Town lost 2-1 to Middlesbrough.
We spoke to some of the players from the 1980/81 team to gather their memories of the dramatic final day at Highbury.
Jimmy Rimmer, Dennis Mortimer, Des Bremner, Tony Morley, Colin Gibson and Allan Evans all recalled how despondency at their performance quickly turned to jubilation when they realised they had clinched top spot.
Hear from the heroes of the 1981 team in the video below…
Special edition: Subbuteo poster
1980/81 league champions
