Premier League - The Greatest: Aston Villa

Eurosport - Mon, 27 Jul 18:18:00 2009

In our weekly series during the close season, we let you decide who is the greatest player to have played for some of England's top clubs. We continue with a selection of Aston Villa legends.

Aston Villa fans salute Paul McGrath - 0

Here is our shortlist of eight greats, with the Eurosport-Yahoo! top three at the bottom.

So leave your thoughts below, vote in the online poll and we'll give you the final verdict on Saturday.

Gareth Barry (1997-2009)

Barry played 443 times during 12 years at Villa Park, placing him seventh on the club's all-time list. Signed as a trainee from Brighton, Barry emerged as a versatile player able to play across the defence, before settling into his preferred central midfield role. In October 2007, aged 26, he became the youngest player to make 300 Premier League appearances, taking the mantle from Frank Lampard. Despite leaving for Manchester City on a sour note after publicly demanding a move, he deserves to go down as a Villa great.

Gordon 'Sid' Cowans (1976-1985, 1988-1991, 1993-1994)

As much a hero now as in his heyday, Cowans spent three spells at Villa and is now a youth team coach. Martin O'Neill described his first stint as "the most glorious times Villa have ever had," as they won the league, League Cup, European Cup and European Super Cup, and Cowans scooped the 1979 PFA Young Player of the Year award. In 1988 Graham Taylor exercised Villa's first option to bring him back from Bari for three more seasons. Another 11-game cameo in 1993/94 took him to 453 appearances and 49 goals.

Andy Gray (1975-1979, 1985-1987)

The Scotsman's stature as a media personality is in danger of obscuring his feats on the pitch. While a generation of fans know him only as the bloke yelling "take a bow, son!" on Sky Sports, Gray was one of the deadliest strikers in Britain. He won the golden boot in 1977, scoring 25 league goals, before bettering that feat the following term. His 29 goals earned him both the PFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year - the only man to do so until Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006/07.

Paul McGrath (1989-1996)

Cut adrift by Manchester United and advised to quit the game in 1989, Villa gave McGrath a lifeline by signing him for £425,000, and were repaid handsomely. The Irishman played some of his best football at Villa Park, winning the 1993 PFA Player of the Year award and gaining revenge on United by defeating them in the 1994 League Cup final. McGrath's turbulent personal life has only enhanced his legend, as he performed brilliantly while battling alcoholism and depression. To make matters worse, he suffered chronic knee problems that prevented him from training during his later years.

Billy Walker (1919-1934)

Walker spent his whole career at Aston Villa, making 531 appearances for the Midlands club and netting 244 goals. Along with being the first Englishman to score at Wembley, he remains Villa's all-time leading goal scorer. The 1920 FA Cup winner will forever hold his place among the Villa legends.

Tom 'Pongo' Waring (1928-1935)

Starting as he meant to go on, Waring's first game for Villa saw him score a hat-trick. A further nine hat-tricks followed in his 226 appearances for the club. Waring scored 167 goals in total for Villa and set a club record 49 league goals in the 1930/1931 season. The centre forward was sorely missed by Villa fans when he went to Barnsley, prompting 5,000 of them to call for his return.

Peter Withe (1980-1985)

Whether it was a fluke or not, Withe grabbed the most important goal in Villa's history when he scored with his shin off the post to secure a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final. "Just as I was about to make contact, it hit a divot and bobbled. I followed through and hit it with my shin," Withe would later say. The club's record signing at the time, Withe formed a successful partnership up-front with Gary Shaw as the Midlands club won the 1980/81 league title. During that season he was the league's joint top-scorer with Tottenham's Steve Archibald after netting 20 goals in 36 games.

Dwight Yorke (1989-1998)

A right winger at Villa until 1995, a move to centre forward earned Yorke a reputation as one of the Premiership's top strikers. He scored the final goal in the 3-0 win over Leeds in the 1996 League Cup final, and almost secured a remarkable comeback against Newcastle the following season with a brilliant hat-trick. Ten-man Villa were 3-1 down at half-time, but Yorke netted twice more after the break before having a fourth disallowed for offside in a 4-3 defeat. The Trinidadian appeared 231 times for Villa, scoring 97 goals, but his controversial departure to Manchester United who were accused of making an illegal approach - lost him favour with some of the fans.

The Eurosport-Yahoo! verdict

1 - Paul McGrath

2 - Gordon Cowans

3 - Pongo Waring

Amy Dargan / Eurosport

Comment 42 - 61 of 61

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  1. Myself i have to go for Paul McGrath and then Sid­ Cowans purely down to the fact that McGrath was such an­ accomplished player whist all the time battling against­ the booze and his knees.i agee whole heartedly with­ yardleymo about Sid and his ability to put the ball on­ someones toes with both feet but McGraths problems off­ the field just edge it for me.

    From Michael D, on Tue 4 Aug 7:40AM

  2. Excellant article, all the sensible replies make my­ Villa heart beat stronger, but my hero who made me go­ in those darker days of the seventies and who began to­ make things sparkle and later when he returned is Brian­ Little (for those who missed him,let me say, it was in­ the net).
    A true Claret & Blue.

    From charlie, on Tue 4 Aug 3:31AM

  3. all scum

    From buggzzy, on Mon 3 Aug 5:57PM

  4. has to b sid cowans wat a quality midfilder tackle pass­ with both feet who can do that 2 day none ov em­ followed closley by paul mcgrath not only cud he read­ the game he cud play it at his own pace amazing @#$% ON­ U LIONS UP THE VILLA

    From yardleymo, on Mon 3 Aug 3:01PM

  5. denis mortimer,gary shaw,john gidman,des bremner,and­ Tony Morley should Be Rememberd too.

    From winsdel, on Mon 3 Aug 2:09PM

  6. For me it has to be "Sid" followed by Andy­ Gray, the likes of pongo waring (before my time) but­ who was and still remains the most prolific goal scorer­ of all time.

    From michael m, on Mon 3 Aug 1:36PM

  7. I do have some sympathy because a lot of people­ can't remember the really old players of the past.­ My Grandad would say Pongo Waring, my Dad would say­ Stan Lynn or Gerry Hitchins - me, it would always be­ Paul McGrath - pure quality! ...and no Brian Little­ in the list? Sacrilege! He was the most naturally­ talented player we ever had - a genius on his day.

    From Bakersboy, on Sun 2 Aug 11:03PM

  8. Gareth Barry in the lead??????????? As a left sided­ midfielder, he isn't fit to lace Sid's boots,­ and I say that as someone who thinks Barry is a good­ player

    From Mark W, on Fri 31 Jul 7:53AM

  9. come on you villa fans, are you forgetting, allan evans­ rock solid defender and dennis mortimer mr, motivator­ of the midfield jimmy rimmer our goalkeeper and not­ forgetting john deehan, great names great players,­ great games, my choice.
    1. allan evans
    2. paul­ mcgrath
    3. charlie aitkin

    From raymondwhaywood, on Thu 30 Jul 11:29PM

  10. No contest, Paul McGrath is the greatest of that­ selection

    From Creaven91, on Thu 30 Jul 9:21PM

  11. 1 = Paul McGrath
    2 = Andy gray
    3 = David Platt

    From ben, on Thu 30 Jul 5:46PM

  12. For me it has to be Andy Gray. A great striker who­ could score with either foot and was equally good in­ the air.

    Most contributions have mentioned all the­ great names but I always enjoyed watching Bruce Rioch.­ A really cultured mid fielder back in the dark days of­ Division 3. Playing through balls which few of the rest­ of the team could read. Pure class.

    From Cornish Brummie, on Thu 30 Jul 10:38AM

  13. GARETH BARRY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From Hayder, on Wed 29 Jul 10:03PM

  14. peter withe and dennis mortimer gordon cowans paul­ mcgrath they are the best villa players to wear the­ colours and perform on the pitch

    From undertaker39, on Tue 28 Jul 11:05PM

  15. oooooooooo arrrrrrrrrrrr paul mcgrathhhhhhhhhhhh

    From pete the greek, on Tue 28 Jul 10:27PM

  16. It has to be Peter Withe because he scored the most­ important goal ever for Aston Villa.
    For loyalty to the­ club it is Charlie Aitken.

    From CHRIS, on Tue 28 Jul 4:26PM

  17. charlie aitken is by far the greatest villan, he­ showed what loyalty meant.

    From derek, on Tue 28 Jul 3:04PM

  18. Mark Everton Walters, Dave Platt, Spink???

    From wistysboy, on Tue 28 Jul 1:27PM

  19. Andy Gray

    From rblackhurst2004, on Tue 28 Jul 1:09PM

  20. Lol Gerrard in prision is a hilarious pic, he should do­ community sevice in a London, then he'll see who is­ boss.

    From JT CaptainLegendHero, on Tue 28 Jul 11:29AM
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