Aston Villa on this day - Brian Beard

Aston Villa On This Day revisits all the most magical and memorable moments from the club's distinguished past, mixing in a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable diary of Villa history - with an entry for every day of the year. From the club's Victorian foundation by the congregation of Handsworth's Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel through to the Premier League era, Villa's rollercoaster history takes in FA Cup glory from the Victorian age to the 1950s, Third Division ignominy in the early '70s followed by league championship success just a decade later, all crowned by European Cup victory in Rotterdam. Pivotal historic events such as Villa committee man William McGregor's founding of the Football League form a backdrop against which Villa Park heroes - Archie Hunter, Pongo Waring and Peter McParland, Andy Gray, David Platt and Paul McGrath - all loom larger than life.