But they say little about the emotional intensity of 90 minutes that were decided by Peter Withe’s ricochet goal which was enough to defeat Bayern Munich on a glorious night in the Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam. The fans in the ground behaved themselves admirably and it was noticeable that Villa stewards took up positions that would have evoked admiration from Field Marshal Montgomery. Dennis George Mortimer (born 5 April 1952) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder and captained Aston Villa. He made nearly 600 appearances in the Football League playing for Coventry City, Aston Villa, Sheffield United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Birmingham City. [3] Playing career [ edit ]

Ron Saunders leaves the Aston Villa training ground, Bodymoor Heath, after resigning as manager. Photograph: Gerry Armes/Popperfoto/Getty Images Thompson would be in the travelling party, on the road to Wembley, as the Reds got set to take on Arsenal in the 1971 FA Cup final. He would watch from the balcony of the old stadium and sobbed his heart out when his beloved Reds lost the game. This was a Kopite playing for the team he adored, and he would suffer that defeat alongside his fellow supporters.

A first with ‘Ol Big Ears

Though his beloved Liverpool had finished a distant fifth in the league and been dumped out of the FA Cup in the fourth round, he had led them to a League Cup win with victory over West Ham. But the best was yet to come. Liverpool had reached their third European Cup Final in four seasons. The stage would be Paris and the opponents were the mighty Real Madrid. Thompson now had the chance to become the first Scouser to lift the biggest trophy in European football.

Tony Barton, Saunders’ assistant, took over from being assistant when “the gaffer” resigned earlier in the season. He was sensible to keep things together. It was a very good team with the likes of Allan Evans and Ken McNaught in central defence; Des Bremner and Mortimer in midfield, the skills of the glamour boy Gary Shaw, the speed of winger Tony Morley and the powerful striker Peter Withe just to name a few. He would throw himself into life at Anfield, giving everything in training, while off the field he would polish the professionals’ boots and clean up around the ground. This was a dream come true and he wasn’t going to let it slip from his grasp without a fight.Bayern sat dejected in the centre circle after 43 seconds of injury time which for the Villa contingent must have seemed like 43 years. Aston Villa, champions of Europe. Mortimer captained Villa to the League title in 1980-81, the European Cup in 1982 and the Super Cup in 1983. Dennis Mortimer was Aston Villa’s most successful captain in the club’s greatest team which became English champions in 1981 and then won Europe’s greatest club competition a year later – the European Champions Cup. Match results Under-18 1960–1970". England Football Online. Chris Goodwin and Glen Isherwood. 2 August 2021 . Retrieved 24 July 2022.