Ollie Watkins had already established himself as Aston Villa’s record Premier League scorer. Now, he has become our highest UEFA marksman and joined an exclusive group of players who have scored 100 goals or more for the club.
His strike against Bologna at Villa Park on Thursday made him only the 12th player to achieve the feat throughout the club’s history. Even legendary strikers Dwight Yorke, Gerry Hitchens, Clem Stephenson, Peter Withe and Frank Broome didn’t manage it, although Yorke was on 98 before he left in August 1998.
The last Villa player to reach the magical 100 was Peter McParland, who passed the century mark 66 years ago, during the 1960/61 campaign, and went on to amass a total of 121 before joining Wolves in January 1962.
The Northern Ireland international also has the distinction of being the only player to score Villa’s winner in both the FA Cup final and League Cup final. He was on target twice in the 1957 Wembley triumph over Manchester United and netted the extra-time winner at Villa Park four years later when we beat Rotherham United 3-2 on aggregate in the inaugural League Cup.
Peter McParland
(Peter McParland)
McParland’s teammate Johnny Dixon, captain of the FA Cup-winning side, is another member of Villa’s 100 Club, having netted 144 goals including one on his final appearance against Sheffield Wednesday in the last match of the 1960/61 campaign.
Before Dixon and McParland, we have to delve deep into the past to find the other goal centurions, all of them having played before the Second World War – and in two cases, the 19th century.
John Devey, Villa’s captain during the club’s golden age, was the first to reach the 100 milestone, and no player has won more honours in claret and blue. Devey’s 183 goals helped Villa to five League Championships between 1893/94 and 1899/1900. He was also in the team who won the FA Cup in 1895 and again in 1897, when Villa completed the double.
Next up was Billy Garraty, the great-great-great grandfather of Jack Grealish. Garraty’s 112 goals included 27 in 33 games as Villa won the title at the turn of the 20th century and he was also in the Cup-winning side of 1905, along with two other prolific Villans.
Harry Hampton.
(Harry Hampton)
Harry Hampton, on target with both goals in the 2-0 final victory over Newcastle United, netted a total of 242, including a club record 215 league goals. He also helped Villa to the First Division title in 1910 and another FA Cup triumph, this time against Sunderland, three years later. And Joe Bache, who was on target 184 times, was also involved in all three of those achievements.
Hampton was the first player to score five in one game – a 10-0 romp against Sheffield Wednesday in October 1912, a feat also achieved by Len Capewell as Villa beat Burnley by the same score on the opening day of the 1925/26 campaign.
Both Capewell and Dai Astley hit exactly 100 goals for Villa, and their ratios were exceptional, Capewell doing it in 157 games and Astley in 173.
The club’s other three centurions were Tom ‘Pongo’ Waring, Eric Houghton and Billy Walker, teammates in 1930/31, when Villa scored a record 128 goals – a figure never likely to be surpassed by any team – but had to settle for runners-up spot behind Arsenal.
Waring led the way with a club record 49, while Houghton netted 30 and Walker 15, and they occupy three of the top six places in the list of Villa scorers. Waring’s total is 167 while Houghton scored 170, with Walker’s club record total of 244 proudly at the top of the charts.
Although, Watkins is just one goal away from sealing his place in Villa’s top-10 list of all-time goalscorers.
Ollie Watkins 100 Aston Villa Goals
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