32 years ago to this day Aston Villa took on Bayern Munich and had their greatest day on the global stage winning the European Cup.
46,000 fans packed into the De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam to watch Aston Villa take on Bayern Munich for the arguably the greatest prize in club football.
A year previous Villa had just won their first division title in 71 years. The European Cup wouldn’t have even been considered.
How they reached the final
| Round | Opposition | Agg | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| 1st | Valur | 7-0 | 5-0 (h) | 0-2 (a) |
| 2nd | Dynamo Berlin | 2-2 | 1-2 (a) | 0-1 (h) |
| Quarter-finals | Dynamo Kyiv | 2-0 | 0-0 (a) | 2-0 (h) |
| Semi-finals | Anderlecht | 1-0 | 1-0 (h) | 0-0 (a) |
The run was incredible when you take into account Ron Saunders left the club with Villa in the quarter-finals and assistant manager Tony Barton stepping up to the plate.
The final
The game didn’t start great for Villa when goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer had to go off after ten minutes. On came a young man who goes by the name of Nigel Spink. It was only his second ever appearance in a claret and blue shirt, but boy what a game he had.
Peter Withe scored the infamous goal after 67 minutes to send Villa fans into ecstasy as he wrote history.
Shaw, Williams, prepared to venture down the left. There’s a good ball in for Tony Morley. Oh, it must be and it is! It’s Peter Withe. – Bryan Moore’s famous commentary
It was an incredible achievement and one not many football fans in the modern game can say they have seen. Aston Villa to this day remains one of only a select few British sides to have lifted the greatest prize.
Relive the moment
Twitter: The greatest day in history for any Aston Villa fan.
https://t.co/z56oXiJdSp
#avfc (@ReadAstonVilla)
The teams that day
Aston Villa: Rimmer (Spink), Swain, McNaught, Evans, Williams, Bremner, Mortimer, Cowans, Morley, Withe, and Shaw.
Bayern Munich: Muller, Dremmler, Horsmann, Weiner, Augenthaler, Kraus (Niedermayer), Durnberger, Breitner, Hoeness, Mathy (Guttler), and Rummenigge.
