England Football Online
Players Index Page Last Updated
2 August 2020
 
 

Brian Little

Aston Villa FC

1 appearance, 0 goals

P 1 W 0 D 1 L 0 F 2: A 2
*(actual F 1: A 0)
50% successful

1975

disciplined: none
captain:
none
minutes played:
17

Profile

Full name Brian Little (*Actual for and against are the goals scored
while the player was on the field.)
Born 25 November 1953 in Peterlee, County Durham [registered in Newcastle upon Tyne, December 1953].
Attended Dene House Infant and Junior Schools, Peterlee.
Height/Weight 5' 8", 11st. 2lbs [1975].

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990] & FindMyPast.com

Club Career

Club(s) After playing North Eastern schools football, Little joined Aston Villa FC as an apprentice in April 1969, he turned professional in March 1971.  He remained with Villa, playing 247 league matches, scoring sixty goals. He retired after a transfer to Birmingham City FC did not materalise following a failed medical. The knee injury forced his retirment at the young age of 27 in March 1981.
Club honours Football League Cup winners 1974-75, 1976-77;
Individual honours None
Distinctions None

Source

Douglas Lammings' An English Football Internationalist Who's Who [1990].

Management Career

Club(s) Little remained with Aston Villa FC when he joined the backroom staff in the club shop, then into a variety of coaching roles until 1984, when he was taken by Wolverhampton Wanderers FC who became the their first team coach, a position he held until his appointment as manager on 31 August 1986 when Wolves were in the fourth division of the Football League. He only stayed in that position for 36 days, until Graham Turner took over the managerial responsbililty after also being sacked by Aston Villa. Little left for Middlesbrough FC, who were also facing financial difficulties. After coaching Boro back to the first division, Little left in February 1989 who became the manager of Darlington FC, as they propped up the rest of the Football League. Relegation was inevitable, and Little successfully brought them back, as high as the third division. It was success that was noted by the bigger clubs and in June 1991, Leicester City FC brought Little in as their manager, immediately turning their fortunes around. After taking them into the FA Premier League in 1994, he returned to Aston Villa FC as their manager in November 1994, keeping them in the Premier League. He resigned in February 1998 and then appointed manager at Stoke City AFC in May 1998, but failure to win promotion the following season was followed by his resignation. In the same summer of 1999, Little was appointed manager at West Bromwich Albion FC, but was sacked eight months later in March 2000 after disappointing results.  The following month, Little was appointed manager of Hull City AFC, who were also enduring financial difficulties. He resigned on 27 February 2002 after leaving the Tiger's in a comfortable play-off position. Little then became manager of Tranmere Rovers FC on 13 October 2003, and although he again, turned around his club's fortunes, taking them to the play-offs, 2006 was a relegation battle, and although Little kept them up, he left them by mutual consent on 5 May 2006. After a year out of the game, Little became manager at Wrexham AFC on 15 November 2007, as they were bottom of the Football League, but after failure to bring them out of the Conference, Little left the Racecourse on 27 September 2008.  Then, on 28 August 2009, Little was appointed manager of Gainsborough Trinity FC of the Conference North, but despite building on experience, Little resigned after another relegation battle on 22 August 2011.
Club honours Football Conference League winners 1989-90; Football League Division Four winners 1990-91; Football League Division Two play-off runners-up 1991-92, 1992-93, 2003-04 (as League One), winners 1993-94; Football League Cup winners 1995-96;
Individual honours Football League One Manager of the Month April 2004;

England Career

Player number 909th player to appear for England.
Position(s) Forward
Only match No. 492, 21 May 1975, England 2 Wales 2, a British Championship match at Wembley Stadium, London, substitute (73), aged 21 years 177 days.
Major tournaments British Championship 1974-75;
Team honours British Championship winners 1974-75;
Individual honours None
Distinctions None

Beyond England

Worked in the Aston Villa club shop after he retired in 1981. - An English Football Internationalists' Who's Who. Douglas Lamming (1990). Hatton Press, p.158./media intrerview

 

Brian Little - Career Statistics
Squads Apps comp. apps Starts Sub on Sub off Mins. Goals goals ave.min comp. goals Capt. Disc.
3 1 1 0 1 0 17 0 0 min 0 none none
minutes are an approximation, due to the fact that many matches rarely stick to exactly ninety minutes long, allowing time for injuries and errors.

 

Brian Little - Match Record - All Matches - By Colour of Shirt - By Type of Match
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
Home - White 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0 0 0 2.00 2.00 50.0 =0
All - British Championship 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0 0 0 2.00 2.00 50.0 =0

 

Brian Little - Match Record - Tournament Matches
British Championship Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1974-75 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0 0 0 2.00 2.00 50.0 =0
BC All 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0 0 0 2.00 2.00 50.0 =0
All Competition
Type P W D L F A GD FTS CS FAv AAv Pts% W/L
BC 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0 0 0 2.00 2.00 50.0 =0
All 1 0 1 0 2 2 =0 0 0 2.00 2.00 50.0 =0

 

Brian Little - Match History
 Club: Aston Villa F.C. - 1 full cap

manager: Don Revie - 1 full capx

Age 21
- 491 17 May 1975 - Northern Ireland 0 England 0, Windsor Park, Belfast BC AD sub/squad ?
1 492 21 May 1975 - England 2 Wales 2, Wembley Stadium, Wembley HD sub 73 15
- 493 24 May 1975 - England 5 Scotland 1, Wembley Stadium, Wembley HW sub/squad ?

Notes

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CG