https://www.expressandstar.com/resizer/UsIivngW-qMZ3lQyILPkk8pcL0E=/1000x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-expressandstar-mna.s3.amazonaws.com/public/FUP7DX3ZJBBTBND56CYSRBIPPA.jpg
Ron Saunders is shown on the big screen during a minute's silence before the Premier League match at Villa Park

Villa Park in salute to legend Ron Saunders

Villa fans paid tribute to legendary manager Ron Saunders during yesterday’s Premier League clash with Leicester.

by

Saunders passed away on Saturday, aged 87.

Players from both sides wore black armbands while there was applause prior to kick off and in the 81st minute to mark Saunders’ 1980/81 league title triumph.

One of the Villa’s greatest managers, Saunders joined the club in June 1974, helping them clinch promotion from Division Two in his first season in charge.

Villa also won the League Cup in 1975 and 1977, but the biggest prize of all arrived four years later when they were crowned champions of England.

In early February 1982, Saunders sensationally quit, apparently over a contract dispute, with Villa in the quarter-finals of the European Cup, which they went on to win under assistant Tony Barton.

Remarkably, nine days after he walked out on Villa, he joined cross-city rivals Birmingham City before quitting in 1986. He then took charge of Albion, and remains the only man to manage all three clubs.