Editing Aston Villa F.C. (section)

=== Mediocrity and discontent (1945–1961) ===
Like all English clubs, Villa lost seven seasons to the Second World War, and that conflict brought several careers to a premature end.<ref>Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; p. 75.</ref> Bumper crowds flocked to Villa Park following the war, 76,588 people attended the FA Cup quarter-final between Villa and [[Derby County]] in March 1946, which is the all-time record attendance at Villa Park. The team was rebuilt under the guidance of former player [[Alex Massie (footballer)|Alex Massie]] for the remainder of the 1940s. Star players of this era included the one-club man [[Harry Parkes (footballer, born 1920)|Harry Parkes]], the Welsh centre forward [[Trevor Ford]] and inside-forward [[Johnny Dixon (footballer)|Johnny Dixon]], however the club only achieved mid-table finishes throughout the forties and fifties, never finishing higher than 6th place in the league. The board came in for increasing criticism during this time, with the 1953 AGM described by the [[Sports Argus]] as "the longest and liveliest Villa meeting".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lerwill |first1=John |title=Aston Villa The First Superclub |date=2012 |isbn=978-0-9569833-1-2 |page=209|publisher=Unknown Publisher }}</ref> Shareholders and supporters criticised the club's lack of youth development, recruitment and training methods. When [[Danny Blanchflower]] put in a transfer request in 1954 he said that "the club had grown fat and lazy on its old traditions and the decay was eating at the once solid foundations".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lerwill |first1=John |title=Aston Villa The First Superclub |date=2012 |isbn=978-0-9569833-1-2 |page=213|publisher=Unknown Publisher }}</ref>

Despite narrowly avoiding relegation the season before, Aston Villa's first trophy for 37 years came in the 1956–57 season when another former Villa player, [[Eric Houghton]] led the club to a then record seventh FA Cup Final win, defeating the 'Busby Babes' of [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] 2–1 with Northern Irish winger [[Peter McParland]] scoring both goals.<ref>Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; pp. 86–87.</ref> The team continued to struggle for consistency in the league though, which led to Eric Houghton being sacked in December 1958. His replacement [[Joe Mercer]] could not prevent the club being relegated for only the second time in their history in [[1958–59 Football League|1958-59]]. However, under the stewardship of Mercer, Villa returned to the top-flight in 1960 as Second Division Champions with a talented young side which became known as 'Mercer's Minors'. The following season Aston Villa became the first team to win the [[Football League Cup]] with England centre-forward [[Gerry Hitchens]] scoring an impressive 42 goals in [[1960–61 Football League|1960-61]].<ref>Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; p. 93.</ref>