Editing Aston Villa F.C. (section)

===Deep malaise and revival (1961–1974)===
Hitchens' goals brought him to the attention of Italian club [[Inter Milan]], who offered him a large financial incentive to sign. He was sold for £85,000 in summer of 1961, his replacement, [[Derek Dougan]] was not a success and Villa slid backwards. Mercer's forced retirement from the club in July 1964, following a stress-induced stroke, signalled a period of deep turmoil and malaise. The most successful club in England had failed to keep pace with changes in the modern game; three of the five-man board of directors were over 70 years old, the club had neglected its scouting network and coaching structure and the club's finances were in a parlous state. This led to the club selling its top striker [[Tony Hateley]] to [[Chelsea FC|Chelsea]] for £100,000 in October 1966, without his goals Villa were relegated for the third time in its history, under manager [[Dick Taylor (football manager)|Dick Taylor]] in 1967. The board even sold the club's training ground outside Villa Park for housing, leaving the team in the position of training on borrowed training pitches of local factory teams.<ref>{{cite book |last1=James |first1=Gary |title=Joe Mercer Football with a Smile |date=2010 |publisher=James Ward |isbn=978-0-9558127-4-3 |page=140}}</ref>

The following season the fans called for the board to resign as Villa finished 16th in the Second Division. With mounting debts and Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two, the board sacked [[Tommy Cummings]] (the manager brought in to replace Taylor), and within weeks the entire board resigned under overwhelming pressure from fans.<ref name="Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; p.100">Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; p. 100.</ref> After much speculation, control of the club was bought by London financier Pat Matthews, who brought in [[Doug Ellis]] as chairman in December 1968.<ref name="Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; p.100" /> Ellis later recalled that "you could write your name in the dust, window frames were rotting, the smell of failure and imminent financial ruin hung in the air"; one of their first acts was to raise £205,835 in a share issue which cleared the club's debts. Doug Ellis's first managerial appointment was the outspoken Scottish manager [[Tommy Docherty]], who after initial success, was sacked after 13 months in charge with the club at the foot of Second Division. His replacement was former club captain and reserve team manager [[Vic Crowe]], who could not prevent Villa being relegated to the Third Division for the first time in its history at the end of the [[1969–70 in English football|1969–70]] season.

The following season Villa surprised everyone by beating [[Manchester United]] in the two-legged semi-final to reach the [[1971 Football League Cup Final|1971 League Cup Final]], in which the team played well but were defeated by two late [[Tottenham Hotspur]] goals. There was a renewed sense of optimism at Villa Park as the club was promoted to the Second Division as champions with average attendances of 30,000 and a record 70 points in [[1971–72 in English football|1971–72 season]].<ref>Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; p. 106.</ref> Off the pitch, the board purchased the new 20-acre [[Bodymoor Heath Training Ground]] in December 1971, with a view to improving the club's youth development and coaching facilities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sydenham |first1=Richard |title=Ticket to the Moon |date=2018 |publisher=deCoubertin Books |isbn=978-1-909245-76-1 |page=19}}</ref>