Pele at Villa: The night Santos came to town...

The programme

February 1972.

The nation is enjoying the ambiance of candlelight more often than it would like as the miners who provide the coal that keeps the country's lights on decide not to, though the three day week is still nearly two years away.

Aston Villa are languishing in the third tier of English football. Well, I say languishing, the team is actually doing rather well and Villa's massive travelling army is providing bigger than usual attendances for Third Division teams around the nation (though the vast majority are based in the north) and having a wonderful time in the process.

The lions have awoken.

Pele is a massive name in world football, having won his third World Cup in Mexico in 1970 and everyone wants to see him in the flesh...and his Santos team are coming to Aston Villa for an “International Friendly”. The world and his wife wants to be there.

Santos will also be playing Sheffield Wednesday on their mini-tour and fear of the dreaded power outages wrecking their big night causes that game to be shunted into the daytime, and a midweek daytime match will inevitably have an impact on the gate, though as one Owls fanatic is famously reported to have to told his son, “If I find out you've been to school and NOT been to see Pele, they'll be serious trouble”.

Villa beat the power cuts with a £5000 generator

Villa's board has a different plan, and knowing that Pele's appearance will guarantee a bulging Villa Park, has invested what is a King's Ransom of £5,000 on a generator that will power, a least in part, the stadium's footlights. While five grand is a lot of money in 1972, the papers on the morning are full of Villa's £70,000 bid for First Division Liverpool's Ian Ross, so that sort of puts things into perspective. Ross will make his Aston Villa debut the following Saturday.

Rumours are also circulating that Santos have decided to up their match fee at last minute or they won't select Pele. With over fifty thousand fans descending on Aston to see the great man, this could easily cause a riot. Whether there's any truth in that story who knows, but Pele does start, so perhaps we've coughed up.

Villa's last home game has been a top of the table clash with Bournemouth and the free scoring Ted McDougall, which has seen over 48,000 packed into Villa Park. On this night they somehow find space for over 6,000 more. The attendance on the night is 54,437 with fans scaling floodlight pylons or clambering onto the ABCD scoreboards to get a decent view.

Gate receipts dwarf those of the previous season's League Cup semi against Manchester United. Meaningless friendly? No. This is a massive deal.

Pele's every touch might be being greeted with enthusiastic cheers, but hey, this is Villa Park and we're Aston Villa. We take the lead just a few minutes in, a Ray Graydon corner finding Charlie Aitken's head. Charlie flicks the ball goalwards and Pat McMahon nods the ball home. One nothing!


We're actually doing all right here. It seems that some that Santos's silky skills aren't entirely suited to the Villa Park February mud. Keeper Cejas has to make a full length save from a rasping Bruce Rioch shot while Pat McMahon has two decent chances to add his tally.

Eventually though there are signs of the Pele magic everyone has come to see, lovely touch with both feet, fantastic dribbling skills, accurate visionary passing and even a cheeky back heel at one stage. It's actually quite annoying when our players close him down because you just want to drink in his mesmerising skill.

We're in for a cracking second half then. Or are we?

Pele and Jack Taylor talk floodlights

Santos keeper Cejas is concerned that configuration of the emergency generator fuelled floodlights has changed during the interval. A pylon that was lit is now in darkness and one that was switched off is now illuminated. He's refusing to play on and his team mates are with him. As the Santos players troop off, Jack Taylor is left stroking his chin and trying to sort something out with Villa officials. The somewhat odd solution is to play the second half with even less light than the first and we get back under way.

The second half isn't that old when Santos defender Leo hacks down Bruce Rioch and Ray Graydon duly obliges from the penalty spot.

By now, a good time is being had by all and when Edu pulls one back for the visitors eighteen minutes from time – a beautiful bending free-kick earned after Pele is hacked down – his goal is met with rapturous applause.

The silky skills of the Latin-Americans have done as much to light up Villa Park as a five grand generator and yet we still run out winners.

A night to savour.

Port Vale are due to visit on the Saturday. They must be terrified.

Aston Villa 2 Santos 1
Competition: International Friendly
Date: Monday 21st February 1972
Venue: Villa Park
Attendance: 54,437
Referee: J.K. Taylor (Wolverhampton)

Goals: McMahon, Graydon, Edu

Aston Villa: Cumbes, Wright, Aitken, Rioch, Curtis, Turnbull, Graydon, McMahon, Lockhead, Hamilton, Martin

Santos: Cejas, Paulo, Ze Carlos, Orlando, Leo, Oberda, Monoel Maria, Nene, Edu, Pele, Ferreria