Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Three of Villa's
1897 double-winning team joined Celtic in the summer of 1897, so 1897/98
proved to be a rebuilding period for the club. By the mid- point of
1898/99, Villa had a narrow lead over Everton and Burnley but a late
season run by Liverpool dropped them to second place. It came down to
'last-game decider', with Villa at home to Liverpool. 41,000 spectators
shoe-horned themselves into Villa Park to see an emphatic win by the
home team, 5-0. The season was notable for one of those one-off, never
repeated events that enliven League history. The referee was late
arriving for the match at Sheffield Wednesday. After some deliberation,
it was decided to start without him. Though he took over at half-time,
the delay meant that darkness fell with 10 minutes left to play.
Wednesday were the better team on the day and led 3-1 at the time.
