Aston Villa mourning former skipper Ian Ross
Tributes have been paid to former Villa League Cup winning captain and Wolves caretaker boss Ian Ross, who has died aged 72.
The ex-defender skippered Villa to their 1-0 League Cup final win over Norwich City at Wembley in 1975. Villa were also promoted to the First Division that season as runners-up to Manchester United.
Ross had joined the club three years earlier in a £60,000 deal and helped them win the Third Division title.
He later went on to join Wolves as a coach and was caretaker manager for five matches in 1982 when John Barnwell was sacked.
Ross would later manage Huddersfield Town in the early 1990s.
Villa said yesterday: “His consistent performances were an integral part of the claret and blue side of that successful era.
“He was an ever-present in both 1973/74 and 1974/75 and missed only four games during the team’s first season back in the top-flight in 1975/76.
“The thoughts of the football club are with his family and friends at this very sad time.”
Ross played 205 times for Villa, scoring three goals.
He featured 69 times for Liverpool from 1965 to 1972, scoring four times.
Ross scored Liverpool’s only goal of a 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich in the Fairs Cup and was said to have turned in an outstanding display against Franz Beckenbauer.
He also played for Peterborough United (where he made more than 100 appearances), Notts County, Northampton Town and Hereford United.
