1998–99 in English football gets the manager's job on a permanent basis. 28 October 1998 – Chelsea player-manager Gianluca Vialli scores a hat-trick in the 4–1 League Cup third round win over Aston Villa. Making his debut as a late substitute is 17-year-old defender John Terry. On the same day, striker Brian Laudrup's departure from Chelsea is announced after just four months at the club. 31 October 1998 – Ron Reeves, a 55-year-old steward, is killed outside Highfield Road stadium after being crushed by the Arsenal team coach just before a game with Coventry City. The month ends with Aston Villa still top, a
History of Aston Villa F.C. (1874–1961) the top teams needed to play each other in a league much like American baseball teams did. McGregor wrote to the twelve leading clubs in England proposing the formation of a league, what would later be known as the English Football League. Aston Villa were one of the dozen teams that competed in the inaugural Football League in 1888. Villa's first League game came on 8 September 1888, when they drew 1–1 Wolverhampton Wanderers as Tom Green scored the club's first League goal. Villa finished runners-up to Preston North End in that inaugural season. It did not take long for