1989–90 in English football for 19–year–old Leytonstone defender Warren Barton. 31 July 1989 – Norwich City pay Coventry City £525,000 for Welsh winger David Phillips. 3 August 1989 – Nottingham Forest pay Leeds United £650,000 for Republic of Ireland midfielder John Sheridan. 7 August 1989 – Everton sign Aston Villa defender Martin Keown for £750,000. 14 August 1989 – Adrian Heath returns to English football after less than a year in Spain when he joins Aston Villa from Espanyol for £360,000. 18 August 1989 – Property tycoon Michael Knighton agrees to buy control of Manchester United in a deal which is believed to be
History of Aston Villa F.C. (1874–1961) were back in the top-flight of English football. Their Aston Villa reserves (or seconds) team enlisted in the army and were captured at the Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940. In December in an Eastern German camp, a German Guard regiment challenged British prisoners of war to a game of football; the guards were being defeated 27–0 when they stopped the game, only then learning these prisoners were Aston Villa's second team. For Villa, as with all English clubs, the Second World War brought about the loss of seven seasons, and several careers were brought to a premature end by the