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
Aston Villa F.C. to choose Frank Pike's scarf from an array in the BBC wardrobe; he chose a claret and blue one—Aston Villa's colours. The character Nessa in the BBC sitcom "Gavin & Stacey" was revealed as an Aston Villa fan in an episode screened in December 2009. In the 1952 film The Card, the main character Denry Machin becomes a town councillor and purchases the rights to locally born Aston Villa player 'Callear', the "greatest centre-forward in England", for the failing local football club. Villa have also featured on several occasions in prose. Stanley Woolley, a character in Derek Robinson's Booker shortlisted