 Aston Villa won their sixth FA Cup in 1920 , soon after though the club began a slow decline that led to Villa , at the time one of the most famous and successful clubs in world football , being relegated in 1936 for the first time to the Second Division . This was largely the result of a <unk> defensive record : they conceded 110 goals in 42 games , 7 of them coming from Arsenal 's Ted Drake in an infamous 1 – 7 defeat at Villa Park . Like all English clubs , Villa lost seven seasons to the Second World War , and that conflict brought several careers to a premature end . The team was rebuilt under the guidance of former player Alex <unk> for the remainder of the 1940s . Aston Villa 's first trophy for 37 years came in the 1956 – 57 season when another former Villa player , Eric Houghton led the club to a then record seventh FA Cup Final win , defeating the ' <unk> <unk> ' of Manchester United in the final . The team struggled in the league though and were relegated two seasons later , due in large part to <unk> . However , under the stewardship of manager Joe Mercer Villa returned to the top @-@ flight in 1960 as Second Division Champions . The following season Aston Villa became the first team to win the Football League Cup . 
