Editing Brian Little (section)

==Playing career==
On leaving school in May 1969, Little signed for [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] who would be relegated to the [[Football League Third Division|Third Division]] for the first and only time in their history the following season. 

Little played a full season for the Aston Villa Youth side and subsequently made his senior debut on 30 October 1971, in a 4–1 win over [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]] in the Third Division at [[Villa Park]]. He only made two senior appearances that season but was a key player in Villa's [[FA Youth Cup]] winning side of 1972. By [[1973–74 in English football|1973–74]], with Villa in the Second Division, he was a regular first team player.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brian Little|url=http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football/england/brian-little-5347/biography-1975_a11824/|work=Sporting Heroes|access-date=23 April 2013}}</ref> He made 247 appearances for the club and scored 60 goals, and made one full international appearance for [[England national football team|England]] in 1975.

He was part of Villa's [[Football League Cup|League Cup]] winning teams of 1975 and 1977, scoring two goals in the second replay victory over Everton in the latter final, as well as helping the club climb from the Third to [[Football League First Division|First Division]] in the early part of the decade, scoring 20 league goals in the [[1974–75 in English football|1974–75 season]] when they were runners-up and clinched promotion to the First Division. His playing career came to a halt in 1980 when he retired at the age of 26 due to a knee injury.

Ironically , the previous year it was a congenital spinal defect that was detected in x-rays when Little was undergoing a medical at Villa's local rivals [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]]. This meant his intended transfer there was cancelled. He was a flamboyant forward who formed a particularly prolific partnership with [[Andy Gray (footballer born 1955)|Andy Gray]]. Little is regarded as an all-time great at [[Villa Park]], and in 2007 he was named as one of the 12 founder members of the [[Aston Villa Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite news|date=28 June 2007|url=http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HallOfFame/0,,10265,00.html|title=Aston Villa – Hall of Fame|publisher=Aston Villa Official Website|access-date=28 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015041500/http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HallOfFame/0%2C%2C10265%2C00.html|archive-date=15 October 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>