Editing Ron Atkinson (section)

===Aston Villa===
Taking over from [[Jozef Venglos]], Atkinson led Aston Villa to second place in the inaugural [[FA Premier League]] season in [[1992-93 Aston Villa F.C. season|1992–93]] and to victory in the League Cup in 1994, securing (ultimately short-lived) [[UEFA Cup]] campaigns for both of these successes. As of 2021, Atkinson's second place remains the highest-ever finish by an English manager in the Premier League, subsequently equalled by [[Kevin Keegan]] in [[1995–96 FA Premier League|1995–96]].

Despite leading Villa to their first major success since their 1982 [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]] triumph, a mutual dislike between Villa chairman [[Doug Ellis]] and Atkinson that developed from 1992, inevitably resulted in him being sacked on 10 November 1994 following a 4–3 defeat at the hands of [[Wimbledon F.C.|Wimbledon]] – three days after Ellis had given Atkinson a "vote of confidence" in the media, stating that Atkinson was one of England's "top three football managers". By this stage, an ageing Villa side that had so nearly won the league title 18 months earlier were now among the relegation battlers. He was replaced by [[Brian Little (footballer)|Brian Little]], who kept Villa in the top flight and built a new younger team.