Tony Barton, an English footballer played for Portsmouth for most of his career before taking up the role of the coach. He was the assistant to Ron Saunders when Aston Villa won the English League Championship in 1981. Early in 1982, over a disagreement with the contract Ron Saunders resigned that promoted Tony Barton to the post of manager for Villa. At that time, Villa was playing the quarter-finals of the European Cup. Barton’s team went on to defeat Anderlecht in the last four and Bayern Munich in the finals to clinch Aston Villa’s first European Cup title.
