And at the rate Villa are going, it may be a while before they produce another league leader. But some 80 years ago, the Villans boasted the most feared scorer in all the league. A man called Pongo.
Thomas Waring was born October 12, 1906 in Birkenhead, England. At the age of 19, he signed for the local side, Tranmere Rovers, who were in the Third Division North at the time. He spent two seasons at the club, tallying a remarkable 23 goals in 24 games.
Pongo particularly terrorized Durham City. During the 1925-26 season Tranmere scored 11 goals in two league games against City, with Pongo netting six. By 1938, the Citizens had disbanded, although they reformed in 1950 and now ply their trade in Division one of the Northern League.
In 1928, Aston Villa signed Waring for $4,700, beating Arsenal, Manchester United and Bolton for the player's signature. Interest was immediate in the new signing; 23,000 fans were in attendance as Pongo made his debut in a reserve match against Birmingham City and he didn't disappoint, scoring three times. Waring played in 13 games at the end of the 1927-28 campaign, scoring seven times.
He began to find his groove the next season, scoring 32 in 42 to fire the Villans to a third-place league finish, just two points behind winners The Wednesday. Injuries and a brief loss of form limited him to 23 games in 1929-30 but he still managed 11 goals.
Waring's season-long purple patch was 1930-31. Aston Villa terrorized opposing defenses all year long, scoring 128 times in 42 matches but finished second in the league--seven points behind Arsenal--largely in part to a defense that shipped 78. Villa also lost in the second round of the FA Cup, falling to the Gunners in a replay.
Pongo was the undoubted star, scoring 49 goals in 40 league games. For good measure, he added another one in the Cup giving him 50, an average of 1.25 per game (or a goal every 72 minutes). It's the second-highest scoring season for any player in England's top division following only Dixie Dean's famous 60 for Everton in 1927-28. And he was on target the next year too, scoring 30 in 38.
That was the high point of Waring's career. In 1931 Villa signed Dai Astley, who pushed Waring for a spot in the team. Eventually, the competition pushed Pongo out of the club altogether as he signed for Barnsley in 1935.
Waring captured the imagination of the Villa fans. He was famously sent off during a game against Spurs in 1934 and as he walked towards the tunnel with his head bowed, he received a rapturous ovation. After leaving the club, some 5,000 fans demanded his immediate return.
He was also popular with his teammates. Villa captain Billy Walker once wrote: "There were no rules for Pongo. Nobody knew when he would turn up for training, ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock it made no odds. Nobody on the staff could do anything with him although I think I can claim--as captain in those days--to be the only person able to handle him.
"He was a funny lad indeed. We started the week's training on Tuesday morning and every Tuesday he followed a habit he could never break. He would go round all the refreshment bars on the ground and finish off the lemonade customers, storing the remains in the bottles! Then he would start a little of his training but that seldom lasted long."
Needless to say, what Walker referred to as lemonade was something considerably stronger.
Pongo scored seven goals in 18 games for Barnsley before moving to Wolves where he scored three in 10. He returned to Tranmere in 1936 and stayed until 1938, scoring 42 in 74 before joining Accrington Stanley for the last 22 games of the 1938 season, scoring 10 times.
The rest of his career played out in the lower leagues, with spells at Bath City, Ellesmere Port Town (twice), Graysons, Birkenhead Dockers, Harrowby and New Brighton. By the time he hung up his boots for good, Waring had 243 goals in 363 matches while adding four more in five England appearances.
Waring's nickname came from his resemblance to a famous cartoon character at the time. He was also known as "The Gay Cavalier."
After his playing days ended, Waring worked at the Hercules Motor and Cycle Company in Aston. He died on December 20, 1980 at the age of 74 and his ashes were scattered in the Houlte End goalmouth before a game against Stoke.
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