 Massie made some bold signings in his time with the club, the first of which was 23-year-old Wales international Trevor Ford, who was bought from Swansea for £9,500 in 1946, when Villa finished eighth in the League.Ford would go on to score 60 times in his four seasons at Villa Park, before he was sold in the 1950–51 season to Sunderland for a then British record of £30,000 (£ today).For the remainder of the 1940s and early 1950s, Massie continued to bring in new players whilst the team regularly had mid-table finishes.