Aston Villa Football Club
OVERVIEW
Aston Villa Football Club (also known as The Villa, Villa and The Villans) is an English professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, who currently play in the Premier League. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founding members of The Football League in 1888 and the Premier League in 1992.The club was floated by the previous owner and chairman Doug Ellis, but in 2006 full control of the club was acquired by Randy Lerner.
They are one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in England, having won the First Division Championship seven times and the FA Cup seven times.
Villa are also one of only four English clubs to win the European Cup, which they did in 1982 with victory over Bayer Munich, under caretaker manager Tony Barton.
Aston Villa is the fourth most successful club in English football history, having won 20 major honours, although many of these were won before the Second World War and the most recent was in 1996, when they won the League Cup (3-0 against Leeds United).
CLUB HISTORY
In 1874, a group of cricketers needing something to occupy them during winter happened to see a game of football in the park. Thus Aston Villa was born. Their fisrt match was unusual in that the fisrt half was played under rubgy rules and the second under football rules. Villa fast became the Midlands’ dominant side, beating Small Heath Alliance – later to become arch-rivals Birmingham City – 22-0 on one occasion.
Aston Villa were one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888 and enjoyed instant success. In the 1890s, they won five titles in seven seasons. Villa were also the first side to the league and cup double in 1897. A week later, they moved to Aston Lower Grounds, which the fans dubbed Villa Park.
Villa’s winning ways continued into the early 1900s, but their fortunes dwindled and in 1937 they were relegated. After the Second World War, the team was totally rebuilt. But apart from a 1957 FA Cup win, previous levels of success were never achieved.
Aston Villa reached a new low in 1971, when they were relegated to the Third Division. The club’s fortunes changed 10 years later when Ron Saunders led them to the league title. The following year, in 1982, under caretaker manager Tony Barton, the club won the European Cup with victory over Bayer Munich.
Villa were relegated from the top flight in 1987 but bounced back at the first attempt. They finished Premier League runners-up under manager Ron Atkinson in 1993 and they won League Cup twice over Manchester United and Leeds in 1994 and 1996 respectively.
They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with local rivals Birmingham City, although West Bromwich Albion is actually the closest professional football club. The Birmingham derby between Aston Villa and Birmingham City has been played since 1879.
STADIUM
Aston Villa’s current home venue is Villa Park, which is a UEFA 4-star rated stadium, having previously played at Aston Park (1874–1876) and Perry Barr (1876–1897). Villa Park is currently the largest football stadium in the Midlands, and the eighth largest stadium in England. It has hosted 16 England internationals at senior level, the first in 1899, and the most recent in 2005. Thus it was the first English ground to stage international football in three different centuries.
Villa Park is the most used stadium in FA Cup semi-final history, having hosted 55 semi-finals. The Club have planning permission to extend the North Stand; This will involve the ‘filling in’ of the corners to either side of the North Stand. If completed, the capacity of Villa Park (42,640) will be increased to approximately 51,000.
The current training ground is located at Bodymoor Heath in north Warwickshire, the site for which was purchased by former Aston Villa Chairman Doug Ellis in the early 1970s from a local farmer. Although Bodymoor Heath was state-of-the-art in the 1970s, by the late 1990s the facilities had started to look dated. In November 2005, Ellis and Aston Villa plc announced a state of the art GB£13 million redevelopment of Bodymoor in 2 phases. However, work on Bodymoor was suspended by Ellis due to financial problems, and was left in an unfinished state until new owner Randy Lerner made it one of his priorities to make the site one of the best in world football. The new training ground was officially unveiled on 6 May 2007, by current manager Martin O’Neill, former team captain Gareth Barry and 1982 European Cup winning team captain Dennis Mortimer, with the Aston Villa squad moving in for the 2007–08 season.
CLUB COLOURS AND CREST
The club colours are claret shirt with sky blue sleeves, white shorts with claret and blue trim, and sky blue socks with claret and white trim.
Nobody is quite sure why claret and blue became the club’s adopted colours. The main theory surrounding the colours suggests that with the Scottish influence of characters such as George Ramsay and William McGregor the kit was created from the combination of the maroon of Hearts and the blue of Rangers, with the Scottish lion rampant included in the badge.
Aston Villa’s success inspired some other clubs to adopt claret as their home colours, most notably Burnley and West Ham United.
A new crest was revealed on 2 May 2007, for the 2007–08 season and beyond. The new crest includes a star to represent the European Cup win in 1982, and has a light blue background behind Villa’s ‘lion rampant’. The traditional motto “Prepared” remains in the crest, and the name Aston Villa has been shortened to AVFC, FC having been omitted from the previous crest. Randy Lerner petitioned fans to help with the design of the new crest. The three kits that carry the new crest were unveiled on 17 July 2007, in The Mailbox, Birmingham.
On 2 June 2008 it was announced that Aston Villa will forgo commercial kit sponsorship for the 2008–09 season; instead they will advertise the charity Acorns Children’s Hospice, the first deal of its kind in Premiership history.
PREMIER LEAGUE HISTORY
1992-1993 – Premier League runners-up
1993-1994 – Wins the League Cup (Aston Villa 3-1 Manchester United)
1994-1995 – Brian Little replaces Ron Atkinson as manager
1995-1996 – Wins the League Cup (Aston Villa 3-0 Leeds United)
1997-1998 – John Gregory replaces Brian Little
1999-2000 – Lost FA Cup final (Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa)
2001-2002 – Gregory quits in January. Former manager Graham Taylor takes over
2002-2003 – David O’Leary replaces Taylor in May
2005-2006 – At the end of the season O’Leary leaves. Randy Lerner buys a majority share in the club. Martin O’Neill is appointed manager
2006-2007 – Signs Ashley Young from Watford for a club record £9.65 million
2007-2008 – Signs Nigel Reo-Coker and Marlon Harewood from West Ham United and Zat Knight from Fullham
STATISTICS AND RECORDS
To date Aston Villa have spent 98 seasons in the top-flight, the only club to have spent longer in the top-flight is Everton with 105 seasons. As a result, Aston Villa versus Everton is the most played fixture in English top-flight football.
Aston Villa is one of an elite group of seven clubs that has played in every Premiership season, they are: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Aston Villa is fifth in the All-time FA Premier League table. Aston Villa is the fourth most successful club in English football history, having won 21 major honours.
Aston Villa currently hold the record number of league goals scored by any team in the English top-flight; 128 goals were scored in the 1930–31 season. Villa legend Archie Hunter became the first player to score in every round of the FA Cup in Villa’s victorious 1887 campaign. Villa’s longest unbeaten home run in the FA Cup spanned 13 years and 19 games, from 1888 to 1901.
Aston Villa are one of four English teams that have won the European Champions Cup. The other three are Liverpool, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest. They did so on 26 May 1982 in Rotterdam, beating Bayern Munich 1–0 thanks to Peter Withe’s goal.