Aston Villa FC Overview

Aston Villa was founded in 1874, and has been through good and bad times. Since it’s founded they have been arch rivals with Birmingham City. The club’s most successful years were between 1880 and 1940, when stars such as Archie Hunter emerged. Their biggest success was in 1982 when they won the UEFA Cup Championship under the coaching of Tony Barton. The worst period of time for the team was between the late sixties till the early seventies, when they got relegated all the way to Third Division. Since then, the team has changed ownership, and made it to the Premiership Level. Currently, the team is under the ownership of Randy Lerner and is rated sixth in the Premier League.

Aston Villa FC History

Aston Villa was founded in 1874 by Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood. The team’s first match was against the Aston Brook St Mary's Rugby Team. Aston Villa’s first title was first place in the Birmingham Senior Cup, in 1880.

From 1880 till 1900, Aston Villa had a very successful stay in the First Division League. They won the FA cup under Captain Archie Hunter in 1887 and both the Premier League and FA Cup in 1897. Because of their success during the 1897 season year they moved to from Perry Bar, to Villa Park where they play till this day.

In 1920 Aston Villa won their sixth FA Cup. This was their last win before a long period of failure. The team did so bad that in 1936 the team got relegated in 1936 to Second Division. They lost many games, due of their poor performance on defence. They let opposing teams score a total of 110 goals that during the 1936 season. It wasn’t till the 1940s that the team was again elevated to the Premiership Level.

During the 1950’s and 60’s Aston Villa had up and down years. They won their seventh trophy during the 1956-57 seasons when they beat Manchester United in the FA Cup. However, despite being successful in that season, they were again relegated in the 1958-59 season. Aston Villa easily came back to the premiership level in 1960 after becoming Second Division Champions.

The late sixties till the early seventies were the most turbulent times for Aston Villa. The team’s troubles started as they again became relegated to the second division. But unlike the previous two times, it was no easy for them to become promoted back to First Division. In fact in 1968 Aston Villa finished 16th in the Second Division. Despite many changes in coaching and ownership, the team still became relegated to Third Division.

During the 1970s till the mid eighties the team started recovering from their many loses. They got promoted to Second Division with a record of 70 points in the 1972-73 seasons, and got promoted back to First Division in 1977. In 1982 under the coaching of Tony Barton, Aston Villa won the UEFA Champions League, becoming only the fourth English team to ever do so. This was the biggest victory for Aston Villa, till this day.

In 1992 Aston Villa was one of teams that helped create the Premier League. They finished up runners up to Manchester United that season. During the rest of the nineties Aston Villa’s performance was very inconsistent as they had different positions in the league. In addition to that the team changed coaching staff three times. During the 2000 season Aston Villa went to the FA Cup final but ended up losing to Chelsea FC.

Martin O'Neill replaces David O'Leary for the management position in 2006. Currently, Aston Villa is ranked number six in the Premiership League.

AVFC Rivalries

Birmingham City

The rivalry between Aston Villa and Birmingham City is considered one of the fiercest in English Premier League. It has been going on ever since the clubs first met in 1879. They are rivals due to the fact that both teams find home to be the city of Birmingham, England.

Often there is a lot of fan violence during the games between the two teams. Huge sets of fans get into fights and arguments. Police are often involved in break up the disturbance. The violence got so bad that games between the two teams had to start at noon so that people would not get drunk before the game.

Stars of Aston Villa Squad

John Carew - John Carew started playing for Aston Villa on January 22nd 2007 after he was traded from Olympique Lyonnais for Milan Baros.. Due to his strength, size, and speed he is able to easily get through the defence of opposing teams. Aston Villa relies on him to be the primary forward for the team. Carew also plays for the Norwegian National Team.

Isaiah Osbourne - Osbourne is the team’s elite defensive midfielder. His defence helped the club defeat top ranked teams such as Manchester United. He has been often compared to Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira.

Gareth Barry - Barry is the captain of Aston Villa. He is a very versatile player and he can play on any side at any midfield position.

Aston Villa Legends

Archie Hunter - Archie was the first ever captain of Aston Villa. He took the team to its first FA Cup in 1887. He was the first player to ever score in every round of FA Cup.

Andy Gray - Andy played with Aston Villa for two seasons before being traded to West Bromwich Albion. Even though he had a short stay with the team, he still managed to score 25 league goals, earning himself PFA’s Young Player of the Year Award and the Player’s Player of the Year award.

William Eric Houghton - William Houghton playing with Aston Villa for about twenty years scoring 170 goals in 392 games. After playing with Aston Villa, he became a successful coach with the team taking the team to the F.A Cup in 1967. After coaching his next team, Notts County, Houghton returned to Aston Villa to become take on the position of director. He died at the age of 85. He also played on the England’s national team seven times.

Billy Walker - Billy walker played for Aston Villa for 20 years. He is the all time lead scorer for the team with 244 goals. He won the FA Cup with the team in 1920.

Most Appearances

Most Goals

Player Recognition & Awards

Aston Villa Club Honours

Europe

• UEFA Champions League Winners

  1982- Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich under the coaching of Tony Barton. Became the fourth English team to every do so.

• European Super Cup Winners

  1982–83

• InterToto Cup Winners

  2001

Domestic

• First Division Champions

  1893–94 1895–96 1896–97 1898–99 1899–1900, 1909–10, 1980–81

• Second Division Champions

  1937–38, 1959–60

• Third Division Champions

  1971–72

Cups

• FA Cup Winners

  1887, 1895 18971905, 1913, 1920, 1957

• League Cup Winners

  1961, 1975, 1977, 1994, 1996

• Charity Shield Winners

  1981

Aston Villa Club Management

Owner----American entrepreneur Randy Lerner is the owner of Aston Villa. He bought the team for 62 million pounds on August 14th 2006. In addition to just owning Aston Villa, he also owns the Cleveland Browns.

Manager- - Martin O’ Neill captained the Northern Ireland National Football team and coached the Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City, Leicester City, and Celtic before he started coaching Aston Villa. He led Celtic to three Scottish Premier Club Championships, and the 2003 UEFA Cup final in Seville. He was brought to Aston Villa in 2006 in hopes of taking the team to a championship.

Aston Villa FC Uniforms

Home Uniforms—White shorts, Maroon shirts with blue sleeves, blue socks

Away Uniforms- White shirt, Blue shorts, white socks

Aston Villa Stadium

Aston Villa has played at Villa Park ever since 1897, when they left Perry Bar. It is the eighth largest stadium in England and most used during the semi-finals in all of FA cup history. It has hosted 16 England internationals. Currently the club is trying to expand the North end of the stadium in order to be able to fit a total of 51,000 people.

Aston Villa Sponsors

• Seat
• Nike
• 32 Red
• Seatexchange
• Carlsberg Beer

Important Links

• http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/ (Official league site)
• http://astonvilla.seatexchange.com (official ticket website)
• http://www.visitbirmingham.com/ (city website)

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Houghton
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Park
• http://www.wags-blog.com/category/alesha-dixon/
• http://worldsoccer.about.com/od/englishpremiership/p/astonvilla.htm
• http://www.bebo.com/BlogView.jsp?MemberId=4523868376&BlogId=4524582304
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Villa_F.C._statistics_and_records#honours
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Villa_F.C.