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= Aston Villa F.C. =
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Aston Villa Football Club ( / ΛΓ¦stΙn ΛvΙͺlΙ / ; nicknamed Villa , The Villa , The Villans , The Lions ) is a professional association football club based in Aston , Birmingham , that plays in the Championship , the second level of English football . Founded in 1874 , they have played at their current home ground , Vill... |
Aston Villa are one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in the history of English football . Villa won the 1981 β 82 European Cup , and are thus one of five English clubs to win what is now the UEFA Champions League . They have the fifth highest total of major honours won by an English club , having won t... |
They have a fierce local rivalry with Birmingham City . The Second City derby between Aston Villa and Birmingham City has been played since 1879 . The club 's traditional kit colours are claret shirts with sky blue sleeves , white shorts and sky blue socks . Their traditional badge is of a rampant lion , which was int... |
= = History = =
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Aston Villa Football Club were formed in March 1874 , by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth which is now part of Birmingham . The four founders of Aston Villa were Jack Hughes , Frederick Matthews , Walter Price and William Scattergood . Aston Villa 's first match was against the local Aston Broo... |
The club won their first FA Cup in 1887 with captain Archie Hunter becoming one of the game 's first household names . Aston Villa were one of the dozen teams that competed in the inaugural Football League in 1888 with one of the club 's directors , William McGregor being the league 's founder . Aston Villa emerged as... |
Aston Villa won their sixth FA Cup in 1920 , soon after though the club began a slow decline that led to Villa , at the time one of the most famous and successful clubs in world football , being relegated in 1936 for the first time to the Second Division . This was largely the result of a dismal defensive record : the... |
Mercer 's forced retirement from the club in 1964 signalled a period of deep turmoil . The most successful club in England was struggling to keep pace with changes in the modern game , with Villa being relegated for the third time , under manager Dick Taylor in 1967 . The following season the fans called for the board... |
Villa were back among the elite as Saunders continued to mould a winning team . This culminated in a seventh top @-@ flight league title in 1980 β 81 . To the surprise of commentators and fans , Saunders quit halfway through the 1981 β 82 season , after falling out with the chairman , with Villa in the quarter final o... |
Villa were one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992 , and finished runners @-@ up to Manchester United in the inaugural season . For the rest of the Nineties however Villa went through three different managers and their league positions were inconsistent , although they did win two League Cups and reg... |
The arrival of a new owner in Lerner and of manager Martin O 'Neill marked the start of a new period of optimism at Villa Park and sweeping changes occurred throughout the club including a new badge , a new kit sponsor and team changes in the summer of 2007 . The first Cup final of the Lerner era came in 2010 when Vil... |
= = Colours and badge = =
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The club colours are a claret shirt with sky blue sleeves , white shorts with claret and blue trim , and sky blue socks with claret and white trim . They were the original wearers of the claret and blue . Villa 's colours at the outset generally comprised plain shirts ( white , grey or a shade of blue ) , with either ... |
( i ) Proposed and seconded that the colours be chocolate and sky blue shirts and that we order two dozen .
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( ii ) Proposed and seconded that Mr McGregor be requested to supply them at the lowest quotation .
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The chocolate colour later became claret . Nobody is quite sure why claret and blue became the club 's adopted colours . Several other English football teams adopted their colours ; clubs that wear claret and blue include West Ham United and Burnley .
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A new badge was revealed in May 2007 , for the 2007 β 08 season and beyond . The new badge 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 badge , and the name Aston Villa has been shortened... |
On 6 April 2016 , the club confirmed that it will be using a new badge from the 2016 β 17 season after consulting fan groups for suggestions . The lion in the new badge will have claws added to it and the word " Prepared " will be removed to increase the size of the lion and club initials in the badge .
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= = = Kit sponsorship = = =
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Aston Villa forwent commercial kit sponsorship for the 2008 β 09 and 2009 β 10 seasons ; instead advertising the charity Acorns Children 's Hospice , the first deal of its kind in Premier league history . The partnership continued until 2010 when a commercial sponsor replaced Acorns , with the hospice becoming the clu... |
Since 2015 Villa 's shirt sponsors have been Quickbooks . Previous commercial sponsors have been Davenports ( 1982 β 83 ) , Mita ( 1983 β 93 ) , MΓΌller ( 1993 β 95 ) , AST Computer ( 1995 β 98 ) , LDV ( 1998 β 2000 ) , NTL ( 2000 β 02 ) , Rover ( 2002 β 04 ) , DWS Investments ( 2004 β 06 ) , 32Red.com ( 2006 β 08 ) , ... |
= = Stadium = =
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Aston Villa 's current home venue is Villa Park , which is a UEFA 5 @-@ star rated stadium , having previously played at Aston Park ( 1874 β 1876 ) and Wellington Road ( 1876 β 1897 ) . Villa Park is the largest football stadium in the English Midlands , and the eighth largest stadium in England . It has hosted 16 Eng... |
The current training ground is located at Bodymoor Heath near Kingsbury in north Warwickshire , the site for which was purchased by former 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... |
It was announced on 6 August 2014 , that Villa Park would appear in the FIFA video game from FIFA 15 onwards , with all other Premier League stadiums also fully licensed from this game onwards .
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= = Ownership = =
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The first shares in the club were issued towards the end of the 19th century as a result of legislation that was intended to codify the growing numbers of professional teams and players in the Association Football leagues . FA teams were required to distribute shares to investors as a way of facilitating trading among... |
On 14 August 2006 , it was confirmed that Randy Lerner , then owner of the National Football League 's Cleveland Browns , had reached an agreement of Β£ 62 @.@ 6 million with Aston Villa for a takeover of the club . A statement released on 25 August to the LSE announced that Lerner had secured 59 @.@ 69 % of Villa shar... |
Lerner put the club up for sale in May 2014 , valuing it at an estimated Β£ 200 million .
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On 18 May 2016 , Randy Lerner agreed the sale of Aston Villa to Recon Group , owned by Chinese businessman Xia Jiantong . The sale was completed on 14 June 2016 for a reported Β£ 76 million after being approved by the Football League , with the club becoming part of Recon Group 's Sport , Leisure and Tourism division .... |
= = Social responsibility = =
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Aston Villa have a unique relationship with the Acorns Children 's Hospice charity that is groundbreaking in English football . In a first for the Premier League , Aston Villa donated the front of the shirt on their kit , usually reserved for high @-@ paying sponsorships , to Acorns Hospice so that the charity would g... |
In September 2010 , Aston Villa launched an initiative at Villa Park called Villa Midlands Food ( VMF ) where the club will spend two years training students with Aston Villa Hospitality and Events in association with Birmingham City Council . The club will open a restaurant in the Trinity Road Stand staffed with 12 s... |
= = Supporters and rivalries = =
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Aston Villa have a large fanbase and draw support from all over the Midlands and beyond , with supporters ' clubs all across the world . Former Villa chief executive Richard Fitzgerald has stated that the ethnicity of the supporters is currently 98 % white . When Randy Lerner 's regime took over at Villa Park , they a... |
Like many English football clubs Aston Villa have had several hooligan firms associated with them : Villa Youth , Steamers , Villa Hardcore and the C @-@ Crew , the last mentioned being very active during the 1970s and 1980s . As can be seen across the whole of English football , the hooligan groups have now been marg... |
Aston Villa 's arch @-@ rivals are Birmingham City , with games between the two clubs known as the Second City Derby . Historically though , West Bromwich Albion have arguably been Villa 's greatest rivals , a view highlighted in a fan survey , conducted in 2003 . The two teams contested three FA Cup finals in the lat... |
= = Statistics = =
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As of the end of the 2014 β 15 season , Aston Villa have spent 104 seasons in the top tier of English football ; the only club to have spent longer in the top flight are Everton , with 112 seasons , making Aston Villa versus Everton the most @-@ played fixture in English top @-@ flight football . Aston Villa were in a... |
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 β 31 season , one more than Arsenal who won the league that season for the very first time , with Villa runners @-@ up . Villa legend Archie Hunter became the first player to sc... |
Aston Villa are one of five English teams to have won the European Cup . They did so on 26 May 1982 in Rotterdam , beating Bayern Munich 1 β 0 thanks to Peter Withe 's goal .
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= = Club honours = =
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Aston Villa have won European and domestic league honours . The club 's last major honour was in 1996 when they won the League Cup .
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= = = Domestic = = =
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League titles
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First Division 7 : 1893 β 94 , 1895 β 96 , 1896 β 97 , 1898 β 99 , 1899 β 1900 , 1909 β 10 , 1980 β 81
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Second Division 2 : 1937 β 38 , 1959 β 60
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Third Division 1 : 1971 β 72
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Cups
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FA Cup 7 :
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1886 β 87 , 1894 β 95 , 1896 β 97 , 1904 β 05 , 1912 β 13 , 1919 β 20 , 1956 β 57
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League Cup 5 :
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1960 β 61 , 1974 β 75 , 1976 β 77 , 1993 β 94 , 1995 β 96
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FA Charity Shield 1 :
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1981
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Football League War Cup 1 :
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1944 ( shared )
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= = = European = = =
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European Cup 1 :
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1981 β 82
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European Super Cup 1 :
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1982
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Intertoto Cup 2 :
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2001 , 2008
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= = = Other sports = = =
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English Baseball Championship
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1890
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= = Players = =
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