History of Aston Villa F.C. (1961–present)
The history of Aston Villa Football Club from 1961 to the current season covers the fluctuating fortunes of the club during the 1960s and 1970s, the European Cup victory in 1982 and the present day Premier League club.
The late 1960s was a turbulent time for the club. The problems began when the club, under manager
Villa was one of the founding members of the
Instability
Winning the
Events on the pitch came to a head in November 1968. With Villa lying at the bottom of Division Two, the board sacked Cummings. On 21 November 1968 the problems in the boardroom were highlighted when board member George Robinson resigned. Following his resignation, the board issued a statement: "[The board] would make available, by their resignation, such seats as new financial arrangements might require".
Rebuilding
Docherty rebuilt confidence in the team, and Villa went on to win five consecutive games and retained a place in the Second Division. In the short time that Docherty had been at the club, attendances rose significantly from a low of just over 12,000 against
For the club's centenary season of
League and European victories
In the
Its first success was in the 1980–81 season. Villa won their first League Championship in 71 years, fighting off competition from Liverpool and Ipswich Town using only 14 playing staff in the season.[16] The title was sealed the last day of Villa's season when they lost 2–0 at Arsenal but still finished top as Ipswich Town, the only side still in contention for the title, lost to Middlesbrough.[17] This triumph was popularly known as the "transistor championship" as Villa fans had turned up at the game listening to the progress of the Ipswich game on their Transistor radios.
The following season Villa did not start well and were in mid-table at Christmas, although the club was still in the
European Champions and subsequent decline
The final was held in
The win was not followed with more success, and the team performed badly in the following seasons. At the
Taylor, Vengloš and Atkinson
Taylor's first season at Villa ended with automatic promotion as Second Division runners-up, being pipped to the title by
The
Villa in the Premiership
In his first 18 months in charge, Atkinson bought
Leicester City's manager
Ellis appointed
In January 2002, Ellis once again appointed Graham Taylor as manager. Villa finished the
Frustration within the club soon reared its head when, on 14 July 2006, a group of Villa players criticised Ellis's alleged parsimony and lack of ambition in an interview with a local newspaper.[42] The club immediately dismissed the report as "ridiculous", but it emerged over the following few days that a group of senior players had indeed instigated the move, possibly with O'Leary's backing.[43] The following week, O'Leary left the club by mutual consent[44] after three years as Aston Villa manager and his assistant Roy Aitken became caretaker manager.[45]
Lerner era
At a press conference on 4 August 2006, Doug Ellis introduced Martin O'Neill as the new manager. O'Neill described his position as a "fantastic challenge" saying he wanted "to restore [the team] to its days of former glory".[46]
After several years of speculation and failed bids, the 23-year reign of Doug Ellis as chair came to an end. Ellis, the largest shareholder with approximately 38%, decided to sell his stake. For many years supporters' groups had urged him to resign, though the actions including two "Ellis out" protests, and an "Ellis out" march marked an increase in intensity.
The arrival of a new owner and manager marked the start of sweeping changes throughout the club. This included a new crest, a new kit sponsor and new players in the summer of 2007.[51][52] Aston Villa started the 2006–07 Premiership campaign well,[53] with Olof Mellberg scoring the first competitive goal at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. The January signings of John Carew, Ashley Young and Shaun Maloney bolstered the squad. Villa finished in 11th place in the league with 50 points, ending the season with an unbeaten run of nine league games.[54] The last home game of the season, a 3–0 victory over Sheffield United was used to mark the 25th anniversary of Villa winning the European Cup in 1982. Before kick-off, the 1982 winning team paraded the trophy in front of a full stadium. Scarves bearing the words "Proud History—Bright Future" were given out to all home team supporters attending the match.[55]
McLeish's contract was terminated at the end of the 2011–12 season after Villa finished in 16th place, only just above the relegation zone.
Despite saving them from relegation the previous season, Sherwood was fired[70] on 15 October 2015, after six consecutive league losses, with Kevin MacDonald taking the role of interim manager. On 2 November 2015, Frenchman Rémi Garde agreed to a three-and-a-half-year deal to become the manager,[71] but he left on 29 March 2016 with the club rooted to the bottom of the table.[72] The club was eventually relegated from the Premier League on 16 April following a 1–0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.[73]
Tony Xia and Championship football
In June 2016, Chinese businessman
In the 2017–18 season Bruce led Villa to a fourth place after their best winning sequence since 1990, including winning seven games in a row. Having qualified for the play-offs and beating Middlesbrough in the semi-final they ultimately lost 1–0 to Fulham in the
Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens takeover
In July 2018 Aston Villa were taken over by Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens with a 55% controlling stake. They promised significant investment and restructuring of the club.[82] In October 2018 they sacked Bruce with Villa sitting 12th in the table after 11 games.[83] They appointed boyhood Villa fan Dean Smith.[84] Under Smith performances and results improved, with a team record 10-game winning streak in March and April. The team finished 5th in the league and were in the playoffs for the second time in two seasons. They won the playoff final on 27 May 2019 over Derby County 2–1 to return to the Premier League after a three-year absence.[85]
The club spent a net total of £144.5 million to bring in 12 players in the summer 2019 transfer window ahead of their Premier League return:
Villa continued to spend heavily the following season, notably signing Matty Cash, Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Martínez.[89][90] Villa consolidated their Premier League status, finishing the season in 11th place.
The
The 2022–23 season did not begin in better fashion, with summers signings Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos each suffering lengthy injuries early into the campaign, and Villa would win only one of their first six games. Gerrard was sacked in October 2022 after two wins in eleven games and Villa sitting in 17th place. On 24 October 2022, Villa appointed Unai Emery as head coach after paying a buyout fee of a reported €6 million (£5.2 million) to Villarreal,[96] but due to work permit formalities, the appointment did not complete until 1 November.[97] On 6 November, Emery won his first match in charge with a 3–1 win over Manchester United, Villa's first home Premier League victory against United since August 1995,[98] and Villa would win fifteen of their twenty-five league games under Emery and 49 points from a possible 75 since his appointment during the 2022–23 campaign,[99] also setting a new Premier League record for most number of games scored in at the start of a manager’s tenure at 20.[100] 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in April 2023, led to Emery being awarded Premier League Manager of the Month.[101] A 2-1 win over Brighton on the final matchday of the season secured Villa a 7th-place finish and qualification to the UEFA Europa Conference League, the club's first participation in European football since the 2010–11 season.
Aston Villa also saw a number of club records broken during Emery's first seven months in charge, including striker Ollie Watkins not only break the record for number of consecutive games scored in for a Villa player in the Premier League era with five, but also number of consecutive Premier League away games scored in at six,[102] and Emiliano Martínez, with five clean sheets upon the league's restart after the 2022 FIFA World Cup break the record for number of clean sheets for an Aston Villa goalkeeper in his first 100 Premier League games for the club at 34.[103] A 3–0 win against Newcastle United on 15 April 2023 saw Villa win five Premier League games in a row for the first time since 1998,[104] and victory at Villa Park against Brighton on the final matchday not only meant The Villans’ first time winning seven consecutive league games at home since the 1992-93 season,[105] but also their eighteenth league win of the season, fifteenth under Emery, for their joint-most league wins in a 38-game season.[106]
After the end of the 2022–23 season, Aston Villa once again saw changes at the leadership level. With Christian Purslow departing from his role as CEO[107] - which his role being replaced by two people. Former Sevilla Director of Football Monchi arrived as President of Football Operations overseeing recruitment and footballing activities, working closely Unai Emery.[108] Meanwhile, former Philadelphia 76ers President Chris Heck[109] as President of Business Operations.[110] The new leadership oversaw a summer of recruitment which saw Aston VIlla break it's transfer record on the signing of French winger Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen for a reported £51.9m.[111]
References
Notes
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- ^ Ward, Adam, pp. 96–97
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 98
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 96 "...but more worryingly the club continued to lose its best players; Phil Woosnam... headed for America and Hateley left for Chelsea."
- ^ a b c Ward, Adam, p. 100
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 102
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- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 106
- ^ Ward, Adam, pp. 107–108
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 108
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- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 115, "After finishing in the top four and winning the League Cup, Villa were now back in Europe"
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- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 110
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 118
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- ^ Constable, Nick, chpt. "1980–81"
- ^ a b Ward, Adam, p. 129
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- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 124
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 131, "[Spink] produced the performance of a lifetime just when it was needed most"
- ^ a b c Ward, Adam, p. 133
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 135
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 149
- ^ a b Ward, pp. 149–152
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- ^ a b Ward, p. 156
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 161
- ^ Ward, Adam, p. 162
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- ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
Bibliography
- Constable, Nick (2014). Match of the Day: 50 Years of Football. BBC Books. ISBN 978-1-4481-4253-8. (Unpaginated version consulted online via Google Books.)
- Hayes, Dean (1997). The Villa Park Encyclopedia: A–Z of Aston Villa. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85158-959-3.
- Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy. The essential history of Aston Villa. Headline book publishing. ISBN 978-0-7553-1140-8.