It’s all the Villa

Aston Villa is a Championship club that hasn’t been one of the top runners in the English football leagues in recent years. It has been a club that has managed to retain massive support throughout its history despite not really being able to offer prestige of being a top Premier League club – and even its shots at FA Cup Victory in recent history haven’t been great. In fact, the last time Aston Villa experienced a real tournament win was way back in 2001 when it won the not so well-known Intertoto Cup and before that the League Cup on 1995-1996 season. However, this has not always been the case. This is a club that has had a successful and interesting footballing history and it is this that has meant its supporters have always remained true.

THE HISTORY OF ASTON VILLA

If you want to make a bet on a Championship team at Mr Green, then Aston Villa aren’t a bad team as they have had a reasonably successful past and have the quality to do well in the league as previous Premiership players. Aston Villa was originally founded in 1874 and have been playing at Villa Park since 1897. In fact, Aston Villa was one of the founding members of the football league when it originated back in 1888 and also of the Premier League when that was established back in 1992.

Despite the club not now being known for having an abundance of silverware in its trophy cabinet, this is a club that is, in fact, one of only 5 English clubs to have ever been named as the champions of Europe – when it won the European Cup back in the 1981-1982 season. As well as this, in the past they have won the First Division Championship an impressive 7 times, the FA Cup 7 times, the Football League Cup 5 times and the UEFA Super Cup once. So, this is a club that has had a pretty successful history.
Although currently in the Championship, Villa was originally in the Premier League and the first season was very successful for Aston Villa, as it managed to come 2nd to Manchester United. However, because of a lack of consistency with the managers, its performance in the following seasons was increasingly unpredictable. They did have some success in the 1990s with 2 League Cups, UEFA Cup qualifications and runners-up in the FA Cup. However, the future of the club was thrown into disarray when the leadership of the club fell apart in 2006.

Fortunately for the club, Martin O’Neill stepped into the helm in 2007 and there was a lot of excitement within the club. It got a new badge, new sponsor and made big team changes. This seemed to be short-lived though. Despite performing well in many games, their lack of success in getting any tournament victories saw his resignation in 2011. Things went from pretty bad to much worse after this, with the 2014-15 season seeing them score just 12 goals in 25 league games – the lowest ever in Premiership history. Although they managed to just avoid relegation that season, they didn’t manage to avoid it the following season and were relegated to the Championships league for the first time since 1987.

ABOUT THE VILLA

Villa has always been noted for its claret shirt with blue sleeves and those colours are synonymous with the club now. The badge of the club has always consisted of a golden lion with the team colours in the background, although it was updated in 2016 for a more striking look. One thing that makes Aston Villa stand out is the fact that there are times when the club has actually advertised the charity Acorns Children’s Hospice instead of using the space to advertise paid commercial sponsors. This ended in 2010 when a more financially rewarding sponsorship was needed, although Acorns Children’s Hospice did become the official charity partner of the club and in 2014 the name of the charity returned to the official children’s shirts to reaffirm the support.

In the club’s history, it has had various sponsors, ranging from lesser-known companies to huge names, such as Nike, who sponsored it from 2007-2012, whilst there was the spirit of optimism with Martin O’Neill. This changed when the club hit a bad patch in the league and it was replaced by in 2012-2017. However, since it’s relegation it is now sponsored by Unibet. With such a good sponsorship deal under its belt, it may well have decent money to invest in its club and players and its current standing of 4th in the league, this may not be the last we see of Villa in the Premiership.