Author: Ardan Beveridge

Villa fan despite a childhood spent five minutes from Stamford Bridge. 17 years into my lifetime and I've already seen Villa reach four finals at Wembley, win ten games on the bounce, and a Scottish full-back turn into Cafu. Writing about the highs and the lows, thanks for reading my articles - I'll try to reply to any comments left. UTV

Former B6 favourite Ashley Young re-signed for the Villans this summer, after spending 18 months in Serie A with title-winning Inter Milan. After seeing out his contract in Italy, Villa were quick to respond to Youngs’ desire to return to home shores. At 36 years old, this is possibly his last stint in the professional game. Why it makes sense Dean Smith is an advocate for having members of the squad below the age of 30. However, the opportunity to bring veteran Young into the team was clearly incredibly important to the manager. So much so, he was willing to…

Read More

With less than a year left on his Aston Villa contract, Conor Hourihane’s days at Bodymoor Heath look numbered. Rumours this weekend have suggested the Republic of Ireland midfielder could be on the move with various clubs interested. The Irishman joined the club midway through the first season in the Championship. The following season, he was pivotal as the club reached the play-off final, losing to Fulham in the end. At the third attempt, Hourihane’s endeavour paid off as he played the full 90’ in Villa’s victory over Derby County – promoting them back to the big time. Beginning of…

Read More

Six months into his claret and blue career, Morgan Sanson has only made nine appearances for Aston Villa. With only three starts, the former Marseille man impressed the Villa faithful with his hard-tackling, defensive solidity, and surprisingly good pace. However, after suffering a knee injury in the 3-1 victory over Fulham in April, Sanson’s race was run and he was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Now the Frenchman is back to full fitness, he will rejoin the group when the squad re-unites for pre-season. Along with Emi Buendia and Ashley Young, the midfielder can be forgiven for…

Read More

The European Championships and Copa América are being played this summer across Europe and Brazil respectively. Aston Villa have participants across the globe, competing to win silverware for their nations. The European Championships England: Jack Grealish, Tyrone Mings Both Captain Jack and his deputy skipper are at the Euros as part of Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad. After making his debut for England in October 2019 (against Bulgaria), Mings has been capped 12 times by the three lions. The injury sustained to Harry Maguire (at Villa Park) at the end of the Premier League season, opened the door for Mings to…

Read More

Pape Matar Sarr is a Senegalese defensive midfielder, playing in Ligue 1 for French club FC Metz. Transfer rumours linking the player to Aston Villa have been thrust into consideration over the past few weeks and continue to dominate social media. At 18 years old, and with only a single season of professional football under his belt, why are Aston Villa hunting for Sarr’s signature this summer? Rapid rise Sarr began his senior career in his native Senegal. Graduating from the Génération Foot Football academy (one of Africa’s most prestigious), he was a bright spark in a team consisting of…

Read More

In the final release of this look-back series, I’ve collated two-season’s together. In both the 2009/10 and 2010/11 campaigns, Villa lost to the same opposition, at the same stage, in the same competition! Villa were drawn with Rapid Wien (Austria) in the play-off rounds (qualifiers) of the new Europa League. Play-off, First Leg Rapid Wien 1-0 Aston Villa 20th August 2009, Gerhard Hanappi Stadion, 17,500 In an event that defined the tie for the next two years, Wien scored after just 17 seconds! A long ball was poorly dealt with by the Villa defence before Habib Beye failed to block…

Read More

When Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens took over Aston Villa in 2018, they talked of their ambitions to ‘restore Aston Villa to the highest levels of English football’. A particular comment from Sawiris, on how he ‘dared to bring the club back to its original glory’, has encapsulated Villans ever since. After a whirlwind three seasons in charge, Dean Smith is beginning to build a squad capable of rocking the big-six ‘elite’. A top-half league finish will be the aim for the Villans next season and with the introduction of the Europa Conference League, as many as the first eight…

Read More

After maintaining Aston Villa’s place at the Premier League table last year, right-back – Frédéric Guilbert was promptly replaced with a new arrival at Bodymoor Heath. Matty Cash was signed from Nottingham Forest as Villa splashed out triple what they’d paid for the Frenchman. As the new 2020/21 season progressed, it became clear Guilbert’s minutes on the pitch were to be few and far between. With Ahmed Elmohamady taking the right-back spot on the bench, Guilbert failed to register a league appearance. In total, he played 180 minutes for the Villans this campaign – both 90’s coming in the League…

Read More

Defensive improvement at Aston Villa has been a running narrative through the 2020/21 Premier League season. Along the back-line, Matt Targett and Ezri Konsa have developed into top talents at astounding rates – both now beckon England call ups. Summer signing Matty Cash has strengthened the right-flank of defence when many (including myself) felt no need to replace Frédéric Guilbert in that position. Tyrone Mings continues to solidify his place in Gareth Southgate’s national team whilst also taking the armband in the absence of Jack Grealish. It goes without saying that Emi Martinez has been pivotal in the rise up…

Read More

Aston Villa competed in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup after successfully navigating the newly introduced qualifying stages. Odense Boldklub (Denmark), Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar (Iceland), and PFC Litex Lovech (Bulgaria) were all dispatched by Martin O’Neill’s men in order to reach the group stages – another new feature of the competition. Aston Villa were placed in Group F, alongside Hamburger (Germany), Ajax (Netherlands), MŠK Žilina (Slovakia), and Slavia Prague (Czech Republic). Each group consisted of five teams, with every club playing four fixtures – two at home, two away. Group F, Match 1 Aston Villa 2-1 Ajax 23rd October 2008, Villa Park, 36,657…

Read More