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A brief history of Aston Villa FC
By Nathan Jackson July 14 2008
Aston Villa are a club with rich tradition. They have had success domestically and in Europe and are one of just four English sides to have won the European Cup. However, it's not always been peachy for Aston Villa, but they have always managed to follow a relegation with a quick promotion back.

Aston Villa are a club with a vast tradition of top flight football. They are one of a very, very select group of teams who were founder members of both the Football League (in 1888), and the Premier League (in 1992). In that time they have established themselves as one of the world's most successful football clubs and are currently in that group of teams who fancy themselves to pip Liverpool to fourth spot next season.

Aston Villa were founded in 1874 by the members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Aston. In a rather strange match, Aston Villa played against the Aston Brook Rugby team for their first ever match, although the first half was played under the rules of Rugby. I wonder what sort of match that would produce these days?

The club's first major piece of silverware came with the 1886/7 FA Cup and they were also one of the founding members of the Football League just a year earlier. Villa were the most successful club in the time of Queen Victoria, amasing League titles and Cups to go with it. Villa won the double in 1897 and moved to Aston Lower Grounds, soon to be renamed Villa Park.

A sixth FA Cup success followed in 1920 but that was the last success for several years, being relegated to the Second Division in 1936 with a team that conceded 110 goals, including a 7-1 defeat to the dominant Arsenal team of the era.

37 years after their last trophy, Villa again won the FA Cup, defeating Manchester United in the 1956/7 season. Two years later and they were relegated again. They returned to the top flight in 1960 as Champions and they also won the inaugural League Cup in 1960/61.

Villa were relegated for a third time in 1967 following several takeovers and managerial changes. Villa finished 16th in the Second Division and it looked as though Aston Villa were coming to an end. However, they were rescued as Pat Matthews brought the club, placing Doug Ellis as Chairman. Despite this upturn in off the field fortunes, they were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in 1969/70. A 70 point haul in 1971/2 was a new record under the 2 point system and they returned to the Second Division as the Champions.

Ron Saunders took over the managerial reigns at Villa Park and he is one of the most successful manager's in Villa's history, not only seeing them return to the first division, but winning it and building the side that conquered Europe. He wouldn't be there to celebrate that success though, he had quit halfway through the season and Tony Barton was in charge as they defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 at the Rotterdam Arena.

That was a turning point though and Villa were again relegated in 1987. However, their stay in the second tier didn't last long, returning a year later and then finishing as runners up in 1988/9.

They fought out a brilliant battle with Manchester United and Norwich City in the first Premiership season. The trio all fought for the title and Villa had an excellent record against United that season, remaining unbeaten against them in the League and knocking them out of the cup.

They inevitably did lose the title to United at the end of the season but they did gain a measure of revenge just 10 months later, defeat United 3-1 in the Coca Cola Cup Final, Dalian Atkinson one of the goalscorers. They went on to win the cup once more before losing the last ever FA Cup final at the old Wembley, being beaten 1-0 by Chelsea.

Several years of turmoil and inconsistency followed before Doug Ellis left Villa Park, selling his stage to Randy Lerner. It is believed that Villa will eventually be able to break into the Top 4 and again enjoy some of the successes of their early years.

DID YOU KNOW? : Aston Villa are just one of seven sides who have played in every single season of the Premiership. The other six being Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

DID YOU KNOW? : Aston Villa were the first club to beat Bayern Munich in a European Final.

DID YOU KNOW? : Seven former Aston Villa players feature in the "Football League's 100 Legends". They are Danny Blanchflower, Trevor Ford, Archie Hunder, Sam Hardy, Paul McGrath, Peter Schmeichel and Clem Stephenson.

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