Aston Villa FC

Aston Villa FC

Aston Villa Football Club, founded in 1874 in Birmingham and playing at the 42,000-capacity Villa Park since 1897, is one of the founding institutions of English and world football — a club whose director William McGregor established the Football League in 1888, the world's first professional football league. The club has won the top-flight title seven times, the FA Cup seven times, and most famously the 1981-82 European Cup, defeating Bayern Munich 1-0 in Rotterdam in one of English football's most celebrated achievements. Under Unai Emery, appointed in October 2022, Villa have undergone a dramatic renaissance: finishing fourth in the Premier League in 2023-24 to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1983, and memorably defeating Bayern Munich at Villa Park in the 2024-25 group stage. Jack Grealish, Emiliano Martínez, and Ollie Watkins are among the club's most celebrated modern-era players.