Aston Villa: The West Midlands’ Historic Lions

Athletic Club will face Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at Walsall FC’s Bescot Stadium on Wednesday August 7 at 19:30 BST.

It is the Lions' penultimate friendly of the pre-seson, taking place after matches against Burgos CF (2-1, July 20, El Plantio), Racing Club Santander (2-1, July 24, Lasesarre), Sporting Clube Portugal (3-0, July 27, José Alvalade), SD Eibar (1-0, August 1, Las Llanas) and CA Osauna in the final of the Basque Cup (2-1, August 3, Lasesarre) and before a clash with Bundesliga runners-up VfB Stuttgart in Germany (August 10, MHP Arena, 15:30 CEST).

Based in Birmingham, England’s second largest city, Aston Villa are one of the country’s most iconic clubs. In addition to a huge fanbase and a 43,000-seater stadium, the Claret and Blues have won seven top-flight titles (1893/94, 1895/96, 1896/97, 1898/99, 1899/00, 1909/10 and 1980/81), seven FA Cups (1886/87, 1894/95, 1896/97, 1904/05, 1912/13, 1919/20, 1956/57), five League Cups (1960/61, 1974/75, 1976/77, 1993/94, 1995/96) one European Cup (1981/82) and a European Super Cup (1982).

With 20 major honours to their name, Villa are the fifth most decorated team in English football history and, in addition to that, they have spent a total of 110 seasons playing top-flight football in England, a record only bettered by Everton.

Emery’s charges will provide tough opposition for Ernesto Valverde’s side as the Zurigorri prepare for a busy 2024/25 campaign. The Villans took the Premier League by storm in 2023/24, at one point threatening to challenge for the title before eventually securing fourth place and Champions League qualification in the penultimate fixture of the season.

Ticket information for the match in this link.

Previous meetings

The Lions of England’s West Midlands have met the Lions of Bizkaia on five other occasions. The first encounter was a friendly at The Cathedral in 1977/78. Athletic Club won 2-0 thanks to a Carlos Ruiz Herrero double. That match also holds a special place in Athletic history due it being the first time the Ikurriña (Basque flag) was flown at San Mames after the end of the dictatorship.

They met again barely three months later in the UEFA Cup round of 16. Athletic fell to a 2-0 loss at Villa Park in the first leg, with Jose Ángel Iribar scoring an own goal and John Deehan adding the second. In Bilbao, Dennis Mortimer put the English side ahead before Dani Ruiz-Bazán netted a late equaliser.

Almost exactly 20 years later, Villa returned to Bilbao for a UEFA Cup round-of-32 tie. The Villans boasted a strong squad featuring the likes of Mark Bosnich, Gareth Southgate, Steve Staunton, Stan Collymore, Dwight Yorke and Savo Milošević, among others.

The Zurigorri held the Birmingham-based outfit to a 0-0 draw at The Cathedral but were defeated 2-1 in England. Mark Draper and Yorke put the hosts ahead before Javi González pulled one back in the 70th minute.

A sleeping giant awakes

Despite having been a Premier League stalwart and constant contenders for Europe since the competition began in 1991/92 (a season in which they were Manchester United’s main rival for the title), Aston Villa suffered a huge slump during the 2010s which culminated in their relegation to the Championship in 2015/16.

After three campaigns in the second tier, Dean Smith took Villa back to the top-flight via the play-offs, but they struggled to regain their former status.

However, Villa have become a resurgent force in English football since Basque manager Unai Emery took over from Steven Gerrard in October 2022.

When Emery moved to Birmingham, Villa had recorded just three wins in their first 13 fixtures of the 22/23 campaign, but a remarkable turnaround featuring 15 wins in their subsequent 25 matches saw the Villans end the campaign with a spot in the Europa Conference League after finishing in seventh place.

A harrowing 5-1 defeat to Newcastle United on the opening day of 2023/24 had Villa fans worried momentarily, but the Claret and Blues were soon back on their feet. Emery's Lions moved into the top four with nine wins in the following 13 matches, while consecutive victories over Manchester City and Arsenal in December led to speculation of a title challenge.

Although their form dropped slightly, Villa rarely moved out of the Champions League positions and secured their place in the next season’s tournament with a match in hand. In the end, they finished fourth with 68 points after 20 wins, eight draws and 10 losses. Their top goalscorer in the Premier League was England forward Ollie Watkins, who bagged 19 goals in 37 appearances.

In Europe, Emery led Villa to the Conference League semi-finals, where they lost both legs to the eventual winners, Jose Luis Mendilibar’s Olympiacos FC.

Former European Champions

Founded in 1874, and based in an area of Birmingham called Aston, the Villans are one of English football’s oldest and most iconic clubs.

Aston Villa lifted the first of their seven FA Cups in 1886/87 and were one of 12 teams that set up the English Football League in 1888, a competition which they won for the first time in 1893/94. What’s more, in 1896/97, they became just the second English side to win the Double (League and FA Cup).

Like Athletic Club, Villa had a period of renaissance in the early 80s. Under the tutelage of Ron Saunders, the Villans won the First Division in 1980/81, pipping Bobby Robson’s Ipswich Town to the title by four points.

In 81/82, Villa produced one of the great moments in English football history as they lifted the European Cup for the first and only time in their existence.

Despite losing long-term manager Ron Saunders halfway through the campaign, assistant coach Tony Barton stepped up to steer the Villans to glory. They knocked out Dynamo Kyiv in the quarter-finals and Anderlecht in the semi-finals before defeating German giants Bayern Munich 1-0 in the final thanks to a Peter Withe strike in the 67th minute.

The following season, they won the European Super Cup against FC Barcelona, winning 1-3 at the Camp Nou and 3-0 at Villa Park.

Villa Park

The 43,000-seater Villa Park has been Aston Villa's home since 1897. It’s the 10th largest football stadium in England and holds a special significance to in English football.

Before the new Wembley stadium was opened in 2007, FA Cup semi-finals were traditionally held in one of three or four different club stadiums to ensure a neutral venue. Villa Park hosted 55 FA Cup semi-finals, more than any other ground.

The pre-season clash between Athletic and Villa will take place at Bescot Stadium. Located about nine miles north of Birmingham, the 11,000-capacity ground is the home of League Two outfit Walsall FC and Aston Villa Women.

International players

Most of Unai Emery’s first team squad have received international caps, including: Argentina’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, Jamaica’s Leon Bailey and Colombia’s Jhon Durán, among many others.

Furthermore, four players were called up for Euro 2024 by their respective nations: Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa (England), John McGinn (Scotland) and Youri Tielemans (Belgium).

The 'Brummies' of Birmingham

Located in the West Midlands, England’s great industrial heartland, the city of Birmingham has a population of over one million people.

The ‘city of a thousand trades’, Birmingham has historically been a major manufacturing hub, producing all sorts of goods, from toys and jewellery to coins, brass and steel. 

Citizens of Birmingham are called ‘Brummies’ and are well known in England for their sense of humour, work ethic and distinctive dialect.