It’s no mean feat trying to condense Aston Villa’s history down to 26 letters, but we have picked out our Aston Villa alphabet with an entry for every letter.
A – Aston Villa
The club’s name is believed to derive from the Aston Villa Wesleyan Chapel situated close to a Georgian house called Aston Villa where Villa Road, Lozells Road and Heathfield Road meet in Lozells.
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In his excellent Villa book, Children of the Revolution, author Richard Whitehead wrote: “There are loads of Uniteds, lots of Citys and Towns, a goodly sprinkling of Wanderers and Rovers and even a few Albions.
“But there is only one Villa – the greatest name in football in every sense.”
Former boss John Gregory agrees, observing in his autobiography The Boss: “Even the name is beautifully symmetrical, with five letters in each word.”
B – Brothers
Luke Moore and Stefan Moore
There’s been plenty of siblings that have played together for Villa. Archie and Andy Hunter, Harry and Joe Simmonds, Arthur and Albert Brown, James and John Cowan, John and Will Devey, Bert and Jack Sharp, Alfred and Martin Watkins, Clem, Jimmy and George T. Stephenson, Harry and George Hampton, Sam and George Hardy, Frank and Amos Moss, Alec and James Logan, John and Albert McLachlan, Bruce and Neil Rioch, Alan and Brian Little, Stefan and Luke Moore.
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More recently Jacob Ramsey and Aaron have played for the club and been involved in the same squads, before moving on. However their younger brother, Cole, currently plays for the Villa Under-18s.
Gary and Craig Gardner also played for the club and despite Gary hoping to play in claret and blue with his brother, it never happened and the timelines didn’t work out.
C – Charlie
Villa have seen their fair share of big-time Charlies down the years, but only one genuine long-time Charlie. Scottish left-back Charlie Aitken was one of the most loyal club men Villa are ever likely to boast – and he still hosts the appearance record, playing 660 times between 1961 and 1976.
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D – Deadly
2001: Villa chairman Doug Ellis at the signing of his autobiography ‘Deadly Doug’ at the Villa shop
Or the late Sir Herbert Douglas Ellis to give him his full title. He invented the bicycle kick.
The package holiday entrepreneur divided opinion during his long stewardship of Aston Villa from 1968 to 2006 (tellingly, during Ellis’ absence between 1979 and 1982 Aston Villa won the First Division title in 1981 and European Cup 1982).
Valued by some for keeping Villa on a sound financial footing, pilloried by others for lacking ambition, and known by most for sacking managers.
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E – England
Villa has produced 79 male England internationals since its first player represented the national team in 1882.
Historically, this total is the second-highest of any club, trailing only Tottenham Hotspur.
Howard Vaughton and Arthur Brown were the first in 1882. Capped players in the current era include Ezri Konsa, Ollie Watkins, and Morgan Rogers.
Peter McParland scores Aston Villa’s second and winning goal in the 1957 FA Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley -Credit:Getty
F – FA Cup
Villa have lost the FA Cup more times than some of their rivals have won it, as the old joke goes.
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They have lifted the famous trophy seven times, although after their second triumph in 1895, the cup, won in a 1-0 victory over Albion, was taken on the night of September 11, from a football equipment shop run by William Shillcock in Birmingham’s Newtown Row and was never recovered.
Also never recovered has been Villa’s secret of winning the FA Cup, with their last triumph coming way back in 1957.
The nearest they have come since then was the disappointing final defeat to Arsenal in 2015 and the flat loss against Chelsea in 2000.
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G – God
2010 Carling Cup Final Aston Villa v Manchester United: 4 Paul McGrath’s arrive at Wembley.
Villa fans can never hear the spiritual song Kumbaya without replacing the words with ‘Paul McGrath, my lord, Paul McGrath’.
McGrath was a flawed genius, nicknamed God for turning defending into an art form despite battling alcoholism.
Renowned as one of the best players in Aston Villa history, and rightly so, a genuine legend who illuminated the club between 1989 and 1996.
H- Holte End
Formerly the largest terrace in Europe, housing 26,000 fans, the Holte End is still the biggest behind the goal stand in the continent, now seating 13,000 home supporters in two tiers.
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It was last used as a terrace against Liverpool on the final day of 1993-94, when Villa hit back from a goal down at half-time to win 2-1 with two Dwight Yorke goals in front of the Holte End.
Fans were seen streaming away from the ground with souvenirs of the Holte End, including toilet seats! Holte Enders in the Sky is a famous Villa terrace chant, to the tune of Johnny Cash’s Ghost Riders in the Sky.
I – Ivo Stas
Is the answer to the amusing trivia question, ‘Which Villa player scored for the club without ever playing a game for them?’
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Stas scored an own goal playing for Banik Ostrava during Villa’s 2-1 victory over the Slovakian club in the UEFA Cup in October 1990.
Despite the o.g. the defender actually played well and was signed by Villa boss Jo Venglos the following month, only to suffer an achilles tendon injury which prevented him ever kicking a ball competitively for the club.
His spell prompted an amusing spoof Ivo Writes Home column in fanzine Heroes and Villains, featuring fictitious letters to his family about passing him time sight-seeing in Brum rather than playing football.
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J – Jimmy
Jimmy was Villa’s first manager, and their second, with Jimmy McMullan taking over team affairs which prior to June 1934 had always been managed by committee.
McMullan flopped as Villa were relegated for the first time in their history in his second season, before successor Jimmy Hogan restored them to the top flight as Division Two champions in his second season in 1937-38.
Unai Emery is Villa’s 37th permanent manager, and their most successful in terms of their win ratio.
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K – King
K – King. Villa boast the past King, namely Phil King, he of penalty scoring fame during that cracking UEFA shootout win over Inter Milan in September 1994 (sadly, his shirt from that heady night was lost in a garage fire at his mother-in-law’s home). Villa also boast the future King, namely famous fan Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, who witnessed his first match at Villa Park when he attended last November’s bore draw with Sunderland. Wills, along with Hollywood megastar Tom Hanks and Prime Minister David Cameron have stolen fiddler Nigel Kennedy’s crown as Villa’s most well known celebrity supporter. Oh, while we on the subject of kings, Sir Mervyn King, the former Governor of the Bank of England, is a claret and blue fanatic too.
Villa boast the past King, namely Phil King, he of penalty scoring fame during that cracking UEFA shootout win over Inter Milan in September 1995 (sadly, his shirt from that heady night was lost in a garage fire at his mother-in-law’s home).
They also boast the future King, namely famous fan Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, who is a regular at Villa Park along with his son, George.
Wills, along with Hollywood megastar Tom Hanks and former Prime Minister David Cameron, have stolen fiddler Nigel Kennedy’s crown as Villa’s most well-known celebrity supporter.
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L – Lamp
It was under a lamp at the top of Heathfield Road in Lozells that the club was born, most probably on Saturday, November 21, 1874, although records a little sketchy.
Members of the Male Adult Bible Class meeting at the Aston Villa Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth, had a cricket club and wanted a winter sporting activity.
On the way back from a rugby match in Handsworth they decided rugby was a little too rough and the quartet of John Hughes, William H. Price, George Matthews and William H. Scattergood decided to adopt association rules instead.
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The rest, as they say, is history of this great football club.
M – Murder
-Credit:True Detective Magazine
Villa defender Tommy Ball was shot dead by landlord and neighbour George Stagg the night after helping Villa to a 1-0 win over Notts County.
The culprit, a former policeman, was sentenced to death, but the punishment was later adjusted to penal servitude for life.
Stagg’s exact motive for the murder on November 11, 1923 was unclear, although there are suggestions he had argued with Ball several times over the footballer’s dog and chickens trespassing on his land in Perry Barr.
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N – Chris Nicholl
It’s rare for a player to score four goals in one game.
It’s even more unusual for two of them to be in the right net and two in the wrong net.
That was the situation when Nicholl hit two goals and two own goals during a 2-2 Division One draw with Leicester at Filbert Street in March 1976.
Nicholl twice put the Foxes in front, before grabbing two eqaualisers for Villa!
O – Oh it must be, it is, Peter Withe
European Cup Final at De Kuip Staium in Rotterdam. Aston Villa 1 v Bayern Munich 0. Villa’s Peter Withe celebrates after he scored the game’s only goal. 26th May 1982.
Next time you are at Villa Park, have a glance at the North Stand and familiarise yourself with the banner celebrating Brian Moore’s memorable piece of commentary.
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It commemorates quite a moment in Aston Villa’s history, not that the claret and blues like to talk about it – much!
Aston Villa legend Pongo Waring
P – Pongo Waring
The unusually-named striker kicked up quite a stink by scoring the most goals in a single season for Villa.
He notched 50 overall, with 49 in the league and one in the FA Cup in 1930-31.
It was also the season Villa scored their highest number of league goals – 128.
Q – Quote
“If there is a club in the country which deserves to be dubbed the greatest (and the matter is one of some delicacy) few will deny the right of Aston Villa to share the highest niche of fame with even the most historic of other aspirants.
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“For brilliancy and, at the same time, for consistency of achievement, for activity in philanthropic enterprise, for astuteness of management and for general alertness, the superiors of Aston Villa cannot be found.” So said William McGregor.
Ron Saunders
R – Ron Saunders
On the subject of quotes, this beauty from Saunders is a claret and blue favourite.
“Allegations are all very well but I would like to know who these alligators are.”
But actions tended to speak louder than words for Saunders, who lifted Villa from the second tier to the First Division title, two league cup wins and laid the foundations for the European Cup triumph.
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Renowned as one of Villa’s greatest ever managers. And rightly so.
-Credit:Mirrorpix
S – Shambles
That was the word the late, great Graham Taylor used to describe Aston Villa when he took over the club following their relegation from the First Division in 1986-87. He soon put things right.
Taylor picked Villa up off the floor and ensured that one promotion-winning campaign was the only year the club have been outside the top flight in the past 39 years.
‘Sir’ Graham was the saviour who set the claret and blues straight and is rightly lauded for doing so.
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T –Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor
It has emerged that Villa are the inspiration for the Turkish club’s claret and blue colours.
Former Villa secretary Steve Stride found out the story behind Trabzonspor’s kit before their Europa League match against Apollon Limassol.
The club’s president Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu revealed that when his club were formed in 1967 they had no money for kit so contacted a number of clubs in Europe and Villa were the only ones to respond, sending a full set.
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Aston Villa signing David Unsworth
U – Unsworth
Slang for ‘under the thumb’. David Unsworth signed for Villa for £4 million from West Ham in 1998, only for Mrs Unsworth to prompt a dramatic change of heart.
Manager John Gregory joked that Unsworth’s wife thought Birmingham was near Bolton when the defender asked to leave Villa for Everton to be nearer his Lancashire home, just a week after arriving at Villa Park and soon got his wish.
“He was told he’d got to be home by one o’clock or his dinner would be in the bin,” quipped Gregory, while Unsworth was greeted with chants of ‘Does your missus know you’re here?” on all subsequent visits to Villa Park.
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V – Venglos
The infamous ‘FOR GOD’S SAKE GO, DR JO’ editorial in the Birmingham Mail, calling for Dr Jozef Venglos to be sacked
Jozef Venglos. A foreign manager? In England? It will never work!
Sadly, it didn’t for Villa as the Czech pioneer struggled at Villa where some of his methods were a bit too ahead of his time.
He couldn’t get why the players wanted to drink beer after matches.
The Birmingham Mail headline ‘For God’s sake go, Jo’ summed up a season that was doomed to fail, although Venglos did mastermind a thrilling 2-0 victory over Inter Milan at Villa Park.
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The statue of William McGregor outside Villa Park. Not only did McGregor shape Aston Villa, he was also responsible for the formation of the Football League. -Credit:Birmingham Mail
W – William McGregor
He’s the bearded bloke made of bronze and holding a piece of paper outside Villa Park. If you don’t know who he is by now, Google him. He’s quite important.
X – Xia
Former Aston Villa owner Tony Xia.
Most Villa fans will want to forget Chinese businessman Tony Xia and the car crash that was his ownership, despite a pretty exciting ride for part of the journey.
He arrived at the club in 2016 after buying from Randy Lerner, just a couple of years later – Villa nearly went bankrupt.
He started his tenure as Villa owner promising to make the club as big as Barcelona and his erratic social media activity saw him teasing fans with cryptic transfer tweets teasing signings.
Big money signings like Ross McCormack, Jonathan Kodjia and Scott Hogan arrived during his time at the club, but when Villa lost in the play-off final to Derby, the cracks behind the scenes became very clear.
It emerged that the club had missed a tax bill and was losing money at a rate that took the club to the brink of administration.
Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens rode in on their white horse, and the club was saved.
Y – Yorke
Dwight Yorke scores a cheeky penalty against Sheffield United for Aston Villa
Start spreading the news, he’s playing today, I want to see him score again, Dwight Yorke, Dwight Yorke.
Villa fans saw him score for them 98 times in 287 appearances.
But it was not just the goals, it was the enjoyment and entertainment as the smiling striker, chipped in penalty, dazzled with drag-backs and even provided pre-match cheer by balancing the ball on his head as he ran the length of the pitch.
Bosko Balaban in 2003.
Z – Zero, zilch or Zagreb
Bosko Balaban’s scoring tally for Villa amounted to a big round nothing following his £5.8 million arrival from Dinamo Zagreb.
Prolific elsewhere in his career, the Croatian centre forward failed to find the net in two starts and nine substitute appearances for Villa between 2001 and 2002 before banging in the goals again for Zagreb and Bruges.
