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- 24/25 Season Preview 20 in 20 - Aston Villa
24/25 Season Preview 20 in 20 - Aston Villa
12 of 20 - Villa/The Lions
nick lochner
August 06, 2024
The 2024/25 Season kicks off Friday August 16 when Fulham travel to Man United.
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“Villa” “The Lions” “The Villains” | 2023/24 Finish - 4th PlaceWill play in Champions League |
Return to the Top. A medium/large club with a large fan base and a history of winning cups, just not since the early 1980s. The consistency has been there, Villa has been in the top league 43 of the last 47 years. Since returning to the PL in 2020, Villa took a big jump up finishing 7th two seasons, and then last years’ 4th place finish and Champions League qualification.
Right on Schedule. When Villa lost 7 of their first 11 two years ago and sacked Steven Gerrard, they were able to pry Unai Emery away from Villareal in Spain who had turned down offers from Newcastle in the off-season. Emery had won the Europa League in his first season at Villareal, beating Arsenal in the semi-finals and Man United in the finals. In his second season he took Villareal to the semi-finals of the Champions League losing to Liverpool. Fast forward to Emery’s first two seasons at Villa and it’s been more of the same, winning. In his first season at Villa, he accumulated more points in the remaining 27 matches than all but four teams in the PL, secured a Europa Conference League spot, and then secured a spot in the Champions League in year two.
Change, to get Better. Villa did not sit still this off-season. It’s clear Unai Emery will be adjusting tactics as they’ve sold some pretty good players like Douglas Luiz, buying key players like Ian Maatsen (from Chelsea) and creating room for stars like Ollie Watkins to take the next step. Depth will be key this season as the Champions League schedule will add significant competition. It will be up to gaffer Unai Emery to bring all the pieces together.
Now do it again, only better. Have you ever had one of your teams in any sport find ways to win even though you felt like they may not be the best team on paper? That’s what Villa’s season felt like last year. Villa maximized their opportunities never challenging for top 3 but outlasting the next best clubs and taking fourth. To do it again, Villa will need to be more consistent, and better more often. Emery and the home pitch advantage at Villa Park will continue to be an advantage for Villa.
The Club
Located in Aston, Birmingham (W Midlands) Villa Park, 43,000 capacity Rough estimates $320M Annual Revenue (10th PL, 21 World) $75M Player Payroll  History on the Pitch
OwnershipVilla has had a string of American owners. In 2006, Randy Lerner of the Cleveland Browns bought Villa for $75M. In 2014 Lerner put the club up for sale for $225M and sold to Tony Xia, a Chinese businessman, in 2016. The club ran into financial difficulties after relegation to The Championship. Additional investment was needed, and Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and American Billionaire Wes Edens bought a 55% controlling share in 2018 and the remaining 45% in 2019 under the holding company V Sports. Wes Edens is also owner of the NBA franchise Milwaukee Bucks. In early 2024 Comcast backed American investment firm Atairos invested in V Sports at approximately 20%.  | Sponsorship
 Home Shirt Biggest Rival - Birmingham City - The Secon City Derby
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The Culture
If you think of English soccer as cool old stadiums with passionate fans, great pubs, and major rivalries - that describes Aston Villa. It’s one of the original clubs started, with great history, many cups and titles, a great stadium and a passionate fan following. Great local rivals add to the passion and energy with the “Big 4 of the West Midlands” (West Brom, Wolverhampton, Birmingham City). An argument could be made for Villa to be the “best” PL club not in the Big 6. Villa have spent 109 consecutive seasons in the top 4 leagues, second to only Everton (120) and the two have matched up against each other more than any other two clubs. For current Villa fans, frustration comes from a couple angles. The titles were over 40 years ago, the main rivals keep rotating in and out of the PL, and The Lions seem to be fighting uphill against the Big 6 clubs. A top 4 finish last season has the “Villans” dreaming of titles and of replacing one of the traditional big 6 over the next couple years.
The Rampant LionIts pretty self-explanatory where “The Villains” name came from, but how about “The Lions”? If you go to Villa Park - there are Lions everywhere and the crest has always been the Rampant Lion. The Rampant Lion is a symbol of Scotland and is on the flag known as the Royal Standard of Scotland. Two of the founding club members, William McGregor and George Ramsay, both from Scotland. They wanted to keep a connection to their heritage.  Royal Standard of Scotland Supporters You May Recognize
| SongAston Parish Church is near Villa Park, and on Saturday’s the bells would ring during weddings. “The bells are ringing for the claret and blue. Claret and blue. Claret and blue. The fans are singing for the claret and blue. Claret and blue. Claret and blue. Everybody is knowing, to the Villa they’re going. Where the Villa are showing. We’re the best in the land. Best in the land.”  Game Day Pub Guide The Aston Tavern |
Fan Sites
According to the AI tool COPILOT - here is an image of a Aston Villa fan at Villa Park, based on Wiki’s description of a Villa Supporter.
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Official Twitter@AVFCOfficial High Follows on Twitter @villareport (92k) @Aston_Villains (22k) @theavfcfaithful (42k) @Holy_Trinity_AV (11k) @AstonVilla_view (11k) @The1874podcast (32k) |
The Team
The Gaffer
ODDS
| Roster NotesFull Roster click link Projected to finish 8th Americans on the team (as of Aug 3)
Interested in playing Fantasy Soccer? Here are the basics. Typical teams have a budget of $100M and 15 players - $6.7M per player.
Goalkeeper
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Villa Park
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