Aston Villa
One of the oldest clubs in England, the Aston Villa F.C. were one of the original founders of The Football League in 1888, the oldest order of teams in football and the top competitive division until 1992. At this time, Aston Villa broke off and helped form the replacement Premiere League. One of the truly storied and classical teams in England football history going all the way back to 1874, the club has been a benchmark of success from the very beginning.
The imposing Villa Park, a UEFA Elite stadium is the eighth largest pitch in England. The field has housed Aston Villa since 1897 and has hosted the highest level competitions on numerous occasions. Currently, the stadium has four stands and holds 42,783 with plans to expand to an eventual capacity of 50,000.
Notable among Aston Villa’s support initiatives is a pragmatic reaching out to the younger populations of the Midlands to help foster a more diverse and multicultural fan-base. Several hooligan crews have been associated with the club but a lot of the violent antics associated with hooliganism have died down over the years as England especially has made great strides at revamping its football image.
Among Aston Villa’s successes they have won the European Cup once in 1982. They also won the European Super Cup in the same year. In 2001 and 2008 they successfully won the InterToto Cup. Domestically, they have been first division champions a total of seven times since 1893, second division champions on two occasions and third division champions once. Overall, Aston Villa have enjoyed incredible success for an unprecedented 98 seasons in the premier football league only exceeded by the club Everton. Because of this, Aston Villa and Everton have a spirited rivalry that has endured for generations at the highest level of competition.
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