FA Cup Winners (1913)

Lore & Background

Aston Villa has been a leading English club since the 1880s, when it was a pioneer of the modern passing game. This short, slick combination passing style was introduced by Scotsman George Ramsay, who was appointed as the world's first professional football manager in 1886. The club was influential in the sport's move to professionalism in 1885, and it was a Villa director, William McGregor, who founded the world's first Football League in 1888. George Ramsay's trophy haul of six League Championships and six FA Cups established Aston Villa as the most successful club in England, a position it held from the 1890s until the 1970s.

Reader's Guide

Aston Villa were a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, one of just three clubs to have been a founding member of both the Football League and the Premier League. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Villa regularly qualified for European football, but following a period of decline after the departure of Martin O'Neill the club suffered its only relegation from the Premier League in 2015–16. After three seasons in the EFL Championship and two ownership changes, the club returned to the Premier League in 2019. Under Unai Emery, the club qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1982–83 and won the Europa League in 2025–26.

Did You Know?

• Aston Villa scored 128 goals in 1930–31, which remains the all-time top-flight record.
• Villa became only the fourth English club to win the European Cup, in 1981–82.
• The club has spent 112 seasons in the top-flight, the second highest of any club.
• Aston Villa provided 78 England internationals, also the second highest of any club.