Aston Villa

History of Aston Villa: Founders of the Football League, 1982 European Champions and 2026 Europa League Winners

A founding club of the world's first professional football league, seven-time champions of England and European champions in 1982, Aston Villa returned to continental glory in 2026 by winning the Europa League for the first time.

1. A Chapel, Cricket and the Invention of the League (1874–1914)

In 1874, members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel cricket club in the Aston district of Birmingham were looking for a winter sport: Aston Villa was born. The club played a founding role in football history: one of its directors, the Scot William McGregor, proposed in 1888 the creation of the Football League, the world's first professional championship, of which Villa were one of the twelve founder members. The club moved to Villa Park in 1897, the very year it completed the League and FA Cup Double. Before the First World War it won six league titles and dominated English football.

2. A Century of Highs and Lows (1915–1980)

Villa won the FA Cup again in 1920 and in 1957 — their seventh, then a record — but also suffered relegation, even dropping into the Third Division in the early 1970s. The recovery was swift, and the club returned to the top flight in 1975.

3. 1981–82: Champions of England, then Champions of Europe

Under Ron Saunders, Aston Villa were champions of England again in 1981, seventy-one years after their previous title, using just fourteen players over the whole season. The following year, under Tony Barton, they reached the summit: on 26 May 1982 in Rotterdam, Villa beat Bayern Munich 1–0 through a Peter Withe goal to win the European Cup, despite losing their first-choice goalkeeper to injury after ten minutes. The European Super Cup followed.

4. League Cups, the Premier League and Relegation (1983–2021)

A founder member of the Premier League in 1992 and runners-up in its first season, Villa won two League Cups (1994, 1996). Difficult years followed, culminating in relegation in 2016. Promotion back to the Premier League in 2019 marked the start of a methodical rebuild, backed by new owners and players such as Jack Grealish.

5. Back Among Europe's Elite (2022–2025)

The arrival of Spanish coach Unai Emery in late 2022 transformed the club. Aston Villa qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League, their first campaign in the modern competition, and reached the quarter-finals, eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain.

6. The 2025–26 Season: A First Europa League

On 20 May 2026, at Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul, Aston Villa beat SC Freiburg 3–0 in the Europa League final. It was the club's first title in the competition, their first European trophy since 1982 and their first major honour since the 1996 League Cup. The triumph capped a strong season for English football, which also saw Arsenal crowned champions and Manchester City win the FA Cup.

On 12 August 2026 in Salzburg, as Europa League winners, Villa contested the UEFA Super Cup against two-time European champions Paris Saint-Germain, losing 1–2 in a closely fought match.

7. Looking to 2026–27: Confirming at the Highest Level

Since the restart, Aston Villa have approached the season with a restored status: that of a European club that wins. With Villa Park being modernised, one of the oldest and most loyal fan bases in England and a sporting project now widely recognised, the Villans intend to establish themselves durably in the inner circle of English football.

Honours, Stadium and Legends

Main honours: seven English championships (1894, 1896, 1897, 1899, 1900, 1910, 1981), seven FA Cups (1887, 1895, 1897, 1905, 1913, 1920, 1957), five League Cups (1961, 1975, 1977, 1994, 1996), one European Cup and one European Super Cup (1982), and one Europa League (2026). Villa Park, with more than forty-two thousand seats, is one of England's historic grounds: it hosted matches at the 1966 World Cup and Euro 1996, as well as a record number of FA Cup semi-finals.

The legends: Billy Walker remains the club's all-time leading scorer, and Tom "Pongo" Waring scored forty-nine league goals in the 1930–31 season. Peter Withe, Gordon Cowans, Paul McGrath, Dwight Yorke, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Jack Grealish, Ollie Watkins and goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, a 2022 world champion, have all left their mark on the Villans' history.

Identity: claret and blue, the lion on the crest and the motto "Prepared" are part of the club's DNA, and the Second City derby against Birmingham City remains a highlight of sporting life in the Midlands. Aston Villa's colours have also travelled far beyond Birmingham: clubs around the world, from West Ham in London to Burnley in Lancashire and teams in South America and Africa, adopted claret and blue in homage to one of the founding giants of English football, whose Victorian-era dominance produced five championships in seven seasons.