The English Premier League is famous for its teams' rich history, which they proudly boast. Aston Villa club history is one of them. Aston Villa were established in 1874 and have been one of the oldest clubs in English football. The Club's home ground is Villa Park, where they have been competing with different top-flight clubs since 1897. Aston Villa are one of the most successful clubs, too; they have won numerous trophies and competed in Europe's top-flight in the continental competitions on many different occasions. Aston Villa is nicknamed The Villains and The Lions.
Aston Villa F.C. was established by some members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth, which is now a part of Birmingham. Aston Villa were founded by four members: Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price, and William Scattergood. They were also members of the Chapel's cricket team. Due to a lack of local football teams, Aston Villa Football Club's first match was against the local Aston Brook St Mary's Rugby team.
In 1885, Aston Villa's president published an advertisement about the requirement for a manager for their Club.
The advertisement was like that: “Wanted: manager for Aston Villa Football Club, who will be required to devote his whole time under the direction of the committee. Salary £100 per annum. Applications with reference must be made not later than June 23rd to the Chairman of the Committee, Aston Villa Club House, 6 Witton Road, Aston.” The club received over 150 applicants for the role; however, on June 26, 1886, Aston Villa appointed its first football manager. They followed this unique style of appointing a manager for the first and the last time in Aston Villa club history.
In 1887, William McGregor became a founding member of the English Football League, and he included Aston Villa's name with 11 other clubs to play in the main division. The included teams were Burnley, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Derby County, Everton, Aston Villa, Accrington, Bolton Wanderers, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke, and West Bromwich Albion. In 1920, Aston Villa were relegated for the first time in Aston Villa's history. Spending a few years in the second division, the club was back in its old form, as they won two European Cups, which is now famously known as the UEFA Champions League, and became the first team to taste European glory.
Since its establishment, the club have been managed by Aston Villa management. But in June 2016, after the takeover by the Chinese businessman, Tony Xia bought the club for £75 million, and since then, the club have been run by the Chinese business tycoon, and his primary target was, bring the club back to its level in the Premier League. Aston Villa Football Club were relegated in the 2015-2016 season, after spending 29 years in the English Premier League.
On 20 July 2018, Aston Villa announced that the NSWE Group, a Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and American billionaire Wes Edens, were to invest in the football club. They purchased a controlling 55% stake in the club. In 2019, Aston Villa finally put their foot into the English Premier League. On that day, NSWE bought 100% stakes of the club as Tony Xia was no longer the owner of Aston Villa. Currently, under the Spanish coach, Unai Emery's tenure at the club, they are back in their old form, as they qualified for the UEFA Champions League for two consecutive seasons.
