The Latest Aston Villa FC Transfer News, Stories and Updates have been added below for 2017 – 2018
- Sat, 20 Oct 2018 16:12:20 +0000: Tammy Abraham’s goal gives Aston Villa’s Dean Smith the perfect start - Aston Villa | The Guardian
It was not without a jittery finish but for Dean Smith, a boyhood Aston Villa supporter, this was an occasion worth waiting for. In the end, a first-half header by Tammy Abraham, relegated with Swansea City last season, proved the difference as Smith celebrated victory in his first game in charge and Villa their first win in five matches, reinvigorating the promotion push their fans so crave.
Not so long ago, the former Brentford manager was one of them. Smith’s father, Ron, would show Sir Doug Ellis to his seat during 25 years working as a steward here, while he and his brother, Dave, would wipe clean the terraces in exchange for a pie and passage into the Holte End.
Related: Football League: Leeds continue to slip, Macclesfield avoid unwanted history
Related: Dean Smith says John Terry will be an asset not a threat at Aston Villa
Continue reading... - Tue, 16 Oct 2018 16:20:00 +0000: Mark Walters: ‘It wasn’t just fruit – people threw darts and a pig’s leg’ - Aston Villa | The Guardian
The former England winger discusses the racism he faced when he joined Rangers and why having ‘all the badges and every award going’ never landed him a top coaching jobMark Walters cannot help smiling about the time Mo Johnston, his then teammate, received a bullet in the post. “I said: ‘Mo, you’ve taken the pressure right off me!” he recalls of the death threat sent to Johnston after the striker, a Catholic and former Celtic hero, joined Rangers in 1989. “We had a good laugh about it,” says Walters. “I had all sorts thrown at me – bananas, darts, a pig’s leg – and I had letters from the Ku Klux Klan telling me where I should go and what I should be doing with myself. But I never got a bullet! Unless you’ve been in a professionals’ dressing room, it’s hard to explain the humour.”
Laughing off or blocking out hatred had been Walters’ modus operandi since long before he joined Rangers in 1987, when he became the only black player in the Scottish Premier League. He encountered abuse that may seem almost unbelievable today but says it was, in one respect only, easy to ignore because racism is boring and paying attention to it would not have helped him to fulfil his ambition of becoming a successful footballer. He achieved that, playing for his hometown club Aston Villa before winning three Scottish titles with Rangers, a cap for England and the FA Cup with Liverpool.
Related: Paul Gascoigne hits back at Scottish FA over Hall of Fame snub
My upbringing was to work twice as hard to achieve something if you have to. Stick it out.
Continue reading... - Mon, 15 Oct 2018 21:29:00 +0000: Dean Smith says John Terry will be an asset not a threat at Aston Villa - Aston Villa | The Guardian
• Villa manager behind decision for Terry to be his No 2
• Smith: ‘I felt it was a win-win for both of us’Dean Smith has insisted that he was behind the decision to make John Terry his No 2 at Aston Villa.
Laughing off suggestions that Terry could undermine him, Villa’s new manager said he is looking forward to developing a productive working relationship with the former Chelsea and England captain.
Related: Dean Smith appointed Aston Villa manager with John Terry as assistant
Continue reading... - Thu, 11 Oct 2018 14:07:12 +0000: Deadly Doug was not all that deadly and his devotion to Villa was clear | Paul Wilson - Aston Villa | The Guardian
Aston Villa’s status as a big club, one even now seen as too sizeable to stay long in the Championship, can be attributed to the 35 years Ellis ‘worked his guts out’ for his beloved team
It was never exactly a secret that the man known as Deadly Doug was not all that deadly, just an old-fashioned self-made millionaire and club owner who set very high standards for his beloved Aston Villa.
Sir Doug Ellis had two spells as the chairman of Aston Villa, the second and longest running from 1982 to 2006 being the time he became synonymous with the club. He originally took over as the chairman and major shareholder in 1968, after making his fortune in the travel industry, but was forced off the board in 1979, meaning that in the three-year hiatus between terms he managed to miss Villa winning their only post-war title, under Ron Saunders in 1981, and going on to lift the European Cup the following year with victory over Bayern Munich in Rotterdam.
Related: Sir Doug Ellis obituary
Continue reading... - Thu, 11 Oct 2018 13:44:23 +0000: Sir Doug Ellis obituary - Aston Villa | The Guardian
Former Aston Villa chairman known for his turbulent relations with the club’s managers
Sir Doug Ellis, who has died aged 94, made millions by selling package holidays and a national reputation with two spells as chairman of Aston Villa football club, where he was a defiantly controversial figure who acquired the nickname “Deadly Doug”. His first period at the Midlands club lasted from 1968 until 1975 – four years later, he also resigned from the board. Once he left, Villa enjoyed one of its greatest periods of success, winning the First Division championship in 1981 and the European Cup in 1982.
Whether by coincidence or not, when Ellis returned as chairman shortly afterwards, the club swiftly fell back from its great heights, to the point where the team was relegated to the Second Division in 1986-87. After a stock market flotation that made Ellis millions of pounds, he eventually sold up in 2006 to Randy Lerner, an American billionaire, but remained at the club as a life president.
Related: Doug Ellis, former Aston Villa chairman, dies aged 94
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Historical Transfer News and Team Gossip has been archived below:
- Fri, 23 Jun 2017 09:01:06 +0000: Villa wait on Terry contract offer - Latest Stories, Video, and Commentary about Aston Villa | BBC
Aston Villa do not expect immediate progress in their bid to sign John Terry after making him a lucrative contract offer. - Wed, 21 Jun 2017 08:00:34 +0000: Championship fixtures in full - Latest Stories, Video, and Commentary about Aston Villa | BBC
Find out your team's fixtures in the Championship during the 2017-18 season. - Fri, 16 Jun 2017 13:19:02 +0000: Sunderland to play Bury in EFL Cup - Latest Stories, Video, and Commentary about Aston Villa | BBC
Sunderland will travel to Bury in the EFL Cup first round following their relegation from the Premier League. - Fri, 02 Jun 2017 11:26:51 +0000: Villa chief executive Wyness suspended - Latest Stories, Video, and Commentary about Aston Villa | BBC
Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness is suspended from football activity for three weeks for social media misconduct. - Thu, 18 May 2017 12:51:32 +0000: CEO Wyness dismisses Villa budget fears - Latest Stories, Video, and Commentary about Aston Villa | BBC
Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness is confident of signing transfer targets within manager Steve Bruce's budget.
Aston Villa are now looking to strengthen their squad for the up coming season with a large number of new players touted to be on the clubs radar in the closed season. The club has been boosted lately by the resigning of goalkeeper Brad Guzan who left the club at the end of last season. The American keeper has now penned a new lucrative three year deal which will keep him at Villa park until the end of the 2015 season.
Another huge target for the club this season is Blackburns Steven N`Zonzi who is also a top target for Sunderland, Tottenham and Stoke City with the midfielder stating that he has no intention of playing football in the championship. The Frenchman is thought to be available for a fee of around five million pounds and would welcome the chance to play in the English top flight again.
Blackpool winger Matt Phillips is also believed to be on the clubs radar as the championship side looked doomed to lose their influential winger as a host of top flight clubs are now vying for his signature. The twenty one year old has had a brilliant season for his club and now looks set to move to the premier league with clubs such as Everton, Wigan, Reading and Sunderland all in for the winger.
Sheffield United defender Matt Lowton is another target for the Villa Park outfit as Paul Lambert looks to strengthen his back line for the new season and the player is thought to be his top target for his defence. Lowton is now regarded as one of the hottest prospects in English football but Villa will need to fight off stern interest from additional clubs such as feyenoord and Bersiktas.
