| Full name | Aston Villa Football Club Reserves | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Villans | ||
| Founded | 1874 | ||
| Ground | Home Stadium: Villa Park Aston Birmingham B6 6HE England Home Stadium (Winter): Greene King Stadium Hinckley Leicestershire LE10 3DR England (Capacity: Villa Park: 42,585 Greene King Stadium: 4,329) |
||
| Chairman | Randy Lerner | ||
| Head Coach | Alex McLeish | ||
| League | FA Premier Reserve League | ||
| 2009-10 | FAPRL Southern Division, 1st | ||
|
|||
Aston Villa Reserves are the reserve team of Aston Villa, they have been part of the FA Premier Reserve League since its foundation in 1999 and are current holders of the Premier Reserve League South title. The team plays its home games at Villa Park - during the months of Autumn and Spring - and the Greene King Stadium (home of Hinckley United) - during the winter months. In accordance with Villa's impressive youth development, the team has received success in recent years - as well as becoming victorious in the 2003/04 and 2007/08 seasons, the team has regularly sustained high positions along with the second-string becoming a place of learning for the likes of current first-teamers Ciaran Clark, Barry Bannan, Marc Albrighton, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Nathan Delfouneso and Eric Lichaj, as well as former players Gary Cahill, Lee Hendrie, Darius Vassell, Craig Gardner, Steven Davis and Stephen O'Halloran amongst many others. The team is currently coached by Kevin MacDonald, but Aston Villa Youth Team coaches Gordon Cowans and Tony McAndrew also have close links with the second string. The Reserve team is primarily made up of players aged 16–19 - in the priority of development. The team also regularly includes fringe first-team players and first-team players recovering from injury.
Contents |
The Reserve team play their league matches at Villa Park or their training ground at Bodymoor Heath. During the winter months matches are held at Greene King Stadium, home ground of Hinckley United.
Signs of the team date back to 1892, when Aston Villa Reserves joined the Birmingham & District League. After finishing in the runners-up position twice in the first 2 seasons of the competition, Villa finally won their first trophy in the 1894/95 season, amazingly winning 26 out of 30 league games and losing just once all season. Several titles followed after this achievement, including an extraordinary run of 8 consecutive titles between 1902 and 1910. When Villa finally left the Birmingham & District League in 1915, they had accumulated a total of 12 league titles and 6 runners-up finishes.
After that, the reserve team played in the Central League for many years, becoming champions in 1929-30, 1963-64 and 1992-93.
In 1999–2000, the FA Premier Reserve League was set up, Villa were one of the founding members, and were split into the Northern section of the league. Three disappointing seasons followed, however in the 2003/04 season - inspired by brothers Stefan Moore and Luke Moore - Villa eased to their first title. In the two seasons which followed (04-05 and 05-06) - Villa agonisingly finished both campaigns as runners-up, both times to Manchester United. In the 2006/07 season, for the first time since its introduction, the FA Premier Reserve League excluded Coca-Cola Championship teams from playing in the league, with the 20 senior English Premiership teams parallelling the teams involved in the FA Premier League. This also meant that due to geographical circumstances, Aston Villa Reserves were switched from the Northern Division, to the Southern equivalent, for the first time since the start of the original format in 1999. Villa eventually finished 4th - winning 9 out of their 18 games, with Luke Moore the top goalscorer, with 7. The season saw the impressive development of several youngsters, most notably including Zoltán Stieber, Shane Lowry and Stephen O'Halloran, all of which were rewarded with first-team opportunities in the pre-season fixtures, prior to the 2007/08 season.
In the 2007/08 season, Aston Villa Reserves clinched the Southern title for the first time in their history, however they lost in the national final, losing 3-0 to Liverpool. This included the most goals scored by all 20 participating teams (38) and two 6-0 victories (against Chelsea and Derby County, home and away respectively). Swede Tobias Mikaelsson was the top scorer with 8 goals, followed by strikers Nathan Delfouneso and Marlon Harewood (4 each). Zoltán Stieber and Nathan Baker both scored twice. The season was also notable for the impressive development of several young players, such as Nathan Delfouneso, Barry Bannan, Ciaran Clark and - most remarkably - the rise of young defender Nathan Baker, who stepped up from Under-16 level to Reserve regular inside a single season. Furthermore, Reserve regulars; Nathan Delfouneso, Marc Albrighton, Elliot Parish and Nathan Baker were all rewarded for their efforts, with places on the summer tour of Switzerland.
In the 2008/09 season, Aston Villa retained their Southern title and beat North champions Sunderland 3-1 at Villa Park to be declared Premier Reserve League Champions for the 2008/09 season
In the 2009/10 season, Aston Villa won their third consecutive Southern title and lost to North Champions Manchester United 3-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford in the Premier Reserve League Final 2009/10.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
The yearly invitational seven-a-side tournament brings together the best youth and reserve sides in the world, and this competition has brought notable success to Aston Villa in the past - with a squad of reserve and youth players fielded for the 3 day event.
Villa - inspired by Stephen Cooke and Steven Foley clinched the trophy in the final against Manchester United in 2004 for their first success. Striker Gabriel Agbonlahor captained Villa to the semi-final in 2006 - losing to the eventual winners Urawa Red Diamonds - and also received the 'Player Of The Tournament' accolade. Villa won the competition again in May 2007, beating Central Coast Mariners of Australia in the final, with Hungarian playmaker Zoltán Stieber winning 'Player Of The Tournament'. Villa then went onto win the competition again a year later, defeating Yau Yee Select, Bulova Rangers and PSV Eindhoven in the group stages. Further victories against Eastleigh, Australian Institute of Sport and Glasgow Celtic in the final, ensured the title was regained. Additionally, young Scottish midfielder Barry Bannan won the 'Player Of The Tournament' accolade. Aston Villa won the tournament in 2008 and reached the Semi-final in 2009. Most recently Villa won the tournament in 2010.[3]
FA Premier Reserve League North
FA Premier Reserve League South
HKFC International Soccer Sevens
Aston Villa Academy is the youth development system of Premier League team Aston Villa, it covers the age of under-18's - and for the 2007/08 season - participated in Group B of the FA Premier Academy League. Victories over Arsenal and Manchester City subsequently earnt Villa the national Academy title in 2007/08.
In the 2007/08 season Villa clinched top spot in Group B, impressively notching the most wins (22), most points (68) and most goals (84) of all 41 clubs involved. Villa's youngsters were drawn against Group A winners Arsenal in the semi-final, which was won via a single strike from Nathan Delfouneso. This subsequently meant a final against FA Youth Cup winners Manchester City, which was comprehensively won 2-0, with goals from James Collins and Chris Herd. The top scorers for the season were striker David Sherman-Hay ( 18) [ Russia, and United States player], James Collins (23), Austrian striker Andreas Weimann (16), Nathan Delfouneso (15) and Scot Barry Bannan (13).
As well as this, Villa also reached the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup, eventually being knocked out by eventual runners-up Chelsea, and were victorious in the prestigious Ergenzingen Tournament in May 2008. A draw against HNK Hajduk Split, and subsequent victories against Ergenzingen FC and São Paulo FC, placed them in a semi-final against FC Thun. A 1-0 victory earnt them a final against FSV Mainz, where a late strike by Harry Forrester won the Villains the trophy.
The 2008/09 season was less fruitful for Villa's youngsters, as they finished 3rd in Group B, and were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup at the first hurdle, losing in the Third Round to eventual champions Arsenal.
The team train at Bodymoor Heath in North Warwickshire and also play their home matches there on weekends. The system has been very productive in recent years, heavily down to the influence of Head Youth Team Coach Gordon Cowans and Youth Team Coach Tony McAndrew.
| Player | DOB | Position | International Caps | Previous Club | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd Year Scholars (players born between September 1, 1992 and August 31, 1993) | |||||
| Gary Gardner | June 29, 1992 | Midfielder | Capped at U-16, U-17, U-19, U-20 and U-21 level | Trainee | |
| Jason Lampkin | April 24, 1992 | Midfielder | Capped at U-16 level | Manchester United | |
| Benjamin Siegrist | January 31, 1992 | Goalkeeper | Capped at U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-19 level | FC Basel | |
| András Stieber | October 8, 1991 | Midfielder | – | Goldball '94 FC | |
| 1st Year Scholars (players born between September 1, 1993 and August 31, 1994)) | |||||
| Callum Barratt | September 1, 1993 | Goalkeeper | – | Trainee | |
| Joshua Barton | March 23, 1994 | Midfielder | Capped at U-15 and U-16 Level | Cliftonville | |
| Liam Bateman | – | Defender | – | Derby County | |
| Richard Bryan | November 5, 1993 | Defender | Capped at U-16 and U-17 Level | Trainee | |
| Graham Burke | September 21, 1993 | Forward | Capped at U-19 Level | Belvedere F.C. | |
| Riccardo Calder | – | – | – | Trainee | |
| Courtney Cameron | January 3, 1993 | Midfielder | – | Northampton Town | |
| Samir Carruthers | April 4, 1993 | Midfielder | Capped at U-19 level | Arsenal | |
| Mason Clarke | – | – | – | Trainee | |
| Matthew Coton | September 21, 1993 | Goalkeeper | – | West Bromwich Albion F.C | |
| Alfie Crooks | – | Forward | – | Trainee | |
| Darious Darkin | – | Midfielder | – | Trainee | |
| Juan José Serrano de la Cruz Vidal | – | Midfielder | Capped at U-16 Level | RCD Espanyol | |
| Daniel Devine | May 8, 1993 | Defender | Capped at U-15 and U-16 Level | Crumlin United | |
| Michael Drennan | – | Forward | Capped at U-15, U-16 and U-17 level | Evergreen FC | |
| Umit Eminoglu | September 14, 1994 | Forward | – | Trainee | |
| Jordan Graham | March 5, 1995 | Midfielder | Capped at U-16 level | Trainee | |
| Jack Grealish | – | Midfielder | Capped at U-15 and U-17 level | Trainee | |
| Craig Hill | – | Goalkeeper | – | Chelsea | |
| Ben Hodges | August 21, 1996 | Defender | – | Trainee | |
| Jamie Hunt | – | Forward | – | Trainee | |
| Sebastian Jenkins | – | Defender | – | Trainee | |
| Daniel Johnson | October 8, 1992 | Midfielder | – | Crystal Palace | |
| Bradley Lewis | – | Defender | – | Trainee | |
| Malcolm Melvin | – | Midfielder | – | Trainee | |
| Connor Mooney | August 13, 1994 | Forward | – | Trainee | |
| Ebby Nelson-Addy | September 13, 1992 | Midfielder | – | Trainee | |
| Joe Read | – | Midfielder | – | Trainee | |
| Callum Robinson | – | Midfielder | – | Trainee | |
| Oliver Stevenson | – | Defender | – | Trainee | |
| Connor Taylor | September 5, 1992 | Forward | – | Coventry Sphinx | |
| Charles Ward | January 3, 1993 | Defender | Capped at U-16 Level | Trainee | |
| Javed Islam | November 14, 1993 | Midfielder | – | N/A | |
| Bradley Watkins | September 11, 1994 | Goalkeeper | Capped at U-16 and U-17 Level | Trainee | |
| Joshua Webb | – | Defender | Capped at U-16 Level | Trainee | |
| Derrick Williams | January 17, 1993 | Defender | Capped at U-19 Level | Tramore AFC | |
FA Premier Academy League U17s
FA Premier Academy League U18s: Group B
FA Premier Academy League U18s: Play-Offs
Ergenzingen Tournament
The following players have all progressed through the youth ranks at Aston Villa and made at least one appearance for the first team in professional competition. Players in bold are still contracted to the club.
| Player | DOB | Position | First-Team Debut | First-Team Appearances | First-Team Goals | Current Club | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Gardner | June 29, 1992 | Midfielder | December 31, 2012 (vs Chelsea) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Aston Villa | |
| Nathan Baker | April 23, 1991 | Defender | January 25, 2011 (vs Wigan Athletic) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Millwall (On loan from Aston Villa) | |
| Chris Herd | April 4, 1989 | Midfielder | November 13, 2010 (vs Manchester United) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Aston Villa | |
| Jonathan Hogg | December 6, 1988 | Midfielder | November 13, 2010 (vs Manchester United) | 7 | 0 | Watford | |
| Andreas Weimann | August 5, 1991 | Forward | August 14, 2010 (vs West Ham United) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Aston Villa | |
| Ciaran Clark | September 26, 1989 | Defender | August 30, 2009 (vs Fulham) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Aston Villa | |
| Shane Lowry | June 12, 1989 | Defender | August 20, 2009 (vs Rapid Vienna) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Aston Villa | |
| Marc Albrighton | November 18, 1989 | Midfielder | February 26, 2009 (vs CSKA Moscow) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Aston Villa | |
| Barry Bannan | December 1, 1989 | Midfielder | December 17, 2008 (vs Hamburger SV) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Aston Villa | |
| Nathan Delfouneso | February 2, 1991 | Forward | August 14, 2008 (vs FH) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Aston Villa | |
| Isaiah Osbourne | November 15, 1987 | Midfielder | October 21, 2006 (vs Fulham) | 30 | 0 | Hibernian | |
| Gary Cahill | December 19, 1985 | Defender | April 1, 2006 (vs Arsenal) | 31 | 1 | Bolton Wanderers | |
| Gabriel Agbonlahor | October 13, 1986 | Forward | March 18, 2006 (vs Everton) | Ongoing | Ongoing | Aston Villa | |
| Craig Gardner | November 25, 1986 | Midfielder | December 26, 2005 (vs Everton) | 80 | 6 | Sunderland | |
| Steven Davis | January 1, 1985 | Midfielder | September 18, 2004 (vs Norwich City) | 102 | 9 | Rangers | |
| Luke Moore | February 13, 1986 | Forward | February 22, 2004 (vs Birmingham City) | 98 | 14 | Swansea City | |
| Peter Whittingham | September 8, 1984 | Midfielder | April 23, 2003 (vs Newcastle United) | 66 | 2 | Cardiff City | |
| Liam Ridgewell | July 21, 1984 | Defender | January 4, 2003 (vs Blackburn Rovers) | 93 | 7 | Birmingham City | |
| Rob Edwards | December 25, 1982 | Defender | December 28, 2002 (vs Middlesbrough) | 9 | 0 | Barnsley | |
| Stefan Moore | September 28, 1983 | Forward | September 11, 2002 (vs Charlton Athletic) | 30 | 2 | St Neots Town | |
| Thomas Hitzlsperger | April 5, 1982 | Midfielder | January 13, 2001 (vs Liverpool) | 114 | 12 | Wolfsburg | |
| Stephen Cooke | February 15, 1982 | Midfielder | August 2, 2000 (vs Celta de Vigo) | 4 | 0 | Pelsall Villa | |
| Jonathan Bewers | September 10, 1982 | Defender | April 15, 2000 (vs Tottenham Hotspur) | 1 | 0 | Unattached | |
| Gareth Barry | February 23, 1981 | Midfielder | May 2, 1998 (vs Sheffield Wednesday) | 441 | 52 | Manchester City | |
| Adam Rachel | December 10, 1976 | Goalkeeper | December 26, 1998 (vs Blackburn Rovers) | 1 | 0 | Unattached | |
| Darius Vassell | June 13, 1980 | Forward | August 23, 1998 (vs Middlesbrough) | 201 | 45 | Leicester City | |
| Darren Byfield | September 29, 1979 | Forward | December 28, 1997 (vs Leeds United) | 10 | 0 | Unattached | |
| Richard Walker | November 8, 1977 | Forward | December 28, 1997 (vs Leeds United) | 10 | 2 | Solihull Moors | |
| Lee Hendrie | May 18, 1977 | Midfielder | December 23, 1995 (vs Queens Park Rangers) | 308 | 32 | Kidderminster Harriers |
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||