By Josh Harris.

Nicknames: Villa, Villans, or the Lions

City: Located in Birmingham, England

Aston Villa play their home games at Villa Park.

The 42,788 seater stadium is a UEFA 5-star rated stadium, having hosted international fixtures as well as FA Cup semi finals previously. Aston Villa have played at Villa Park since 1897, after Aston Park (1874-1876) and Perry Barr (1876-1897).

Villa’s traditional kit colors are claret shirts with sky blue sleeves, white shorts and sky blue socks.

Arch-enemy: Aston Villa have a fierce rivalry with Birmingham City, this derby is known as the ‘Second City derby’. The two Midlands clubs are generally regarded as each other’s most fierce rivals, though this was perhaps less true between 1988 and 2002, when the two clubs were in different divisions and as a result did not play each other. Villa’s biggest local rivalry was Coventry City, but since Coventry play outside the Premier League, Aston Villa’s key local rivals now are Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City.

Famous Players: Aston Villa have provided more England internationals than any other club, with 71. Therefore, they have a number of famous and well known former players. Gareth Barry played over 400 times for the club, scoring 52 goals. Gordon Cowans had three stints at Villa, racking up 528 appearances. Dennis Mortimer also made over 500 appearances. Gerry Hitchens had a shorter spell at the club, but had a fantastic goal ratio, scoring 96 times in 160 matches. Harry Hampton was another top forward for the club, scoring 242 goals in 376 games. Defensively, Allan Evans was a top performer for Villa during the 70s and 80s, playing 380 times.

Honors: Aston Villa have won 10 domestic cups in total. They have won the First Division seven times, whilst winning the Second Division twice, and the Third Division once. They have also won the FA Cup seven times, and the League Cup five times. They have even won the FA Community Shield once, and the Football League War Cup. In Europe, Villa have won the European Cup, the European Super Cup and the Intertoto Cup once each.

Fun Fact: Aston Villa have spent 102 seasons in the top tier of English soccer; the only club to have spent longer in the top flight is Everton, with 108 seasons, making Aston Villa versus Everton the most-played fixture in English top-flight soccer.