Aston Villa

Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. Founded in 1874, it competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, and has played at its home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in England, having won the Football League First Division seven times, the FA Cup seven times, the League Cup five times, as well as the European Cup, European Super Cup, and Europa League once. Aston Villa has been a leading English club since the 1880s, when it was a pioneer of the modern passing game. This short, slick combination passing style was introduced by Scotsman George Ramsay, who was appointed as the world's first professional football manager in 1886. The club was influential in the sport's move to professionalism in 1885, and it was a Villa director, William McGregor, who founded the world's first Football League in 1888.