2007–08 Aston Villa F.C. season

Aston Villa
2007–08 season
Chairman Randy Lerner
Manager Martin O'Neill
Premier League 6th
FA Cup Third round
League Cup Third round
Top goalscorer League:
John Carew (13)
All:
John Carew (13)
Highest home attendance 42,640 (vs. Manchester United, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Sunderland)
Lowest home attendance 25,956 (vs. Leicester City)
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 season was Aston Villa's 20th consecutive season in the top flight of English football and 16th consecutive season in the Premier League. The season saw Martin O'Neill continue as manager as the club impressed in league competition, but struggled in both domestic cup competitions – being knocked out in the third round of both.

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Denmark GK Thomas Sørensen
3 Netherlands DF Wilfred Bouma
4 Sweden DF Olof Mellberg
5 Denmark DF Martin Laursen
6 England MF Gareth Barry
7 England MF Ashley Young
8 England FW Luke Moore
9 England FW Marlon Harewood
10 Norway FW John Carew
11 England FW Gabriel Agbonlahor
13 England GK Stuart Taylor
No. Position Player
15 England DF Curtis Davies (on loan from West Bromwich Albion)
16 England DF Zat Knight
17 Togo MF Moustapha Salifou
18 England MF Wayne Routledge
19 Bulgaria MF Stilyan Petrov
20 England MF Nigel Reo-Coker
22 England GK Scott Carson (on loan from Liverpool)
23 Czech Republic MF Patrik Berger
26 England MF Craig Gardner
27 England MF Isaiah Osbourne
28 Scotland MF Shaun Maloney

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
21 England MF Gary Cahill (to Bolton Wanderers)

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
14 England FW Nathan Delfouneso
No. Position Player
29 Republic of Ireland DF Stephen O'Halloran

Kit

The 2007–08 season saw the unveiling of Nike as the club's kit producer, taking over from Danish firm Hummel. The deal – worth £25 million over 5 seasons – was announced on 7 February 2007, with all home, away and goalkeeper kits being unveiled on 17 July 2007. The home shirt was made available to purchase on 8 August 2007, and the away on 4 October 2007. A charcoal and white third shirt was unveiled and released in November 2007. The home shirt followed the club's usual template of a claret body and blue arms, with a white "AVFC" banner and printed lion featured on the hem and back of the collar respectively. The away shirt featured a white body, with blue pinstripes – in a similar style to that of the 1982 European Cup winners’ jersey (which featured claret stripes in place of the modern blue alternative). The third shirt was charcoal with white piping. The home goalkeeper shirt featured horizontal stripes, with different alternating shades of grey. The away replicated this style, with different shades of yellow.

Gibraltar-based betting firm 32Red continued their sponsorship of the club, however with the contract in its last year, Villa are expected to announce another deal for the forthcoming 2008/09 season.

Crest

A new crest was revealed on 2 May 2007 to be introduced for the 2007–08 season. The new crest included a star to represent the European Cup win in 1982, and has a light blue background behind Villa's "lion rampant." The traditional motto "Prepared" remained in the crest, and the name "Aston Villa" was shortened to AVFC, FC having been omitted from the previous crest. Randy Lerner petitioned fans to help with the design of the new crest.

Transfers

Summer transfer window

Following the transfer of prolific striker Juan Pablo Ángel to New York Red Bulls in April, several Villa first-teamers followed the Colombian out of the door in the summer of 2007. Gavin McCann joined Bolton Wanderers in £1 million deal on 12 June, then a fortnight later, versatile defender Aaron Hughes left for Fulham, also in a £1 million deal. McCann was joined by Jlloyd Samuel – who had spent much of the previous season on the bench for the Midlanders – at Bolton, signing on a free transfer when his contract expired on 1 July. However, the two most surprising deals occurred with two academy players, in Steven Davis and Liam Ridgewell. Davis – who had won Player of the Year for the club in the 2005–06 season – signed for Fulham on 5 July for an undisclosed fee. Liam Ridgewell made the trip across the city to Birmingham City on 3 August, in a £2 million move. Other moves saw midfielder Lee Hendrie end his 14-year association with the club in a free transfer to Sheffield United, Phil Bardsley returned to Manchester United after a 13-game loan stint at the club, whilst Stephen Henderson, Bobby Olejnik, Mark Delaney, Scott Bridges and Eric Djemba-Djemba all left Villa Park.

Villa clinched their first transfer on 5 July with the £8.5 million signing of midfield battler Nigel Reo-Coker from West Ham United. 11 days later, Marlon Harewood also moved from Upton Park, for an undisclosed fee. Scott Carson was the next to arrive on 10 August, in a loan switch from Liverpool (although some media sources claim a fee of £2 million up front was agreed), before defenders Zat Knight and Curtis Davies both signed on 29 and 31 August respectively. Knight signed for his hometown club for a fee of £3.5 million from Fulham, whilst Davies signed on a season-long loan from local rivals West Bromwich Albion. Other deals saw Austrian youngsters Andreas Weimann and Dominik Hofbauer sign, as well as Eric Lichaj, Harry Forrester and Togolese international Moustapha Salifou.

Winter transfer window

After failing to find a suitor in the summer, Gary Cahill was allowed to leave on a loan deal to Sheffield United in September; however, he joined Bolton on a permanent deal on 30 January for an undisclosed fee. Youngsters Chris Herd, Tobias Mikaelsson, Stephen O'Halloran and Zoltán Stieber were all farmed out on loan. The biggest news, however, was that Swedish international defender Olof Mellberg, was to join Italian giants Juventus on a free transfer transfer at the end of the season.

Unlike the summer transfer window, Aston Villa were extremely quiet in the winter equivalent, purchasing just one senior player in Wayne Routledge (£1.25 million) from Tottenham Hotspur. He was also followed by youngsters Thomas Dau and Lance Heslop.

Summary

In

Date Player Previous Club Fee Ref
June 2007 Austria The Parnole Austria Sturm GrazUndisclosed
June 2007 Austria Andreas WeimannAustria Rapid WienUndisclosed
July 2007 England Harry ForresterWatfordUndisclosed
July 2007 United States Eric LichajUnited States University of North CarolinaUndisclosed
5 July 2007 England Nigel Reo-CokerWest Ham United£8,500,000
17 July 2007 England Marlon HarewoodWest Ham UnitedUndisclosed
29 August 2007 England Zat KnightFulham£3,500,000
31 August 2007 Togo Moustapha SalifouSwitzerland FC Wil 1900Undisclosed
4 December 2007 Austria Thomas DauAustria SV Schwechat JuniorsUndisclosed
December 2007 New Zealand Lance HeslopNew Zealand Auckland CityUndisclosed
30 January 2008 England Wayne RoutledgeTottenham Hotspur£1,250,000

Out

Date Player Transfer to Fee Ref
12 June 2007 England Gavin McCannBolton Wanderers£1,000,000
27 June 2007 Northern Ireland Aaron HughesFulham£1,000,000
1 July 2007 Republic of Ireland Stephen HendersonBristol CityFree
1 July 2007 Austria Bobby OlejnikScotland FalkirkFree
1 July 2007 Trinidad and Tobago Jlloyd SamuelBolton WanderersFree
5 July 2007 Northern Ireland Steven DavisFulhamUndisclosed
19 July 2007 England Lee HendrieSheffield UnitedFree
3 August 2007 England Liam RidgewellBirmingham City£2,000,000
30 January 2008 England Gary CahillBolton WanderersUndisclosed

Pre-season results

Date Opponent Venue Result
F – A		 Competition Scorers
25 July 2007 Toronto FC A 4–2 Friendly match Moore (3), Carew
28 July 2007 Columbus Crew A 3–1 Friendly match Young, Barry, Moore
01/08/2007 Stoke City A 2–0 Friendly match Berger, Agbonlahor
04/08/2007 Internazionale H 3–0 Friendly match Barry (2), Lausren
07/08/2007 Walsall A 1–1 Friendly match Boertien (og)

Players of the year

At the end of season awards dinner, Martin Laursen was announced as the Supporters' Player of the Year, whilst Gabriel Agbonlahor was the Supporter's and Player's Young Player of the Year.[1]

Results

Premier League

League Cup

FA Cup

Topscorers

References

  1. ↑ "Gabby's Double Gold". Aston Villa F.C. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
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