The Myth of Aston Villa – The 1982 European Cup winner has re-established itself among the top teams in the Premier League under the leadership of tactical mastermind Unai Emery (“Good ebening”) and impressed in the new league phase of the Champions League in 2024/2025, reaching the quarter-finals. Yet “The Villains” still face geographical misconceptions. For many fans on the European continent, Aston Villa remains an unknown entity.
That is a pity – because Aston Villa has the most prominent supporter in all of England: Crown Prince William.
The president of the English Football Association (FA) supports Aston Villa because he “wanted to root for a mid-table team.” He attended his first match in 2000 and was also in the stands for Villa’s unforgettable 1–0 victory in the Champions League (October 2024) against FC Bayern Munich.
Is Aston Villa located in London?
So the most famous fan is the Prince, not the King. This mix-up keeps resurfacing in Villa contexts.
But: The question of which city Aston Villa is actually from also frequently arises – and rightly so.
One has to admit: Not every football fan in Germany or Austria is familiar with all the Premier League clubs. With Aston Villa, it’s easy to mistakenly group the club with the many London-based Premier League teams.
Even Crystal Palace from South London confuses many geographically.
Aston Villa is often incorrectly associated with Manchester as well, even though 144 kilometers separate Villa Park and United’s Old Trafford.
No, Aston Villa is neither in London nor in Manchester, but in England’s second-largest city: Birmingham.
Which city is Aston Villa based in?
Birmingham – more precisely, “The Villains” play in the suburb of Aston, which is part of the 1.15 million-inhabitant city in the West Midlands.
The stadium of “The Villains”, Villa Park, was opened back in 1897. I had the chance to visit it in 2001 on the way to Liverpool.
The most striking part of the stadium is the two-tier Holte End stand, inaugurated in the 1994/95 season. It holds 13,500 spectators.
A controversy among fans arose in 2000 with the demolition of the Trinity Road Stand, which had three tiers. Since its last reconstruction in 2000/2001, it is now roughly the same height as the other stands (Doug Ellis Stand, Holte End, North Stand) and gives, as author Duncan Adams noted, “the stadium a more balanced appearance.”
How far is Aston Villa from London?
Aston Villa is not in London, and the rivalry with clubs from the capital doesn't have the character of a derby. 189 motorway kilometers (118 miles) separate the two cities.
Even the Vicarage Road stadium of Watford FC, located outside London, is 165 kilometers (103 miles) away.
London to Aston Villa: How to get there without transfers
How can you travel from London to Birmingham? By train, the journey takes about two hours – from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street.
Early risers can catch a train from London Euston Station at 6:33 am and reach Birmingham New Street in just under one and a half hours, without changing trains.
From New Street Station, it’s just a 15-minute ride on local trains to Aston or Witton. Witton Station is only a few minutes from the stadium and near the away section (North Stand).
On matchdays, the club also provides special trains. Travelling to Birmingham is no problem – and definitely worth it.
Football trips to Aston Villa: Villa Park, already a venue during EURO 1996 in England, will be expanded for EURO 2028. Photo: Shutterstock
Villa Park Renovation: What are Aston Villa’s future plans?
This also means that football trips and tickets to Aston Villa will become even more comfortable in the future.
In 2022, Aston Villa received approval for the expansion of Villa Park.
Promoted on the club’s website as a “stadium that is more than just football” and an “inspiration for a new generation of football fans”, the stadium project is a key investment.
The capacity of Villa Park is set to increase to over 50,000 seats – as part of the renovation plans for EURO 2028 in the UK and Ireland.
The stadium currently holds 42,573 spectators.
Where does Aston Villa stand in the Premier League?
However, Aston Villa also had to pay the price for its recent successes, including Champions League qualification and a Conference League semi-final (2024).
“The expectations raised by reaching the Champions League quarter-finals,” explains England legend Keir Radnedge in Kicker Sports Magazine (issue from 18 September 2025), “have so far been bitterly disappointed.”
At that point, Aston Villa sat in 19th place in the Premier League with zero goals and zero points. Key players like Marcus Rashford (now FC Barcelona) and Marco Asensio (Fenerbahce) could not be retained.
Top scorer and Euro 2024 runner-up Ollie Watkins, who scored 16 goals last season, was struggling for form, while former Dortmund player Jadon Sancho, on loan from Manchester United, had yet to make an appearance.
Additionally, they were knocked out of the EFL Cup in a penalty shootout against league rivals Brentford FC.
In the Europa League home games, the team of coach Unai Emery, who greets everyone with “Good Ebening” at any time of day, faces manageable challenges in the form of FC Bologna, Maccabi Tel Aviv, and FC Salzburg.
Matches that could once again bring some “Good Ebening” vibes back to Birmingham. Aston Villa no longer a top team? Yet another misconception…
Der Autor: Carsten Germann berichtet seit 2002 aus erster Hand über den englischen Fußball, u. a. für DIE WELT, BILD am SONNTAG und seit April 2021 auch als leitender Redakteur beim Portal Fussballdaten.de. Zudem gab er mit den Büchern Football’s home (2007) und Absolute Dynamite! (2010) zwei Sammelbände mit seinen Fußball-Reiseerlebnissen aus Großbritannien heraus. Für DIE FUSSBALLREISE schreibt er regelmäßig über den Insel-Kick.