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

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.

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
4 Liverpool 38 21 13 4 67 28 +39 76 2008–09 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
5 Everton 38 19 8 11 55 33 +22 65 2008–09 UEFA Cup First round
6 Aston Villa 38 16 12 10 71 51 +20 60 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round
7 Blackburn Rovers 38 15 13 10 50 48 +2 58
8 Portsmouth 38 16 9 13 48 40 +8 57 2008–09 UEFA Cup First round[lower-alpha 1]
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
For further information on European qualification see Premier League – Competition
Notes:
  1. ↑ As FA Cup winners

Players

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
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
15 England DF Curtis Davies (on loan from West Bromwich Albion)
No. Position Player
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

The following players made most of their appearances playing for the reserves, but may have also appeared for the youth team.[1]

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
29 Republic of Ireland DF Stephen O'Halloran
Sweden DF Erik Lund
Republic of Ireland DF Shane Lowry[notes 1]
England MF Jonathan Hogg
No. Position Player
England MF Sam Williams
Switzerland MF Yagó Bellón
Hungary MF Zoltán Stieber (on loan Yeovil Town)
Sweden FW Tobias Mikaelsson (on loan to Port Vale)

Youth squad

The following players made most of their appearances playing for the youth team, but may have also appeared for the reserves.

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
England GK Elliot Parish
Republic of Ireland GK David Bevan
Austria GK Thomas Dau
England DF Nathan Baker
England DF Durrell Berry
England DF Daniel Bradley
England DF Steven Clancy (on trial to Crewe Alexandra)
England DF Ciaran Clark[notes 2]
England DF Calum Flanagan
England DF Matthew Roome
England DF Sam Simmonds
Republic of Ireland DF Danny Earls
United States DF Eric Lichaj
No. Position Player
England MF Marc Albrighton
England MF Harry Forrester
England MF William Grocott
England MF Jason Lampkin
Scotland MF Barry Bannan
Austria MF Dominik Hofbauer
Switzerland MF Damian Bellón
Australia MF Chris Herd (on loan to Port Vale and Wycombe Wanderers)
England FW Kofi Poyser
England FW Ryan Simmonds
Republic of Ireland FW James Collins[notes 3]
Austria FW Andreas Weimann
DF Will Ricketts
Aaron Griffiths (on trial to Coventry City)

Other players

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

No. Position Player
England GK Deale Chamberlain
Republic of Ireland GK Lee Boyle (contract cancelled)
France GK Steve Mandanda (on trial from Le Havre)
England DF Scott Bridges (to Banbury United)
England DF James Clifton
England DF Jordan Collins
England DF Ben Love
Wales DF Tomos Roberts
Republic of Ireland DF Mark Power
No. Position Player
Ivory Coast DF Arsène Menessou (on trial from Le Havre)
England MF Richard Blythe
England MF Jack Dyer
England MF Gary Gardner
England MF Charlie Ward
Hungary MF András Stieber
England FW Ethan Moore
Northern Ireland FW Adam McGurk
Joseph Jackman

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

Out

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

Results

Premier League

League Cup

FA Cup

Statistics

Appearances and goals

As of end of season[3]
No. Pos Nat Player TotalPremiershipLeague CupFA Cup
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Goalkeepers
13 GK England Stuart Taylor 603+102000
22 GK England Scott Carson 3603500010
Defenders
3 DF Netherlands Wilfred Bouma 3913810010
4 DF Sweden Olof Mellberg 37233+122010
5 DF Denmark Martin Laursen 3963860010
15 DF England Curtis Davies 1419+311010
16 DF England Zat Knight 28125+211000
26 DF England Craig Gardner 25315+83100+10
Midfielders
6 MF England Gareth Barry 4093792010
7 MF England Ashley Young 3993790+1010
17 MF Togo Moustapha Salifou 400+400000
18 MF England Wayne Routledge 100+100000
19 MF Bulgaria Stilian Petrov 31122+611+1010
20 MF England Nigel Reo-Coker 3913602110
23 MF Czech Republic Patrik Berger 900+800+1000
27 MF England Isaiah Osbourne 1001+702000
28 MF Scotland Shaun Maloney 25611+114220+10
Forwards
8 FW England Luke Moore 1828+711+110+10
9 FW England Marlon Harewood 2561+2252100
10 FW Norway John Carew 331332130010
11 FW England Gabriel Agbonlahor 401137112010
Players transferred or loaned out during the season
21 DF England Gary Cahill 200+101000

Last updated: September 2017
Source: Competitions

Topscorers

Notes

  1. ↑ Lowry was born in Perth, Australia, but also qualifies to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his parents and represented them at U-17, U-19, and U-21 level before switching his international allegiance to Australia.
  2. ↑ Clark was born in Harrow, England, and represented them at U-17, U-18, U-19, and U-20 level, but also qualifies to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and would make his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in February 2011.
  3. ↑ Collins was born in Coventry, England, but also qualifies to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his parents and has represented them at U-19 and U-21 level.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.astonvillaplayerdatabase.com/2007-08.html
  2. ↑ "Gabby's Double Gold". Aston Villa F.C. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  3. ↑ https://www.11v11.com/teams/aston-villa/tab/players/season/2004/comp/1/
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