Aston Villa W.F.C.

Aston Villa Women Football Club is the women's football team of Aston Villa, currently playing in the English women's Super League.[1] The club has been in existence under several names since 1973. Originally titled Solihull F.C., the team affiliated to Aston Villa in 1989, becoming Villa Aztecs, and became the officially licensed Aston Villa women's side in 1996. The club have a senior team, a reserve team and several other teams of younger age groups under a Regional Talent Club FA license.

For the men's senior team, see Aston Villa F.C. For the men's u23 and academy teams, see Aston Villa Under-23s and Academy.

Aston Villa W.F.C.
Full nameAston Villa Women Football Club
Nickname(s)The Villans, The Villa, The Lions
Short nameVilla, AVWFC
Founded1973 (1973) (as Solihull FC)
GroundBescot Stadium, Walsall
Capacity11,000
OwnerNSWE Group
ChairmanNassef Sawiris
ManagerGemma Davies
LeagueFA WSL
2019–20FA Women's Championship, 1st of 11 (promoted)
WebsiteClub website

History

Aston Villa Women Football Club was formed in 1973 as Solihull FC. When Aston Villa asked for help in forming a ladies team in 1989, Solihull responded. The club agreed to change their name in 1996 to become the officially recognised ladies team of Aston Villa. As Villa Aztecs they reached the 1995 League Cup Final but lost 2–0 to Wimbledon. In 1998, the senior team, now known as Aston Villa Ladies F.C. won promotion to the Northern Division of the FA Women's Premier League.[2] After 13 seasons in the Northern Division, the Lady Villans won the league in 2011 and gained promotion to the National Division.[3] However on 5 May 2013, the club had its greatest achievement by winning its first ever trophy, the Women's Premier League Cup, beating Leeds United Ladies 5–4 on penalties.[4] In 2014 they were one of ten teams who joined WSL2.[5] In 2018 Aston Villa were elected into the newly formed WSL Championship [6]

On 4 July 2019, it was announced that the team would be renamed Aston Villa Women F.C., CEO Christian Purslow, described that the new name "aligns more appropriately with women’s football in this country".[7] On the same day, it was announced that Aston Villa's Chief Commercial Officer, Nicola Ibbetson, had been elected to the Women's Super League and Women's Championship board - making Aston Villa Women one of only two Championship clubs to have a representative on the board.[8]

Players

Current squad
As of 11 June 2020.[9]

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

No. Position Player
1 GK Sian Rogers
3 DF Asmita Ale
4 DF Ella Franklin-Fraiture
5 DF Elisha N'Dow
11 MF Amy West
12 FW Jodie Hutton
14 MF Emily Syme
No. Position Player
15 DF Natalie Haigh
17 FW Sophie Haywood
21 MF Marisa Ewers
22 FW Shania Hayles
23 MF Nadine Hanssen
27 MF Emma Follis

Non-playing staff

Corporate hierarchy
Position Name
ChairmanNassef Sawiris
Chief Executive OfficerChristian Purslow
Board MemberWes Edens

Reference:[10]

Management hierarchy
Position Name
ManagerGemma Davies
Assistant ManagerJenny Sugarman
CoachCarly Davies
Director of FootballEniola Aluko

Regional Talent Club

The club also run several other teams under the auspices of an FA Tier Two Regional Talent Club. This centre aims to develop the talent from within the local area. The RTC teams include an under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and development squad"

In August 2010, Aston Villa Women FC supplied eight players to a 30-strong England Under-17 training camp.[11] Over the years the Villa Women have provided many players for the England young teams, including Mollie Rouse who represents England at Under 19 level

Notes
  1. "2012/13 National Division table". FA. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  2. "About Aston Villa Ladies football club". AVLFC. Archived from the original on 16 August 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  3. "2010/11 Northern Division table". FA. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  4. "2012/13 FA Women's Premier League Cup fixtures". FA. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  5. "INTRODUCING ASTON VILLA LADIES". FA Women's Super League. Aston villa women's team have won 18 major trophies. The FA. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Styles, Greg (4 July 2019). "Aston Villa Ladies become Aston Villa Women ahead of new season". Aston Villa F.C. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  8. "Aston Villa Ladies become Aston Villa Women ahead of new season". www.avfc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  9. "Aston Villa Women's Team". Aston Villa FC. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  10. "Revealed: Aston Villa fan appointed to club's board by Tony Xia". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  11. "Training camp squad selected". TheFA.com. 3 August 2010. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
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