Aston Villa

2009–10 season
Manager	Martin O'Neill
Chairman	Randy Lerner
Premier League	TBA
FA Cup	TBA
Football League Cup	TBA
UEFA Europa League	Play-off Round
Peace Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Gabriel Agbonlahor (8) All: Gabriel Agbonlahor (9)
Highest home attendance	42,788 v Liverpool - 29 December 2009
Lowest home attendance	22,527 v Cardiff City - 23 September 2009
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

The 2009-10 season will be Aston Villa's 135th professional season; their 99th season in the top-flight and their 22nd consecutive season in the top flight of English football, the Premier League. They will be managed by Martin O'Neill - in his fourth season since replacing David O'Leary. The 2009-10 season will be Villa's second consecutive spell in European competition for the club, and the first in the newly-formatted UEFA Europa League.

The Birmingham Derby made a return to the Premier League after local rivals Birmingham City were promoted to the top tier. Villa won the first of two fixtures 1-0 at St Andrew's on September 13, 2009 with Gabriel Agbonlahor scoring the winning goal. Villa will also take on Wolves from nearby Wolverhampton who also join the Premier League.

Villa are without long-term player and former captain Gareth Barry this season following his £12million move to Manchester City on 2 June 2009. Barry had been at the club since 1997.

[edit] First team squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Brad Friedel 2 DF Luke Young 3 DF Wilfred Bouma 4 MF Steve Sidwell 5 DF Richard Dunne 6 MF Stewart Downing 7 MF Ashley Young 8 MF James Milner 9 FW Marlon Harewood (on loan to Newcastle United during the playing season) 10 FW John Carew 11 FW Gabriel Agbonlahor 12 MF Marc Albrighton 14 FW Nathan Delfouneso 15 DF Curtis Davies 16 MF Fabian Delph 17 MF Moustapha Salifou 18 FW Emile Heskey 19 MF Stiliyan Petrov (captain) 20 MF Nigel Reo-Coker 21 DF Nicky Shorey (on loan to Nottingham Forest during the playing season) 22 GK Brad Guzan

No. Position Player 23 DF Habib Beye 24 DF Carlos Cuéllar 25 DF Stephen Warnock 26 MF Craig Gardner 27 MF Isaiah Osbourne (on loan to Middlesbrough during the playing season) 29 DF James Collins 33 GK Andy Marshall 42 FW Andreas Weimann 43 GK Elliott Parish 44 DF Eric Lichaj (on loan to Lincoln City during the playing season) 45 MF Shane Lowry (on loan to Plymouth Argyle during the playing season) 46 MF Barry Bannan on loan to Blackpool during the playing season) 47 DF Ciaran Clark 48 DF Nathan Baker (on loan to Lincoln City during the playing season) 49 MF Chris Herd (on loan to Lincoln City during the playing season) 50 MF Jonathan Hogg (on loan to Darlington during the playing season)

[edit] Transfers in

Date	Position	Player Name	Previous Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
June 18, 2009	MF	Courtney Cameron	Northampton Town	Coca Cola League 2	Undisclosed Fee	Youth player
June 20, 2009	MF	Samir Carruthers	Arsenal	Premier League	Free	Youth player
July 16, 2009	MF	Stewart Downing	Middlesbrough	Coca Cola Championship	£10 million	Initial £10million with potential further £2million based on appearances.
August 4, 2009	MF	Fabian Delph	Leeds United	Coca Cola League 1	Undisclosed Fee
August 7, 2009	DF	Habib Beye	Newcastle United	Coca Cola Championship	Undisclosed Fee
August 12, 2009	GK	Andy Marshall	Coventry City	Coca Cola Championship	Free	Free transfer following release from Coventry City
August 27, 2009	DF	Stephen Warnock	Blackburn Rovers	Premier League	Undisclosed Fee
September 1, 2009	DF	James Collins	West Ham United	Premier League	£5million
September 2, 2009	DF	Richard Dunne	Manchester City	Premier League	£6million

[edit] Transfers out

Date	Position	Player Name	New Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
June 2, 2009	MF	Gareth Barry	Manchester City	Premier League	£12m	Captain position succeeded by Stiliyan Petrov
June 23, 2009	GK	Stuart Taylor	Manchester City	Premier League	Free	Player officially joined on 1 July 2009
1 July 2009	FW	Tobias Mikaelsson	FC Trollhättan	Superettan	Free	Youth player
July 21, 2009	FW	Sam Williams	Yeovil Town	Coca-Cola League One	Free	Youth player
July 25, 2009	DF	Zat Knight	Bolton Wanderers	Premier League	Undisclosed Fee

[edit] Loan out

Date	Position	Player Name	New Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
August 5, 2009	GK	David Bevan	Ilkeston Town	Blue Square North	September 5, 2009	Youth player
September 17, 2009	DF	Shane Lowry	Plymouth Argyle	Coca-Cola Championship	December 17, 2009
September 24, 2009	FW	Marlon Harewood	Newcastle United	Coca-Cola Championship	December 25, 2009
October 26, 2009	DF	Eric Lichaj	Lincoln City	Coca-Cola League 2	January 1, 2010	Loan extended to January 2010 after initial month
October 26, 2009	DF	Nathan Baker	Lincoln City	Coca-Cola League 2	January 1, 2010	Loan extended to January 2010 after initial month
October 26, 2009	FW	James Collins	Darlington	Coca-Cola League 2	January 22, 2010	Youth player
November 7, 2009	MF	Isaiah Osbourne	Middlesbrough	Coca-Cola Championship	January 5, 2010
November 19, 2009	MF	Jonathan Hogg	Darlington	Coca-Cola League 2	January 2, 2010
November 24, 2009	DF	Nicky Shorey	Nottingham Forest	Coca-Cola Championship	December 24, 2009
November 26, 2009	DF	Chris Herd	Lincoln City	Coca-Cola League 2	December 26, 2009
November 26, 2009	MF	Barry Bannan	Blackpool	Coca-Cola Championship	January 26, 2010

[edit] Kit Changes

The club will once again forgo sponsorship payments to allow Acorns as a charitable sponsor. A new away kit was unveiled on 24 May 2009 and inspired by the England national football team. It features a white and gray halved style with pinstripes and a navy accent, intended to pay tribute to the 67 Villa players that have appeared for the country while at the club.^[1] Last season's blue and black away kit also becomes this season's third kit.^[2] The new home kit was unveiled the day before the first clash of the Peace Cup 2009, which was against Malaga on Saturday 25 July.^[3]

[edit] Competitive Matches

[edit] Barclays Premier League

[edit] FA Cup

[edit] Carling Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
23 September 2009	R3	Cardiff City	Villa Park	1–0	22,527	Agbonlahor
27 October 2009	R4	Sunderland	Stadium of Light	0–0	27,666	(Pens: Carew, Collins, A. Young)
0 – 0 after extra time – Aston Villa won 3–1 on penalties
1 December 2009	QF	Portsmouth	Fratton Park	4–2	17,034	Milner, Heskey, Downing, A. Young
5 January 2010	SF (1)	Blackburn Rovers	Ewood Park	–
20 January 2010	SF (2)	Blackburn Rovers	Villa Park	–

[edit] UEFA Europa League

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
20 August 2009	Play-off Round (1)	Rapid Vienna	Gerhard Hanappi Stadium	0–1	17,600
27 August 2009	Play-off Round (2)	Rapid Vienna	Villa Park	2–1	22,563	Milner (pen), Carew
Rapid Vienna won on away goals

[edit] Friendly Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 July 2009	Peterborough United	London Road	3–0		Weimann, Davies, Sidwell
21 July 2009	Colchester United	Colchester Community Stadium	2–2		Sidwell, McGurk
4 August 2009	Oxford United	Kassam Stadium	0–2
8 August 2009	Fiorentina	Villa Park	1–0		Heskey

[edit] Peace Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 July 2009	Group C	Málaga	Estadio La Rosaleda	0–1
29 July 2009	Group C	Atlante	Estadio La Rosaleda	3–1		Albrighton, Carew, A. Young
31 July 2009	Semi-Final	Porto	Estadio La Rosaleda	2–1		Heskey, Sidwell
2 August 2009	Final	Juventus	Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla	0–0		(Pens: Bannan, Lowry, A. Young, Cuéllar)
0–0 after extra time – Aston Villa won 4–3 on penalties

[edit] Goalscorers

Name	Premier League	FA Cup	Carling Cup	UEFA Europa League	Total
Gabriel Agbonlahor	8		1		9
James Milner	4		1	1	6
John Carew	4			1	5
Ashley Young	3		1		4
Richard Dunne	3				3
Emile Heskey	2		1		3
James Collins	1				1
Carlos Cuéllar	1				1
Curtis Davies	1				1
Stewart Downing			1		1

[edit] References