John 
If you ever find yourself in the City of a Thousand Trades, you must absolutely visit the playing grounds of their most prominent teams – Aston Villa and Birmingham City FC. So, in this article we will tell you more about these teams and their iconic stadiums. Learn how these teams rose to the top and how to visit their home fields.
Aston Villa
Aston Villa is a team from Birmingham that currently plays in the Premier League, the top tier league in England for professional football. The team is based, as you might have guessed, in the Aston area of Birmingham. It was established in March of 1874 by Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price, and William Scattergood.
These men were members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel and they all played cricket. They decided to form a football team as a way to keep themselves busy outside cricket season. Since there wasn’t another football team in the area, Aston Villa played their first game against the Aston Brook St Mary’s rugby team.
Aston Villa soon established itself as a leader in English football by winning the 1887 FA Cup. One of Aston Villa’s directors, William McGregor, even founded the Football League in 1888, which was the first professional football league in the world. Aston Villa played there until 1992 when the top 22 football teams split from it and created Premier League.
Aston Villa was the most successful club of the Victorian Era, having won five league titles and three FA Cups by the time England entered the Edwardian Era. There were, however, tough times for the club. Its main mistake was ignoring the changing landscape of football that led to poor scouting programs, which coupled with their financial issues predicted a disaster.
Aston Villa was relegated to League Two in 1967 and even there it struggled to keep afloat. Luckily, the fans made their opinions clear and the whole board resigned to appease them. The club changed for the better and they reached new heights in 1982 by winning the European Cup and the European Super Cup.
They have been comfortably sitting in the Premier League and have since won 7 First Division/Premier League titles, 2 Second Division titles, 1 Third Division title, 7 FA Cups, 5 EFL Cups, 1 FA Community Shield, 2 Sheriff of London Charity Shields, 1 UEFA Champions League Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 2 Intertoto Cups.
Villa Park
Villa Park is the seat of Aston Villa, but it’s not their first home. Originally, Aston Villa played at their Wellington Road stadium, but the facilities were not excellent and the rent was high. The owners negotiated a deal with the owners of the Aston Hall mansion to use their grounds to build a new stadium for the cost of £16,733 (£25 million today).
Aston Villa’s chairman, Frederick Rinder, is credited as the genius behind the stadium’s construction due to his meticulous calculations before construction began. The stadium saw its first game on 17 April 1897 against Blackburn Rovers that ended in a 3-0 win. Construction continued afterwards and the stadium could accommodate up to 40,000 spectators, that number is now 42,095.
In order to visit Villa Park, you must book a tour on their website. You can reach the stadium by bus (lines 7 and 11) or by train.
Birmingham City FC
Shortly after Aston Villa was founded, Birmingham City FC was established in 1875. Back then, however, it had the name of Small Heath Alliance, then Small Heath (1888), Birmingham (1905), and finally Birmingham City FC (since 1943).
Surprisingly, the team was also created by cricket players who wanted to do something in the winter season. Since there was no football league before 1888, Small Heath Alliance played friendlies. Then, they started playing for the Football Alliance until it was dissolved in 1892. Small Heath was invited to join the Football League Second Division afterwards and they won it, but failed to enter First Division.
Birmingham FC made history by becoming the first English team to have played in a European football tournament, which they did in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup competition on 15 May 1956. They were also the first English team to reach a European football final when they faced Barcelona in the 1960 Fairs Cup final, which they unfortunately lost.
Birmingham City FC has so far won 4 Second Division titles, 1 Third Division title, 2 Football League Cups, 2 Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, 1 Associate Members’ Cup / Football League Trophy, 1 Birmingham Senior Cup, and 1 Football League South title.
St Andrew’s
Birmingham City FC (then Small Heath Alliance) first played on waste grounds off Arthur Street, Bordesley Green. They soon moved to a better-equipped field in Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook. Only a year later, they moved again to a field in Muntz Street, Small Heath.
The last field could accommodate up to 10,000 and then 30,000 people, but as interest grew and a few thousand fans broke in, they decided to move yet again. Thus, St Andrew’s stadium was born. The stadium was constructed within one year and it could originally hold up to 75,000 people (both standing and sitting). The capacity now is 29,409.
In order to visit St Andrew’s stadium, you have to book a tour. You can do this either by visiting their ticket office or by calling 0121 772 0101. The stadium can be reached by the buses 17, 58, 59, 60, 97, and 97A.