List of Aston Villa F.C. players

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Aston Villa players from the squad that won the 1982 European Cup Final at the 25 years celebration: Jimmy Rimmer, Kenny Swain, Allan Evans, Ken McNaught, Gary Williams, Des Bremner, Gordon Cowans, Dennis Mortimer, Gary Shaw, Tony Morley, Peter Withe, and Nigel Spink

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Aston, Birmingham, who currently play in the Premier League. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at its current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa was one of the founding members of The Football League in 1888 and the Premier League in 1992.[1] Aston Villa is one of the most successful clubs in English football history, having won 25 honours in its history.

This is a list of Aston Villa's notable players, generally this means players that have played 100 or more competitive matches for the club, a feat often referred to as joining the 100 club.[2][3] However, some players who have played fewer matches are also included; players from the club's pre-Football League days, when they played fewer matches in a season than the present day, club captains, record-holders, and players that became coaches or managers at the club are also included. Players who hold records have footnotes describing the record. Players are listed according to the date of their first-team debut for the club. Appearances are for first-team competitive matches only including those as a substitute; wartime matches are excluded as competitions were regarded as invitational or friendly.

Notable players[edit]

  • Statistics correct as of 9 May 2023.

  This and the † indicate that they hold or held a club or national record
  This and the * indicate that they played their full professional career at Aston Villa.
(n/a) = Information not available
Players in bold are still playing for the club.

Name Nationality Position[4] Aston Villa career Captaincy Appearances Goals Notes
Walter H. Price  England Defender 1874 1874–1876 n/a n/a [5][6]
George Ramsay  Scotland Forward 1876–1882 1876–1882 n/a n/a [7]
Archie Hunter  Scotland Forward 1878–1890 1882–1891 73 42 [8]
Gershom Cox  England Defender 1878–1893 101 0
Howard Vaughton  England Forward 1880–1888 26 15 [9]
Albert Brown  England Forward 1884–1894 114 58 [10]
Dennis Hodgetts  England Midfielder 1886–1896 215 91
Jimmy Warner  England Goalkeeper 1886–1892 101 0
James Cowan  Scotland Midfielder 1889–1902* 354 27
Charlie Athersmith  England Winger 1891–1901 307 85
Jack Devey  England Forward 1891–1902 1891–1898 304 187 [11]
Howard Spencer  England Defender 1892–1907 1902–1906 292 2
Jack Reynolds  England Midfielder 1893–1897 110 17
Willie Groves  Scotland Midfielder, Forward 1893–1894 22 4 [12]
Stephen Smith  England Forward 1893–1901 184 42
Jimmy Crabtree  England Defender 1895–1904 1898–1902 200 7
Albert Evans  England Defender 1896–1906 206 0
Fred Wheldon  England Forward 1896–1900 137 74
Billy George  England Goalkeeper 1897–1911* 401 0
Billy Garraty  England Forward 1897–1908 255 112
Tommy Bowman  Scotland Midfielder 1897–1901 113 2
George Johnson  England Forward 1897–1905 110 47
Albert Wilkes  England Midfielder 1898–1907 157 8
Joe Pearson  England Midfielder 1900–1908 118 7
Joe Bache  England Forward 1900–1914 1906–1914 474 185
Alf Wood  England Defender 1900–1905 111 7
Willie Clarke  Scotland Forward 1901–1905 41 5 [13]
William Brawn  England Forward 1901–1906 107 20
Alf Miles  England Defender 1902–1914 269 0
Alex Leake  England Midfielder 1902–1907 140 9
Bert Hall  England Forward 1903–1913 214 62
Harry Hampton  England Forward 1904–1920 376 242 [14]
James Logan  Scotland Defender 1905–1912 157 4
George Tranter  England Midfielder 1905–1915 174 1
Joe Walters  England Forward 1905–1912 121 41
Chris Buckley  England Forward 1906–1914 143 3
Tom Lyons  England Defender 1907–1915 238 0
Charlie Wallace  England Forward 1907–1921 349 57
Clem Stephenson  England Forward 1910–1921 216 96 [8]
Tommy Weston  England Defender 1911–1922 179 0
Jimmy Harrop  England Defender 1912–1921 171 4
Andy Ducat  England Midfield 1912–1921 1919–1921 87 4
Sam Hardy  England Goalkeeper 1912–1921 183 0 [8]
Frank Moss  England Defender
Midfielder
1914–1929 1921–1927 283 9
Richard York  England Forward 1915–1931 390 86
Jimmy Gibson  Scotland Defender 1927–1936 197 9
Danny Blair  Scotland Defender 1931–1936 138 0
Arthur Dorrell  England Forward 1919–1931 390 65
Frank Barson  England Midfielder 1919–1922 108 10
Tommy Jackson  England Goalkeeper 1919–1930 186 0
Billy Kirton  England Forward 1919–1928 261 59
Billy Walker  England Forward 1919–1933* 1927–1933 531 244 [15][16]
Tommy Ball  England Defender 1920–1923 77 0 [17][18]
George Blackburn  England Midfielder 1920–1926 145 2
Tommy Smart  England Defender 1920–1934 452 8
Cyril Spiers  England Goalkeeper 1920–1927 112 0
Len Capewell  England Forward 1921–1930 156 100
Jock Johnstone  Scotland Defender 1921–1927 115 1
Thomas Mort  England Defender 1921–1935 368 2
Vic Milne  Scotland Defender 1923–1929 175 1
Alec Talbot  England Defender 1923–1936 1933–1934 263 7
Teddy Bowen  England Defender 1923–1934 199 0
Joe Tate  England Midfielder 1925–1935 193 4
Billy Kingdon  England Midfielder 1926–1936 241 5
Joseph Beresford  England Forward 1927–1935 251 73
Eric Houghton  England Forward 1927–1946 1934–1936 392 170 [7][19]
Tom Waring  England Forward 1928–1935 226 167 [20]
George Brown  England Forward 1929–1934 126 89
Jack Mandley  England Forward 1929–1934 112 26
Ernie Callaghan  England Defender 1930–1947* 142 0 [21]
Harry Morton  England Goalkeeper 1930–1937 207 0
Fred Biddlestone  England Goalkeeper 1930–1939 160 0
Dai Astley  Wales Forward 1931–1936 173 100
Ronnie Dix  England Striker 1932–1937 104 30
Jimmy Allen  England Midfielder 1934–(n/a) 160 3
Frank Broome  England Forward 1934–1946 151 90
Freddie Haycock  England Forward 1936–1939 110 33
George Cummings  Scotland Defender 1935–1949 1938–1939 232 0
Tom Griffiths  Wales Midfielder 1935–1939 1936–1937 67 1
Alex Massie  Scotland Midfielder 1935–1945 1937–1938 152 5 [22]
Bob Iverson  England Defender 1936–1948 153 12
Billy Goffin  England Forward 1937–1954 173 42
George Edwards  England Forward 1938–1956 152 41
Frank Moss  England Midfielder 1938–1951 313 3
Harry Parkes  England Defender
Utility
1939–1955* 345 4
Joe Rutherford  England Goalkeeper 1939–1951 156 0
Johnny Dixon  England Forward 1945–1961* 1955–1959 430 144
Eddie Lowe  England Midfielder 1945–1950 117 3
Amos Moss  England Defender 1945–1956 109 5
Leslie Smith  England Forward 1945–1952 197 37
Dicky Dorsett  England Defender 1946–1953 1949–1951 271 36
Keith Jones  Wales Goalkeeper 1946–1957 199 0
Trevor Ford  Wales Forward 1947–1950 128 61 [7][8]
Peter Aldis  England Defender 1948–1960 294 1
Con Martin  Republic of Ireland/
 Ireland
Goalkeeper
Utility
1948–1956 213 1
Colin Gibson  England Forward 1949–1956 167 26
Stan Lynn  England Defender 1950–1961 323 38
Derek Pace  England Forward 1950–1958 107 42
Tommy Thompson  England Forward 1950–1955 165 75
Davy Walsh  Ireland/
 Republic of Ireland
Striker 1950–1955 114 40
Vic Crowe  Wales Midfielder 1951–1964 1959–1964 351 12 [23]
Danny Blanchflower  Northern Ireland Midfielder 1951–1954 1951–1955 155 10 [8][24]
Peter McParland  Northern Ireland Forward 1952–1962 340 120 [7][25]
Billy Baxter  England Midfielder 1953–1957 108 6
Gordon Lee  England Defender 1955–1966 142 2
Pat Saward  Republic of Ireland Defender 1955–1961 168 2
Jackie Sewell  England Forward 1955–1959 144 40
Harry Burrows  England Forward 1956–1965 181 73
Alan Deakin  England Midfielder 1956–1969 1964–1969 270 9
Jimmy Dugdale  England Defender 1956–1962 244 3
Nigel Sims  England Goalkeeper 1956–1964 308 0
Leslie Smith  England Forward 1956–1960 129 25
Mike Tindall  England Midfielder 1956–1961 134 4
Gerry Hitchens  England Forward 1957–1961 160 96
Ron Wylie  Scotland Midfielder
Forward
1958–1965 244 28
Charlie Aitken  Scotland Defender 1959–1976 1966–1973 660 16 [7][26]
Jimmy MacEwan  Scotland Forward 1959–1966 181 31
John Neal  England Defender 1959–1963 114 0
Bobby Thomson  Scotland Forward 1959–1963 171 70
Alan Baker  England Defender 1960–1966 109 17
John Sleeuwenhoek  England Defender 1961–1967 260 1
Lew Chatterley  England Defender
Midfielder
1960–1971 160 27
Phil Woosnam  Wales Forward 1962–1966 125 30
Mick Wright  England Defender 1962–1973 315 1
Keith Bradley  England Defender
Midfielder
1962–1972 135 9
Tony Hateley  England Forward 1963–1966 148 86
Stan Horne  England Midfielder 1963–1965 6 0 [27]
Dave Pountney  England Midfielder 1963–1968 128 7
Johnny MacLeod  Scotland Right-winger 1964–1968 139 18
Colin Withers  England Goalkeeper 1964–1969 163 0
William Anderson  England Forward 1967–1973 263 45
John Dunn  England Goalkeeper 1967–1971 118 0
Brian Godfrey  England Midfielder
Forward
1967–1971 260 25
Fred Turnbull  England Defender 1967–1975 183 3
Brian Tiler  England Defender 1968–1973 127 4
Chico Hamilton  England Forward 1969–1976 234 48
Pat McMahon  Scotland Midfielder 1969–1976 149 30
Bruce Rioch  Scotland Midfielder 1969–1974 175 37
Brian Little  England Forward 1970–1979 301 82 [7]
Andy Lochhead  Scotland Forward 1970–1973 153 47
Jimmy Cumbes  England Goalkeeper 1971–1976 182 0
Ray Graydon  England Forward 1971–1977 230 81
Geoff Vowden  England Striker 1971–1974 114 25
John Gidman  England Defender 1972–1980 243 9
Chris Nicholl  England Defender 1972–1977 1976–1977 251 20
John Robson  England Defender 1972–1978 176 1
Ian Ross  Scotland Defender 1972–1976 1974–1976 204 3
John Deehan  England Midfielder 1973–1979 139 51
Leighton Phillips  Wales Defender 1974–1978 175 4
Frank Carrodus  England Midfielder 1974–1979 196 10
Andy Gray  Scotland Forward 1975–1979
1985–1987
209 78 [28][29]
Gary Williams  England Defender 1975–1987 303 2
Dennis Mortimer  England Midfielder 1975–1985 1977–1984 405 36 [7]
Gordon Cowans  England Midfielder 1976–1985
1988–1991
1993–1994
528 59 [7][30]
Colin Gibson  England Defender 1976–1985 238 17
Jimmy Rimmer  England Goalkeeper 1977–1983 287 0
Allan Evans  Scotland Defender 1977–1989 1984–1989 469 62
Ken McNaught  Scotland Defender 1977–1983 259 14
Nigel Spink  England Goalkeeper 1977–1996 454 0
John Gregory  England Forward 1977–1979 76 11 [31]
Brendan Ormsby  England Defender 1978–1986 140 7
Gary Shaw  England Forward 1978–1988 165 78 [29]
Kenny Swain  England Defender 1978–1983 178 2
Paul Birch  England Midfielder 1978–1991 188 25
Des Bremner  Scotland Midfielder 1979–1984 226 10
Tony Morley  England Midfielder 1979–1983 179 34
Peter Withe  England Forward 1980–1985 182 90 [7]
Mark Walters  England Midfielder 1981–1987 224 48
Tony Dorigo  England Defender 1983–1987 135 1
Tony Daley  England Midfielder 1985–1994 290 38
Kevin Gage  England Defender 1987–1992 145 12
Stuart Gray  England Midfielder 1987–1991 1989–1992 132 15
David Platt  England Midfielder 1988–1991 145 68 [28]
Chris Price  England Defender 1988–1992 142 4
Ian Olney  England Forward 1988–1992 114 21
Paul McGrath  Republic of Ireland Defender 1989–1996 321 10 [7][8][28]
Dwight Yorke  Trinidad and Tobago Forward 1989–1998 288 97
Dalian Atkinson  England Forward 1991–1995 114 38
Ugo Ehiogu  England Defender 1991–2000 285 17
Garry Parker  England Midfielder 1991–1995 119 14
Kevin Richardson  England Midfielder 1991–1995 1992–1995 188 16
Steve Staunton  Republic of Ireland Defender 1991–1998
2000–2003
2002–2003 350 19
Shaun Teale  England Defender 1991–1995 185 5
Dean Saunders  Wales Forward 1992–1995 142 49
Earl Barrett  England Defender 1992–1995 132 2
Mark Bosnich  Australia Goalkeeper 1992–1999 227 0
Ray Houghton  Republic of Ireland Midfielder 1992–1995 121 11
Andy Townsend  Republic of Ireland Midfielder 1993–1997 1995–1997 177 11
Lee Hendrie  England Midfielder 1993–2007 308 32
Ian Taylor  England Midfielder 1994–2003 293 43
Savo Milošević  Serbia and Montenegro/
 Serbia
Forward 1995–1998 117 34
Mark Draper  England Midfielder 1995–2000 141 14
Gareth Southgate  England Defender 1995–2001 1997–2001 244 9
Alan Wright  England Defender 1995–2003 331 5
Julian Joachim  England Striker 1996–2001 173 46
Darius Vassell  England Forward 1997–2005 162 35
Gareth Barry  England Defender
Midfielder
1998–2009 2006–2008 441 52
Dion Dublin  England Defender
Forward
1998–2004 190 59
Paul Merson  England Midfielder 1998–2002 2001–2002 145 19
Steve Stone  England Midfielder 1999–2002 121 7
Mark Delaney  Wales Defender 1999–2007 193 2 [32]
Thomas Hitzlsperger  Germany Midfielder 2001–2005 110 13
Peter Schmeichel  Denmark Goalkeeper 2001-2002 _ 29 1 _
George Boateng  Ghana Midfielder 1999–2002 127 5 [33]
Jlloyd Samuel  Trinidad and Tobago Defender 1999–2007 199 3
Juan Pablo Ángel  Colombia Forward 2001–2007 205 66
Olof Mellberg  Sweden Defender 2001–2008 2003–2006 263 8 [34]
Gavin McCann  England Midfielder 2003–2007 129 5
Thomas Sørensen  Denmark Goalkeeper 2003–2008 158 0
Martin Laursen  Denmark Defender 2004–2009 2008–2009 91 11
Steven Davis  Northern Ireland Midfielder 2004–2007 109 9
Gabriel Agbonlahor  England Forward 2005–2018* 2015–2016 391 86 [a]
James Milner  England Midfielder 2005–2006
2008–2010
126 22
Stiliyan Petrov  Bulgaria Midfielder 2006–2013 2009–2012 219 12
Ashley Young  England Defender
Winger
2007–2011
2021–2023
2022–2023 247 39 [b]
John Carew  Norway Forward 2007–2011 143 47
Nigel Reo-Coker  England Midfielder 2007–2011 122 3
Brad Friedel  United States Goalkeeper 2008–2011 131 0 [35][36][37][38]
Brad Guzan  United States Goalkeeper 2008–2016 127 0
Carlos Cuéllar  Spain Defender 2008–2012 120 3
Emile Heskey  England Forward 2008–2012 110 14
Fabian Delph  England Midfielder 2009–2015 2015 134 8
Ciaran Clark  Republic of Ireland Defender 2009–2016 159 10
Marc Albrighton  England Midfielder 2009–2014 101 9
Stephen Warnock  England Defender 2009–2012 104 4
Richard Dunne  Republic of Ireland Defender 2009–2013 111 4
James Collins  Wales Defender 2009–2012 110 6
Andreas Weimann  Austria Forward 2010–2015 129 24
Alan Hutton  Scotland Defender 2011–2019 193 3
Ashley Westwood  England Midfielder 2012–2017 102 3
Ron Vlaar  Netherlands Defender 2012–2015 2012–2015 88 2
Christian Benteke  Belgium Forward 2012–2015 101 49
Leandro Bacuna  Curaçao Midfielder 2013–2017 129 8
Jack Grealish  England Midfielder 2014–2021 2019–2021 213 32 [39]
Micah Richards  England Defender 2015–2019 2015–2016 31 2 [a]
Tommy Elphick  England Defender 2016–2019 2016 46 1
Mile Jedinak  Australia Midfielder 2016–2019 80 2 [40]
James Chester  Wales Defender 2016–2020 2016–2017
2018–2019
121 10
Jonathan Kodjia  Ivory Coast Forward 2016–2020 105 31
Albert Adomah  Ghana Forward 2016–2019 103 18
John Terry  England Defender 2017–2018 2017–2018 37 1 [41]
Ahmed Elmohamady  Egypt Defender 2017–2021 129 4
Conor Hourihane  Republic of Ireland Midfielder 2017–2022 133 28
Neil Taylor  Wales Midfielder 2017–2021 103 0 [42]
John McGinn  Scotland Midfielder 2018– 2022– 181 17 [b]
Anwar El Ghazi  Netherlands Forward 2018–2022 119 26
Tyrone Mings  England Defender 2019– 2021–22 162 8
Jacob Ramsey  England Midfielder 2019– 101 12
Douglas Luiz  Brazil Midfielder 2019– 148 10
Ezri Konsa  England Defender 2019– 135 6
Ollie Watkins  England Forward 2020– 113 42
Matty Cash  Poland Defender 2020– 101 7
Emiliano Martínez  Argentina Goalkeeper 2020– 115 0 [43][44][45][46]

References[edit]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Gabriel Agbonlahor was designated club captain while Micah Richards was designated team captain during the 2015–16 Premier League campaign. Agbonlahor resigned the position following a suspension from first team duties in April 2016. Richards was replaced by Tommy Elphick as captain in August 2016.
  2. ^ a b Ashley Young was designated club captain while John McGinn was designated captain by manager Steven Gerrard at the start of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign.

Specific

  1. ^ "Villa History 1874–1887". Aston Villa F.C. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  2. ^ Kendrick, Mat (25 January 2014). "Ciaran Clark so proud to join Villa's 100 club". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  3. ^ Club, Aston Villa Football. "Ollie Watkins 100: Aston Villa's latest centurion". Aston Villa Football Club. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  4. ^ For a full description of positions see football positions.
  5. ^ One of the four founding members (founding fathers) of the club.
  6. ^ First official club captain of Aston Villa.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j One of 12 players to be inducted into the Aston Villa Hall of Fame in 2006.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Football League 100 Legends Hall of Fame entrant.
  9. ^ Aston Villa's first England player in 1882, jointly with Albert Brown.
  10. ^ Aston Villa's first England player in 1882, jointly with Howard Vaughton.
  11. ^ Third all time goalscorer.
  12. ^ The first player to be transferred for £100 and the first recorded professional transfer fee, from West Bromwich Albion to Aston Villa in 1893.
  13. ^ Aston Villa's first Black player and the first Black goalscorer in the English Football League, for Aston Villa in December 1901.
  14. ^ Second all time goalscorer.
  15. ^ Club record goalscorer.
  16. ^ Second all time appearances.
  17. ^ The only Football League player to have been murdered.
  18. ^ Cowan, Mark (6 May 2010). "The star Villa player shot dead by neighbour". From the archives. Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 8 May 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  19. ^ Went on to become Aston Villa manager from 1953-58, winning the 1957 FA Cup. He was also a director, youth coach, and vice-president of the club in later years, holding the latter role until his death in 1996.
  20. ^ Club record for most league goals (49) and most goals in total (50) scored in a season, in 1930–31.
  21. ^ Callaghan was the club record holder for oldest first team player for 63 years between 1947 and 2011; he was 39 years and 86 days old when he became the club's oldest player in 1946 and 39 years and 257 days on his last appearance in 1947. Brad Friedel broke his record in February 2011.
  22. ^ Went on to become Aston Villa manager from 1945-50.
  23. ^ Went on to become Aston Villa manager from 1970-74, winning the 1971-72 Third Division title.
  24. ^ English Football Hall of Fame inductee (2003).
  25. ^ First Aston Villa player to participate in a World Cup and the club's top-scorer in World Cups with five goals.
  26. ^ Charlie Aitken is the all time appearance record holder.
  27. ^ Horne was the first homegrown Black player at Aston Villa, having joined the Villa youth team in 1961, he made his senior debut in 1963, he was transferred to Manchester City in 1965.
  28. ^ a b c Won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award.
  29. ^ a b Won the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
  30. ^ Third all time appearance record holder.
  31. ^ Went on to become Aston Villa manager from 1998-2002, winning the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup title.He was also a coach at the club between 1994 and 1996.
  32. ^ Delaney joined Aston Villa as a youth coach in 2007 shortly after his retirement as a player and progressed to become Head Coach of the Under-23 side by 2015, a role he held until May 2022.
  33. ^ Boateng re-joined Aston Villa as an under-18 coach in 2019 and progressed to become Professional Development Coach for the Under-23 side in 2020, a position he held until August 2022 when he left to coach the Ghana national side ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
  34. ^ First club captain from outside the British Isles.
  35. ^ Friedel became Aston Villa's oldest first team player in February 2011 aged 39 years and 259 days, beating the record previously held for over 63 years by Ernie Callaghan. On the day of his final appearance, a 1-0 home win against Liverpool, he was 40 years and 4 days old, it was also his 400th game in the Premier League.
  36. ^ Evans, Gregg. "Brad Friedel exclusive: 'Even at 44 years old, I could have carried on'". The Athletic. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  37. ^ Joint highest clean sheets (15) in a Premier League season with Emi Martínez, achieved in the 2009-10 season.
  38. ^ Wilson, Amie. "Brad Friedel delivers 'huge' Emi Martinez verdict and ponders Aston Villa record". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  39. ^ When sold to Manchester City in August 2021 for £100mn, Grealish became the most expensive player in English football history.
  40. ^ Jedinak re-joined Aston Villa as a youth coach in October 2020. He later took up the additional role of Loan Development Coach in 2021.
  41. ^ Terry re-joined Aston Villa as assistant head coach in October 2018, two months after he departed as captain. He remained in the position until August 2021.
  42. ^ First British Asian player for Aston Villa.
  43. ^ Joint highest clean sheets (15) in a Premier League season with Brad Friedel, achieved in the 2020-21 season.
  44. ^ Wilson, Amie. "Brad Friedel delivers 'huge' Emi Martinez verdict and ponders Aston Villa record". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  45. ^ First active Aston Villa player to win the World Cup with Argentina in 2022, he was also awarded the Golden Glove award for best goalkeeper.
  46. ^ "The mind games of Argentina's dancing hero Martinez". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 December 2022.

General

External links[edit]