Now Is The Time For Aston Villa To Exorcise Recent Wembley Demons

Aston Villa’s less-than-stellar record at Wembley Stadium this decade means there is no better time for an all-important win.

It’s never a stretch to say the EFL Championship play-off final is unimaginably important. After all, it is dubbed (in varying fashions), the ‘richest game in sports.’

Literally just 12 months ago, it nearly bankrupted the club when now-minority owner Dr. Tony Xia ran at heavy operating losses. He threw dice at the craps table, betting it all that promotion was assured and would solve all problems. It did not happen, of course, and Xia ran into liquidity problems when he couldn’t pull money out of China due to political and regulatory reform.

That loss to Fulham was Part 3 of a 3-part Wembley series for the claret and blues this decade. They all turned out poorly, but last year’s defeat was definitely the most impactful in turning the club into what it is today under the stewardship of Nassef Sawiris, Wes Edens, Christian Purslow, Pitarch and manager Dean Smith.

However, let’s revisit Villa’s last two competitive fixtures at fabled ole’ Wembley Stadium. In the 2010/2011 season, the claret and blues were absolutely dynamite under Martin O’Neill, finishing sixth in the Premier League. Wins over Cardiff City, Sunderland, Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers saw the club in the EFL Cup Final, pitted against Manchester United. You can view the two sides’ team selections here.

United would go on to win the game after Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney pounced on Villa mistakes in the defensive end. That, even after James Milner struck first blood with a penalty kick inside six minutes.

Villa’s other cup run this decade was certainly more spectacular, even if the final ended up being a massacre. Arsenal walloped Villa on that day 4-0 in the 2015 FA Cup Final – goals courtesy of Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez, Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud. Current Villans Jack Grealish (then 19) and Alan Hutton started that day alongside the likes of Shay Given, concrete Ron Vlaar, Kieran Richardson (remember him?), Jores Okore, Tom Cleverley and Christian Benteke.

But it was the run-up to the final that’s most fabled. Those claret and blues beat West Brom in he quarter-finals and Liverpool in the semi-finals. (That semi-final fixture was played at a neutral site, Wembley as well, but for the sake of this post pretend it wasn’t).

UTV