It has taken 15 years, but to start the 2025-2026 campaign, Aston Villa will play host to Newcastle United at Villa Park on August 16. To have gone this many years without having the first match at home is a complete oddity in itself. For this year at least, this has been corrected.
Playing in front of the Villa home fans and being able to start at VP is a welcome sight. Not being forced to travel for the opening fixture allows Unai Emery's men to be in a familiar setting and have a great chance of starting the season off with the full set of three points, pushed on by what will undoubtedly be a tremendous atmosphere.
The contrast has instead seen Villa being a part of other clubs' opening day buzz of the start to the season. While the eventual opener at VP eventually came, it is not quite the same as hosting a match on the first day of the season itself. There is a certain added excitement and anticipation in the air on that day, and one that Villa fans deserve to experience after such a prolonged drought.
Looking at the trouble areas of the Aston Villa schedule
It was not all positive news, however, for Villa. For one, there will not be any matches scheduled on Boxing Day. Instead, Villa will travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday, December 27, to face Chelsea.
An additional point of note is how tumultuous December in general looks and how the side will close out the year.
December will see Villa face Brighton, Arsenal, West Ham, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal. That looks to be a particularly trying portion of the schedule. Then Emery's men will end the campaign with Liverpool at Villa Park, and the last Matchday will be at the Emirates against Arsenal.
Considering how the season started last year and how Villa were attempting to make up points toward the end, it appears now that the reverse will need to be true. A good beginning and comfortable early cushion will allow Villa to enter those rough stretches without the known added pressure of needing to win to simply stay in the Champions League race.
That will be an issue and discussion for another day. For now, it is good to see a match being held at Villa Park to begin the season with.