It has been a tremendous year from Jimmy Shan's side. The Aston Villa U-18s completed the treble on Saturday with their win over Manchester City at Villa Park. FA Cup champions, winning the Southern Section, and now the U18 Premier League National Final are all under one badge following the conclusion of the 2024-2025 season for the Villa youth squad.
Winning, particularly when there is pressure, can be difficult for players of any age. The weight of expectations can sometimes prove to be too much.
On Saturday, as it had throughout the season, that was far from the case for the young Villans.
Playing in front of their home crowd, in a match that was open and saw a fair number of chances from both sides, AVFC found a way to get the breakthrough and secure the final piece of silverware. It's a win, like that of the FA Youth Cup final, that will be cemented in the minds of this crop of players for the rest of their lives.
Naturally, a match with this much pace and up-and-down play required Sam Proctor to step up time and time again. Between his efforts and those of the backline, they preserved the clean sheet and kept the City attack at bay.
On the other end of the pitch, Cole Brannigan and Bradley Burrowes came close a couple of times to scoring. It ended up being off a set piece from the center back, TJ Carroll, who finished the tap-in that was laid into his path by CB partner Leon Routh, that provided the match's only goal.
Final victory to cross the finish line for Aston Villa
That can be the distinction and the difference, in this case for Villa, between leaving with a treble and ending the season with a loss. A loss, as Shan shared after the match, would have left a bitter taste in their mouths.
Now they can head into the summer, having finished the year on an incredible run. It's unknown what the future will hold for everyone involved on this under-18 side. For 2024-2025, this collectively achieved something truly phenomenal at Villa.