Avillafan

The frontman of the legendary alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins has backed Aston Villa to host an annual festival in honour of the late Ozzy Osbourne. Villa supporter Osbourne, singer of the iconic heavy metal progenitors Black Sabbath, passed away last month after one last hurrah at Villa Park. The tributes have been long and [...]

Barcelona defender Héctor Fort is reportedly close to reaching an agreement with Aston Villa this summer. Villa are apparently at the final stage of their effort to sign the 19-year-old. Barcelona racing against time to register one-time Villa target Joan García and former Villa loanee Marcus Rashford and must offload players in order to do [...]

2024/25 was a historic season for Aston Villa. Under Unai Emery, they qualified for European competition for the third consecutive year by finishing sixth in the Premier League, reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and got to the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Villa can look back on the season with some satisfaction at [...]

Every summer, football’s law-makers publish their updates to the Laws of the Game. They make it very easy to access and even go to the trouble of calling out every single change that’s been made from the season before. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) consists of FIFA, the Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, [...]

Aston Villa have joined the race to sign Brazilian goalkeeper John Victor, who thrived at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. John Victor, the 29-year-old Botafogo goalkeeper, has been attracting plenty of attention from European clubs, with Bayer Leverkusen, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United and newly promoted Premier League side  Burnley credited with an interest. According [...]

John McGinn has spoken out about the farcical financial rules imposed on clubs by the Premier League in the name of profit and sustainability. Aston Villa captain McGinn spoke exclusively to BirminghamLive reporter John Townley towards the end of the squad’s pre-season mini-tour in the United States and admitted that it will be difficult watching [...]

One of Aston Villa’s trio of 2024/25 loan players could be in line for a shock return to Villa Park next season. Marco Asensio spent the second half of last season on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, who knocked the Villans out of the Champions League after a dramatic quarter-final tie. Asensio is surplus to requirements [...]

Transfer speculation around Aston Villa’s only senior striker continues but Villa’s plans are progressing with the club’s record Premier League goalscorer at their heart. Ollie Watkins has been linked with Manchester United and Newcastle United in the current summer transfer window despite neither of them giving any indication that they’re willing to even get close [...]

Unai Emery has given an insight into the planning and desired outcomes of his squad’s pre-season fixtures in Louisville, St Louis and Nashville. Aston Villa drew with Eintracht Frankfurt and Nashville either side of a win against St Louis City. While it’s always better to win than draw and to draw than lose, it’s obvious [...]

Welcome to the AVF Friday Briefing, your weekly round-up of Aston Villa news and views. It’s August! The football season is here but the Villa still have a pre-season friendly left to play in the United States before next week’s warm-ups against Roma, Marseille and Villarreal, with the start of the Premier League season now [...]