The 2007-08 season was Aston Villa's 16th season in the Premier League. The 2007–08 Premier League season was Villa's 133rd season in English football. It was the club's 20th consecutive season in the top flight of English football and 16th consecutive season in the Premier League. The season saw Martin O'Neill continue as manager as the club impressed in league competition, but struggled in both domestic cup competitions – being knocked out in the third round of both.
There were debuts for Nigel Reo-Coker, Zat Knight, Scott Carson, Marlon Harewood, Curtis Davies, Moustapha Salifou and Wayne Routledge. Reo-Coker scored his first goal for Villa in a 5–0 League Cup 2nd round victory over Wrexham on 28 August 2007. Zat Knight signed from Fulham. His last Fulham match was the 2–1 defeat against Villa, in which he played a part in Villa's equaliser when an Ashley Young shot deflected off him into the net, although this was later given as Young's goal. Carson was loaned from Liverpool where he had been 2nd choice to Pepe Reina with further competition from Charles Itandje. Kit Supplier Sponsor Nike 32Red.com
Premier League
Matches
League Cup
FA Cup
Players First team squad
Left club during season
Reserve squad The following players made most of their appearances playing for the reserves, but may have also appeared for the youth team.
Youth squad The following players made most of their appearances playing for the youth team, but may have also appeared for the reserves.
Other players
Kit The 2007–08 season saw the unveiling of Nike as the club's kit producer, taking over from Danish firm Hummel. The deal – worth £25 million over 5 seasons – was announced on 7 February 2007, with all home, away and goalkeeper kits being unveiled on 17 July 2007. The home shirt was made available to purchase on 8 August 2007, and the away on 4 October 2007. A charcoal and white third shirt was unveiled and released in November 2007. The home shirt followed the club's usual template of a claret body and blue arms, with a white "AVFC" banner and printed lion featured on the hem and back of the collar respectively. The away shirt featured a white body, with blue pinstripes – in a similar style to that of the 1982 European Cup winners' jersey (which featured claret stripes in place of the modern blue alternative). The third shirt was charcoal with white piping. The home goalkeeper shirt featured horizontal stripes, with different alternating shades of grey. The away replicated this style, with different shades of yellow.
Gibraltar-based betting firm 32Red continued their sponsorship of the club, however with the contract in its last year, Villa are expected to announce another deal for the forthcoming 2008–09 season.
Crest A new crest was revealed on 2 May 2007 to be introduced for the 2007–08 season. The new crest included a star to represent the European Cup win in 1982, and has a light blue background behind Villa's "lion rampant." The traditional motto "Prepared" remained in the crest, and the name "Aston Villa" was shortened to AVFC, FC having been omitted from the previous crest. Randy Lerner petitioned fans to help with the design of the new crest.
Transfers
Summer transfer window Following the transfer of prolific striker Juan Pablo Ángel to New York Red Bulls in April, several Villa first-teamers followed the Colombian out of the door in the summer of 2007. Gavin McCann joined Bolton Wanderers in £1 million deal on 12 June, then a fortnight later, versatile defender Aaron Hughes left for Fulham, also in a £1 million deal. McCann was joined by Jlloyd Samuel – who had spent much of the previous season on the bench for the Midlanders – at Bolton, signing on a free transfer when his contract expired on 1 July. However, the two most surprising deals occurred with two academy players, in Steven Davis and Liam Ridgewell. Davis – who had won Player of the Year for the club in the 2005–06 season – signed for Fulham on 5 July for an undisclosed fee. Liam Ridgewell made the trip across the city to Birmingham City on 3 August, in a £2 million move. Other moves saw midfielder Lee Hendrie end his 14-year association with the club in a free transfer to Sheffield United, Phil Bardsley returned to Manchester United after a 13-game loan stint at the club, whilst Stephen Henderson, Bobby Olejnik, Mark Delaney, Scott Bridges and Eric Djemba-Djemba all left Villa Park.
Villa clinched their first transfer on 5 July with the £8.5 million signing of midfield battler Nigel Reo-Coker from West Ham United. 11 days later, Marlon Harewood also moved from Upton Park, for an undisclosed fee. Scott Carson was the next to arrive on 10 August, in a loan switch from Liverpool (although some media sources claim a fee of £2 million up front was agreed), before defenders Zat Knight and Curtis Davies both signed on 29 and 31 August respectively. Knight signed for his hometown club for a fee of £3.5 million from Fulham, whilst Davies signed on a season-long loan from local rivals West Bromwich Albion. Other deals saw Austrian youngsters Andreas Weimann and Dominik Hofbauer sign, as well as Eric Lichaj, Harry Forrester and Togolese international Moustapha Salifou.
Winter transfer window After failing to find a suitor in the summer, Gary Cahill was allowed to leave on a loan deal to Sheffield United in September; however, he joined Bolton on a permanent deal on 30 January for an undisclosed fee. Youngsters Chris Herd, Tobias Mikaelsson, Stephen O'Halloran and Zoltán Stieber were all farmed out on loan. The biggest news, however, was that Swedish international defender Olof Mellberg, was to join Italian giants Juventus on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Unlike the summer transfer window, Aston Villa were extremely quiet in the winter equivalent, purchasing just one senior player in Wayne Routledge (£1.25 million) from Tottenham Hotspur. He was also followed by youngsters Thomas Dau and Lance Heslop.
Summary
Transferred in DatePosPlayerFromFeeJune 2007 Andreas Weimann Rapid WienUndisclosed 5 July 2007 CM Nigel Reo-Coker West Ham United £8,500,00011 July 2007AMHarry ForresterWatfordUndisclosed 17 July 2007 CF Marlon Harewood West Ham United £4,000,0001 August 2007DF Eric Lichaj University of North CarolinaUndisclosed 29 August 2007 CB Zat Knight Fulham £3,500,000 31 August 2007 AM Moustapha Salifou FC Wil £750,0004 December 2007 Thomas Dau SV Schwechat JuniorsUndisclosedDecember 2007 Lance Heslop Auckland CityUndisclosed 30 January 2008 RM Wayne Routledge Tottenham Hotspur £1,250,000
Loaned in DatePosPlayerFromLoan End 10 August 2007 GK Scott Carson Liverpool 31 May 2008 31 August 2007 CB Curtis Davies West Bromwich Albion 31 May 2008
Transferred out DatePosPlayerToFee 8 June 2007 CM Gavin McCann Bolton Wanderers £1,000,000 27 June 2007 RB Aaron Hughes Fulham £1,000,000 1 July 2007 RB Mark Delaney Retired 1 July 2007 CF Chris Sutton Retired 1 July 2007 DM Eric Djemba-Djemba Qatar SC Free transfer 1 July 2007 GK Stephen Henderson Bristol City Free transfer 1 July 2007 RM Lee Hendrie Sheffield United Free transfer 1 July 2007 GK Bobby Olejnik Falkirk Free transfer 1 July 2007 LB Jlloyd Samuel Bolton Wanderers Free transfer 5 July 2007 CM Steven Davis Fulham £2,000,000 3 August 2007 CB Liam Ridgewell Birmingham City £2,000,000 30 January 2008CB Gary Cahill Bolton Wanderers £5,000,000
Loaned out DatePosPlayerToLoan End 19 September 2007CB Gary Cahill Sheffield United 16 January 2008 16 January 2008 LB Stephen O'Halloran Southampton 16 February 2008 28 February 2008 LB Stephen O'Halloran Leeds United 31 May 2008
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure £18,000,000
Income £11,000,000
Balance £7,000,000
Pre-season results DateOpponentVenueResultF – ACompetitionScorers 25 July 2007Toronto FC A4–2 Friendly matchMoore (3), Carew 28 July 2007Columbus Crew A3–1Friendly matchYoung, Barry, Moore 01/08/2007Stoke CityA2–0 Friendly matchBerger, Agbonlahor 04/08/2007Internazionale H3–0 Friendly matchBarry (2), Lausren 07/08/2007WalsallA1–1Friendly matchBoertien (og)
Players of the year At the end of season awards dinner, Martin Laursen was announced as the Supporters' Player of the Year, whilst Gabriel Agbonlahor was the Supporter's and Player's Young Player of the Year.
Statistics Appearances and goals As of end of season
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Defenders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Forwards
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center| Players transferred or loaned out during the season
Topscorers John Carew – 13 Gabriel Agbonlahor – 11 Ashley Young – 9 Gareth Barry – 8 Martin Laursen – 6
Notes
References
External links Aston Villa official website avfchistory.co.uk 2007–08 season