Aston Villa Personalised Gifts
Our Aston Villa Gifts are unofficial products, and are in no way affiliated with Aston Villa FC, unless specifically stated in the product information.
Aston Villa Memorabilia and Gift Ideas
GoneDigging has a fabulous range of personalised Aston Villa merchandise, including unique memorabilia and great gift ideas. Below you will find a selection of our most popular Aston Villa gifts, in addition to a few interesting facts about the Villans.
Brief History of Aston Villa FC
Aston Villa FC was founded in 1874, as a means of keeping the Aston Villa cricket team fit during the winter. The Villans won the FA Cup in 1887, but club director William McGregor had become frustrated by the lack of meaningful games outside of this competition. McGregor wrote to twelve of the leading football clubs in England to suggest the formation of a league. Aston Villa finished as runners-up of the inaugural Football League in 1888 and won the title for the first time in 1894. By the start of the First World War, the Villans had won six top flight championships and five FA Cups. Although league success began to decline for the club, Aston Villa won five League Cups between 1960 and 2000 and they beat Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final. In recent years, Aston Villa has challenged for a top four position in the Premiership. Perhaps most impressively, the club has done this whilst maintaining a strong English presence within the squad.
Did you know…
Aston Villa was named after the Villa Cross church in Aston, Birmingham. The club’s first match took place against the local Aston Brook St Mary’s rugby team. The first half was played under rugby rules, during which the Villans managed a scoreless draw. The second half was a regular football game and Jack Hughes scored the only goal to clinch a 1-0 victory for Aston Villa FC.
Home games have been played at Villa Park stadium since 1897. The ground has a seated capacity of 42,640, making it the largest football stadium in the Midlands and the eighth largest ground in England. Villa Park has been awarded a four-star rating by UEFA and it has staged many international fixtures over the past three centuries.
Aston Villa has been often been referred to in popular culture. Lennie Godber mentioned that he was a Villa fan in “Porridge" and James “Jim" Hacker MP spoke about the club in “Yes Minister".
Aston Villa Memorabilia
We offer an exciting range of Personalised Aston Villa Gifts, which includes various items of Aston Villa Memorabilia. These presents can be kept for years to come and they are a terrific idea for any fan of the Villans.
Our Personalised Aston Villa Football Book incorporates a variety of match reports from the past one hundred years. Written by journalists who were there at the time, this reproduced newspaper coverage forms a fascinating record of some of the biggest games in the club’s history.
The Football Book opens with an article on Aston Villa’s 2-0 win against Newcastle United in the 1905 FA Cup final. It goes on to feature three further FA Cup wins, in 1913, 1920 and 1957 respectively, and various League and Coca-Cola Cup finals. We have included reports on the games that clinched the First Division title in 1910 and 1981, and an article on the famous 1-0 win against Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final. The Aston Villa book also contains stories written about the signing of legendary players, such as Peter Schmeichel in 1999, and the appointment of well-known managers, such as Ron Atkinson, Graham Taylor and Martin O’Neill. Recent newspaper coverage features UEFA Cup ties and thrilling Premiership performances, including the 0-4 thrashing of Middlesbrough in 2006.
Twelve of the best match reports are incorporated in our Personalised Aston Villa Diary and Personalised Aston Villa Calendar. Games include the Villans’ 5-1 drubbing of the dominant Liverpool squad of 1976, the 1-2 victory against Swindon Town in the first year of the Premiership and the 3-1 win against Manchester United in the 1994 League Cup final. Both gifts can start from the month of your choice and they are a fantastic way to keep track of future events, whilst reminiscing upon former glory days.
If you are more interested in the current season, why not sign up to My Aston Villa Football Year? This service allows you to create a customised season book, with the option of editing match reports, statistics and photographs from every Aston Villa game. At the end of the season you will receive your professionally printed and bound book, with up to two hundred pictures included.
More Gift Ideas
Our Personalised Aston Villa Commentaries make unusual and entertaining presents for fans of the Villans. A professional radio commentator will record an original commentary, based upon your choice of match highlights. Your recipient could become the hero of Villa Park by saving a crucial penalty, providing a great assist or scoring a stunning last-minute goal. In doing so, they could also be nominated as Man of the Match.
Another fun gift idea is a Spoof Newspaper Headline. Recipients can become Player of the Year or a Babe-Magnet Football Star. Alternatively, they could score a spectacular hat-trick for Aston Villa in an FA Cup Final.