2010–11 Aston Villa F.C. season


The 2010-11 season was Aston Villa's 19th season in the Premier League. The 2010–11 [Premier League season] was Villa's 136th season in English football. It was the club's 100th season in the top-flight; and their 23rd consecutive season in the top flight of English football, the Premier League. It was also the first season under French manager Gérard Houllier, who was appointed after previous boss Martin O'Neill resigned on 9 August 2010. Despite a generally disappointing season in both the league and cup competitions, a late surge allowed the club to finish in 9th position in the Premier League.
Aston Villa once again competed in the UEFA Europa League, marking their 2nd consecutive season in the tournament and 3rd consecutive season in European competition overall. However, after drawing the away fixture, Aston Villa were eliminated for the second consecutive year in the play-off round, and again at the hands of Rapid Vienna.
This season marked the first time that four West Midlands county clubs performed in the Premier League. Aston Villa once again contested the Second City derby with Birmingham City, who remain in the league, alongside Wolverhampton Wanderers, who also avoided relegation. West Bromwich Albion also joined them in the league, meaning that Villa contested a total of six local derbies throughout the duration of the Premier League season. An additional derby game at Birmingham City took place on 1 December 2010 in the Football League Cup.
Notable events include Kyle Walker scoring on his debut only nine minutes into the match against former club Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup in January 2011. In February, Walker scored his first ever Premier League goal, a 30-yard strike low into the left corner against Fulham.

Kits



Players

Premier League squad

Players under 21 do not need to be named and can still be used.
;Under-21 Players
;UEFA Europa League Players
These players were not part of Aston Villa's Premier League squad, but were given squad numbers and selected to play for the club in the UEFA Europa League.

Squad numbers

Villa's squad numbers for this season were announced on 12 August 2010. The only major changes from the previous year saw defender Stephen Warnock wearing the number 3 shirt which had last belonged to Wilfred Bouma, and Stephen Ireland take over Marlon Harewood's number 9.
Villa's squad numbers were revised ahead of the Premier League fixture at home to Bolton Wanderers on 19 September 2010. Many of the club's young players had their numbers reduced below 30, with the exception of goalkeeper Elliot Parish, who remained at number 43. Andy Marshall retained the number 33 shirt on his return to the club.
Robert Pires took the number 8 shirt on his arrival at the club, which was previously worn by James Milner. Loan signing Kyle Walker received the number 36 shirt, while incoming striker Darren Bent acquired number 39. Newly signed midfielder Jean Makoun took over the number 17 shirt from teammate Moustapha Salifou, who remained without a replacement squad number. Michael Bradley took over the vacant number 13 shirt upon his arrival to Villa on loan from Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Managerial changes

Aston Villa completed their pre-season preparations under former boss Martin O'Neill. However, he resigned from his position as manager on 9 August 2010, just five days before Villa's opening Premier League tie at home to West Ham United. Reserve team coach Kevin MacDonald was appointed as caretaker manager with immediate effect.
MacDonald managed Villa until 8 September 2010, when former Liverpool and Olympique Lyonnais manager Gérard Houllier was officially announced as O'Neill's successor. MacDonald had previously announced his intentions to apply for the position on a full-time basis, however the club opted to sign Houllier instead. MacDonald did however take charge of Villa's next two games, before Houllier officially took the reins on 22 September after fulfilling his duties with the France national team.
On 22 April 2011, Gérard Houllier was taken to hospital with chest pains with the doctors fearing another heart attack. It was later ruled out with the Frenchman ordered to bed rest and medicine. Assistant manager Gary McAllister took charge of Houllier's managerial duties on 23 April for the Premier League match with Stoke City at Villa Park, and it was later revealed that Houllier would not be able to return to the touchline until after the end of the season.
DateOutgoing ManagerNew ClubIncoming ManagerPrevious TeamNotes
9 August 2010

Transfers

In

Summer
DatePositionPlayer namePrevious clubLeagueTransfer feeNotes
18 August 2010MFIRE

Loans in

Winter
DatePositionPlayer nameNew clubLeagueDurationReturn
6 January 2011DFEngland

Out

Summer
DatePositionPlayer nameNew clubLeagueTransfer feeNotes
1 July 2010DF

Loans out

Summer
DatePositionPlayer nameNew clubLeagueDurationReturn
26 August 2010FWEngland

Fixtures and results

Premier League

Villa again competed in the Premier League, after finishing sixth for the third season in a row during 2009–10.
The fixtures were officially announced on 17 June 2010.

Results by matchday

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
14 August 2010West Ham UnitedH36,604Downing 14', Petrov 40', Milner 66'
22 August 2010Newcastle UnitedA43,546
29 August 2010EvertonH34,725L. Young 9'
13 September 2010Stoke CityA25,899Downing 35'
18 September 2010Bolton WanderersH34,655A. Young 13'
26 September 2010Wolverhampton WanderersA27,511Downing, Heskey
2 October 2010Tottenham HotspurA35,871Albrighton
16 October 2010ChelseaH40,122
23 October 2010A.F.C.|Sunderland]A41,506
31 October 2010Birmingham CityH40,688
6 November 2010FulhamA25,676Albrighton
10 November 2010BlackpoolH34,330Downing, Delfouneso, Collins
13 November 2010Manchester UnitedH40,073A. Young (p), Albrighton
21 November 2010Blackburn RoversA21,848
27 November 2010ArsenalH38,544Clark
6 December 2010LiverpoolA39,079
11 December 2010West Bromwich AlbionH37,015Downing, Heskey
18 December 2010Wigan AthleticAP-PPOSTPONED
26 December 2010Tottenham HotspurH39,411Albrighton
28 December 2010Manchester CityA46,716
2 January 2011ChelseaA41,222A. Young (p), Heskey, Clark
5 January 2011SunderlandH32,627
16 January 2011Birmingham CityA22,287Collins
22 January 2011Manchester CityH37,815Bent
25 January 2011Wigan AthleticA16,442Agbonlahor, A.Young (p)
1 February 2011Manchester UnitedA75,256Bent
5 February 2011FulhamH35,899Paintsil (o.g.), Walker
12 February 2011BlackpoolA16,000Agbonlahor
26 February 2011Blackburn RoversH34,309A. Young, Hanley (o.g.), Downing
5 March 2011Bolton WanderersA22,533Bent, Albrighton
19 March 2011Wolverhampton WanderersH38,965
2 April 2011EvertonA37,619Bent
10 April 2011Newcastle UnitedH37,090Collins
16 April 2011West Ham UnitedA33,000Bent, Agbonlahor
23 April 2011Stoke CityH35,232Bent
30 April 2011West Bromwich AlbionA25,889Méïté (o.g.)
7 May 2011Wigan AthleticH36,293A.Young
15 May 2011ArsenalA60,023Bent
22 May 2011LiverpoolH42,785Downing

FA Cup

Villa entered the FA Cup at the third round, which is traditionally played in early January.
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
8 January 2011R3 Sheffield UnitedA16,888Walker, Albrighton, Petrov
29 January 2011R4 Blackburn RoversH26,067Clark, Pires, Delfouneso
2 March 2011R5Manchester CityA27,570

League Cup

The club enter the League Cup at the third round as runners-up, after losing in the final of the previous year's tournament to Manchester United.
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
22 September 2010R3Blackburn RoversH18,753Heskey, A. Young
27 October 2010R4BurnleyH34,618Heskey, Downing
1 December 2010QF Birmingham CityA27,679Agbonlahor

UEFA Europa League

Villa will again compete in the UEFA Europa League after finishing sixth in the Premier League of 2009–10. They will enter at the play-off round.

Play-off round

On 6 August 2010, Villa were drawn with Rapid Vienna of Austria in the play-off round, the same team that knocked them out at the same stage the previous season. The first leg of the tie was played away at the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium on 19 August, resulting in a 1–1 draw. The teams met again at Villa Park for the return fixture a week later on 26 August, with the Austrian side progressing once again thanks to a 3–2 win.

Friendly matches

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorerNotes
18 July 2010 Basingstoke TownA Burke"Aston Villa XI" match
19 July 2010Peterborough UnitedA1,500 A. Young, Carew, Lichaj
24 July 2010IREleftleftleftleftleftleftleftleftleft

Guadiana Trophy

Villa played in the Guadiana Trophy in the summer as part of their pre-season preparations. The fixtures of this tournament were announced on 20 May 2010. All games were played at the Complexo Desportivo de Vila Real de Santo António in Vila Real de [Santo António Municipality|Vila Real de Santo António], Portugal.
As there were only three teams in this year's edition of the Guadiana Trophy, a penalty shootout was carried out at the end of each fixture to make sure that a clear winner could be selected. A penalty shootout was not played in the fixture against Benfica as their win marked them outright tournament winners.
Villa finished second out of third in the tournament.
DateDay of TournamentOpponentVenueResultScorers Penalty Shootout ResultScorers
31 July 2010Day 2Netherlandsleftleft

Goalscorers

Players with the same number of goals are listed alphabetically

Players highlighted in light grey denote the player had scored for the club before leaving for another club

Players highlighted in light cyan denote the player has scored for the club after arriving at Aston Villa during the season

Players highlighted in Blonde denote the player has scored for the club before leaving the club on loan for part/the rest of the season
PlayerPremier LeagueFA CupLeague CupEuropa LeagueTotal
England

Sponsorship

In June 2010, it was revealed on Aston Villa's official website that a new sponsorship deal with Cyprus-based company FxPro Financial Services Limited that will run from 2010 until 2013. The deal, described as "the biggest in the club's history", replaced the charity sponsorship that Aston Villa had with Acorns Children's Hospice for the previous two seasons. However, Acorns were still named as the official charity partner of the club. In February 2011, it was announced that Aston Villa and FxPro had agreed to terminate the deal at the end of the season by mutual consent.