Aston Villa FC

Aston Villa were founded in 1874 by members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel cricket team and quickly became one of the most powerful clubs in the country. They were founding members of the Football League in 1888, won their first league championship in 1894, and completed the League and FA Cup Double in 1897 - only the second club ever to achieve the feat.

Under the leadership of George Ramsay, who served as secretary-manager for over four decades, Villa won six of their seven league titles and six FA Cups. Ramsay is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the early history of English football. Villa Park, the club's home since 1897, became one of the great grounds of the English game.

By the early twentieth century, Villa had established themselves as the dominant force in Midlands football and one of the most successful clubs in the world. Their influence on the development of the sport's rules and structures was immense.

After decades of fluctuating fortunes that included relegation to the third tier in 1970, Villa staged a remarkable comeback under Ron Saunders. Promoted back to the First Division in 1975, Saunders built a tenacious, hard-working side that won the League Cup in 1975 and 1977 before claiming the First Division title in 1980-81 - Villa's first championship in 71 years.

The following season brought the greatest night in the club's history. Despite Saunders resigning midway through the European Cup campaign, his successor Tony Barton guided Villa to the final in Rotterdam, where Peter Withe's scuffed goal defeated Bayern Munich 1-0. Villa had conquered Europe, joining an elite group of English clubs to lift the continent's greatest prize.

The years after the European Cup were difficult. Villa could not sustain their position at the summit and gradually declined through the 1980s, though they remained a solid top-flight presence. The memory of Rotterdam, however, became the defining reference point for everything the club aspired to recapture.