Aston Villa’s place in the Champions League next season is finally secured, and it’s undoubtedly an incredible achievement for all concerned.
Fourth spot in the Premier League standings was eventually sealed on Tuesday night as Man City defeated Tottenham, with Villa achieving our objective with a game to spare.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Villa seal dramatic comeback draw vs Liverpool
To put into context how impressive this achievement is, it’s only the third time that Villa have finished in the top four of the Premier League, and the first time since the 1995/96 campaign.
Further, it’s the first time since the 1982/83 season that we will compete in Europe’s premier competition, and so it’s year for records, landmarks and history as we continue to go from strength to strength and everyone involved deserves their share of the credit for making it a reality.
It starts at the top with owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens who have been on some journey since they bought a majority stake in the club in 2018, taking us from the Championship to the Champions League as part of their long-term plan for the club.
Their ambition continues to grow and their vision for the future is hugely exciting as they continue to bring in further investment at Villa while expanding their portfolio as they construct a multi-club model.
Importantly though, they’ve put in an infrastructure at Villa that is built for success. Whether it’s having trusted key individuals around Unai Emery including Monchi, Damian Vidagany and the coaching staff, or appointing Chris Heck as our President of Business Operations to build our brand and grow our financial potential.
Further, we have extensive scouting and recruitment personnel, and so it’s a collective that is working well together to deliver on our vision for both the short-term and long-term future.
All those individuals deserve credit for the roles that they’ve played as well, but it has undoubtedly been masterminded by Emery himself, while the players have responded to him brilliantly to make his vision on the pitch a reality too.
The 52-year-old was appointed in October 2022 as Villa sat 17th in the standings with just nine points from our opening 11 games of the 2022/23 campaign, a minus-nine goal difference and a team without an identity, confidence, belief and direction.
His genius and elite coaching ability not only transformed the squad as he improved almost every individual that he inherited, but he implemented a style, structure and philosophy of how he wanted us to play, and it has led to a brand of both enjoyable and winning football.
Qualifying for Europe last season was seen as miraculous enough, but not content with that progress, Emery has guided us to the most points and wins in a single campaign since 1992/93 and the most goals scored since 1976/77.
That in turn has led us to this point, finishing fourth and bringing Champions League nights to Villa Park next season.
The players also deserve a huge amount of credit for their part in this too. They’ve worked tirelessly and diligently to understand Emery’s demands and implement them on the pitch, while facing real adversity this season in terms of injuries and absences to show resilience, character and desire to stay on track to achieve our goals.
Every individual connected to this has played their role, including the supporters who have been given something to believe in, and have backed the players and Emery unconditionally.
Time will tell what the future has in store for us, but this is a superb achievement for now, and one that should be celebrated and enjoyed as much as possible having waited generations to see us back amongst’s Europe elite.
ASTON VILLA WILL PLAY IN THE 2024/25 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE! 😍 pic.twitter.com/lEJjyvkSoG
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) May 14, 2024
I’m over the moon at Villa’s ambition approaching Barcelona regarding 25 yr old Ronald Aroujo!!! This Club are going for it all, in the Vision. That approach told me everything!!!! Over the moon about Emery’s & ownership’s ambition!!