2010–11 Aston Villa F.C. season

Kits

Supplier: Nike / Sponsor: FxPro

Kit information

The home kit for 2010-11 season featured claret socks, but the most conspicuous feature was the checkerboard patterns on the side of the shirts. This was repeated on away kit, which was just a plain black shirt with sky blue trimmings. The three goalkeeper kits were yellow, jade and grey and was based on Nike's zigzag template designed exclusively for big club goalkeepers.

Players

Premier League squad

Players under 21 do not need to be named and can still be used.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

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.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

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 Pirès 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 (he suffered a heart attack in 2001 while manager of Liverpool). 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.

In

Summer

Winter

Loans in

Winter

Out

Summer

Winter

Loans out

Summer

Winter

Spring

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.

FA Cup

Villa entered the FA Cup at the third round, which is traditionally played in early January.

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.

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.

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, 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.

Goalscorers

Players with the same amount 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

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", will replace the charity sponsorship that Aston Villa had with Acorns Children's Hospice for the previous two seasons. However, this partnership will still continue as Acorns have been named as the official charity partner of the club. However, 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.