A league title in 1981 and the European Cup in Rotterdam a year later. Then a long wait, relegation in 2016, three seasons in the Championship, and on 20 May 2026 a 3-0 win over Freiburg in Istanbul to lift the Europa League.
If you're buying for someone who was around for Rotterdam, that night in Istanbul hit differently than it did for a lad whose first season was Emery's first season. They want different things off you, so work out which of those you're buying for before you spend anything.
Get them through the turnstiles
1. A stadium tour. Dressing rooms, down the tunnel, out to the side of the pitch. The club has also run Legends Tours, where a former player walks round with the group, and for anyone who grew up on the 1982 side that's the version to get if one's running. Dates and prices move about, so check the club site and book well ahead.
2. Tickets to Aston Villa Women. Villa Women have played their WSL home games at Villa Park since the 2024-25 season, and you can actually get a seat. I'd push this one for a kid, or for a dad who stopped going when the men's prices went up. Same ground, good football, a lot less money. Check the fixture list first in case a game gets moved.
3. A club membership. Most tickets for the men's league games go to season ticket holders and members, and winning in Istanbul hasn't made that any easier. A membership gives them a shot at tickets through the season. It won't get a gasp on Christmas morning, but it's the thing that actually gets them in for the Spurs game.
4. Aston Hall. The Jacobean house next to Villa Park was the Holte family's home, which is where the Holte End gets its name. Most fans have walked past it for years and never gone in, and it isn't open all year, so check the dates.
Books worth the shelf space
5. Back from the Brink by Paul McGrath. Written with Vincent Hogan and published in 2006, it won the Irish sports book of the year, and McGrath doesn't spare himself on the drinking or the state of his knees. Anyone who watched him at Villa between 1989 and 1996 will want it. If you only buy them one book, buy this one.
6. Born to Score by Dwight Yorke (2009). Mixed reviews, and a lot of it is life after Villa, which some fans still won't thank him for. The early chapters on growing up in Tobago are the good bit.
Shirts, programmes and things for the wall
7. The right retro shirt. Pick a season, because a random retro shirt just sits in the wardrobe. The 1995-96 Reebok home with AST on the front is the one from the 3-0 over Leeds in the 1996 League Cup final, Yorke among the scorers. The Rotterdam lot are a different story. Villa played that final in white, so a white away shirt from the early 80s will mean more to them than any claret one.
8. A programme from their first game. This is my top pick, and it's usually the cheapest thing on here. The hard part is getting the date. Ask whoever took them, a parent or an uncle usually, and do it casually or you've given the game away. If all they can remember is the opponent and that it rained, get the fixture list for that season and narrow it down from the home games. Old Villa programmes turn up second-hand for most seasons once you know what you're after. Stick it in a cheap frame and you're done.
9. Signed memorabilia. Signed 1982 shirts exist and some are genuine. Only buy with a certificate, from a seller with a real address you can check.
10. Their own Villa XI on the wall. We make these, so take this with a pinch of salt.
First you have the argument. 1982 or Istanbul? If they're over 50 it's Rotterdam, no contest. Under 30, they'll want McGinn lifting it in Istanbul after Tielemans, Buendía and Rogers had done the damage, and they'd be right to. I'm somewhere in the middle and I'd still go Rotterdam, mostly because of Nigel Spink. Jimmy Rimmer went off injured after nine minutes and Spink came on for what was only his second first-team game for the club. Bayern didn't get one past him, and Peter Withe scored the winner on 67 minutes.
That side, in a 4-4-2: Rimmer; Swain, McNaught, Evans, Williams; Bremner, Mortimer, Cowans, Morley; Shaw, Withe. Spink goes on the bench and Tony Barton goes in as manager. It's ready-made as a framed 1982 European Cup print, and the other classic Villa sides start at £69 in our Aston Villa prints.
If they'd rather have the Istanbul team, or their own Sunday league side in claret and blue, you can build it in the YourXI team builder. Any players from any era, any formation from 11-a-side down to five, plus kits, pitch, a title and a message from you along the bottom. It's £99 for 12x16 in or £149 for 18x24 in, black or white frame, with free UK delivery. We email a proof before anything is printed, so if it's for Christmas, order early. Leaving it late? Book a tour or a Villa Women ticket online and put the confirmation in a card.