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A day at Villa Park with pre-match brunch and former player visits.
5.0
1 review
The event was well organised and allowed guests to fully enjoy the match.
The event was well organised and allowed guests to fully enjoy the match.
5.0
(1)
Birmingham
12°
Rain showers
Our best tips
Birmingham in October averages 9–15°C. There is a decent chance of rain, so pack a compact waterproof just in case.
Smart casual is the standard in Premier League hospitality suites. Think collared shirts and smart trousers rather than replica kits. Most venues will turn away guests in sportswear or football shirts.
Arrive at Villa Park at least two hours before kick-off to enjoy the full pre-match hospitality. Bring a valid photo ID, as most Premier League venues require one for entry.
Getting you on track
Completely hands-off from start to finish
Tell us what you're after and we'll plan the rest. All you have to do is show up.
Everything you need at your fingertips
Store all your event information, tickets, and contact details in one convenient place
Add personal touches to your trip
Make a request and our team will do everything they can to make it happen
Pick the experience, pick the tier, pick the day. Your account manager handles the rest.
F1, Wimbledon, Royal Ascot, the Six Nations, Glastonbury. If it sells out in minutes, we have people on the door.
Getting around
Witton station is the closest, around a ten-minute walk from the ground. Aston station is also nearby. Both are served by regular trains from Birmingham New Street.
Taxis and ride-hailing services are widely available from Birmingham city centre. Allow extra time on match days as traffic around the Aston Expressway builds quickly.
Villa Park is well connected by road, close to junction 6 of the M6. On-site parking is limited, so pre-booking through your ICE events manager is recommended.
What our guests say
I had a great experience at the Chelsea…
I had a great experience at the Chelsea game, that was organised by Imperial Corporate Events. Everything was very organised and the day went smoothly, allowing me to fully enjoy the game. It was a memorable day, and I appreciate the level of care put into the event.
Aston Villa and Chelsea first met in 1905, the year Chelsea were founded. Villa were already established royalty of English football by then, with six league titles and five FA Cups to their name. The fixture has since produced over two centuries' worth of meetings, shifting from Villa dominance in the early decades to Chelsea's modern-era supremacy, fuelled by Roman Abramovich's billions. Villa Park, one of the oldest and most atmospheric grounds in the country, remains the stage for a contest that reliably delivers drama.
I have always said that Aston Villa is a massive football club. The history, the tradition, the size of the stadium. It is one of the great clubs of English football.
Villa Park is one of the great grounds. The atmosphere is always fantastic and it is never an easy place to go.
Four Handsworth chapel cricketers seeking a winter pursuit sparked a club that would help shape the Football League itself.
Four members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth, Birmingham, decided they needed something to do between cricket seasons. Football was the answer. Within a decade, Aston Villa had become one of the founding members of the Football League in 1888 and were well on their way to becoming the dominant force in English football.
A former amusement park became the cradle of the Double; Villa's greatest season and greatest ground were born in the same year.
Villa relocated to the Aston Lower Grounds, a former amusement park in the Aston district of Birmingham. The ground would evolve into Villa Park, one of the most storied venues in English football. That same year, Villa completed the League and FA Cup Double, only the second club ever to achieve the feat.
Born in a pub, promoted within two seasons; Chelsea wasted no time announcing themselves.
Chelsea Football Club were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub near Stamford Bridge. They were elected straight into the Second Division and won promotion to the First Division in their second season. The first competitive meeting between Villa and Chelsea came during the 1907-08 First Division season, with Villa the established power and Chelsea the ambitious newcomers from west London.
Seven FA Cups and counting; Villa settled this semi-final at Molineux with a 2-1 win, then did exactly the same to United in the final.
Aston Villa defeated Chelsea in the 1957 FA Cup semi-final at Molineux, winning 2-1 to book their place at Wembley. Villa went on to beat Manchester United 2-1 in the final, claiming their seventh FA Cup. It was a rare bright spot in a difficult post-war period for the club, and a reminder that Villa Park still produced teams capable of silverware.
Villa were champions of England while Chelsea were stuck in the second tier; the gap between the clubs had rarely felt so vast.
Aston Villa won the First Division championship in 1980-81, their first league title since 1910. The following season, under Tony Barton, they went on to win the European Cup, beating Bayern Munich 1-0 in Rotterdam. Chelsea, by contrast, were languishing in the Second Division. The power balance between the two clubs had rarely been so stark.
Villa finished runners-up in the very first Premier League season; Chelsea, a more modest eleventh.
The Premier League launched in August 1992, and both Aston Villa and Chelsea were among the 22 founding members. Villa finished runners-up to Manchester United in the inaugural season, their best league finish in over a decade. Chelsea finished 11th. The fixture became a regular feature of the new era, with Villa Park hosting some memorable early encounters.
Abramovich's millions didn't just buy a club; they bought dominance over Villa Park for two decades.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich completed his takeover of Chelsea in July 2003, and the landscape of English football changed overnight. Chelsea won back-to-back Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006 under Jose Mourinho. Villa, meanwhile, were mid-table regulars. The fixture tilted decisively in Chelsea's favour, with the Blues winning the majority of meetings at Villa Park through the 2000s and 2010s.
29 years of top-flight football, undone in a single catastrophic season with just 17 points to show for it.
Aston Villa's 2015-16 season was a catastrophe. They finished bottom of the Premier League with just 17 points and were relegated to the Championship, ending a 29-year stay in the top flight. The fixture with Chelsea was temporarily removed from the calendar. Villa spent three seasons in the second tier before winning promotion via the play-offs in 2019.
A Wembley winner over Derby brought the claret and blues back; Chelsea were waiting.
Villa beat Derby County 2-1 in the 2019 Championship play-off final at Wembley to secure their return to the Premier League. The fixture with Chelsea was back. Under Dean Smith and then Unai Emery, Villa steadily rebuilt, finishing in the top half and eventually qualifying for European competition. Villa Park was once again hosting one of the Premier League's most established fixtures.
Villa's return to the Champions League for the first time since 1982-83 under Emery reshaped the weight of this fixture entirely.
Aston Villa finished fourth in the 2023-24 Premier League season under Unai Emery, qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since 1982-83. Chelsea, under new ownership and a revolving door of managers, were in transition. The fixture at Villa Park now carries a different weight: two clubs with serious ambitions, significant investment, and a shared determination to compete at the highest level. It is a meeting that has endured for well over a century, and shows no sign of losing its edge.
