Aston Villa v Manchester City

Formed by Wesleyan chapel members in 1874, Aston Villa had already claimed five league titles and two FA Cups before Manchester City even entered the Football League.

On 21 November 1874, members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Handsworth, Birmingham, formed Aston Villa Football Club. They were among the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888, and by the end of the century had won five league titles and two FA Cups. Manchester City, originally founded as St. Mark's (West Gorton) in 1880, joined the Football League in 1892. The two clubs first met in league competition during the 1899-1900 season.

City's first trophy arrived in 1904; Villa had already claimed six league titles by then.

City claimed their first major honour with a 1-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers in the 1904 FA Cup final at Crystal Palace. Villa, already six-time league champions by this point, were the established aristocrats of English football. The early 1900s saw both clubs competing regularly in the First Division, though Villa's pedigree was considerably more decorated. Their meetings carried the weight of a northern industrial powerhouse against a Midlands institution.

Villa's first-ever relegation and City's first title landed in the same season; football's cruelty has always been perfectly timed.

Manchester City won the First Division championship in 1936-37, their first league title. Villa, by contrast, were in decline. They had been relegated to the Second Division in 1936 for the first time in their history, a fall that would have seemed unthinkable a generation earlier. The fixture disappeared from the top-flight calendar, a sign of how dramatically fortunes can shift in English football.

Seventy-one years without a league title, then a European Cup to follow. Villa's moment was brief, but it was brilliant.

Villa claimed the 1980-81 First Division title under Ron Saunders, their first league championship since 1910. They followed it with the European Cup in 1982, beating Bayern Munich 1-0 in the final in Rotterdam. City, meanwhile, were entering a turbulent period that would eventually see them drop to the third tier of English football. The balance of power between the two clubs was, for a brief spell, firmly in Villa's favour.

Villa were seconds-in-command of the Premier League's very first season, finishing runners-up yet a full ten points adrift of United.

Aston Villa and Manchester City were both among the twenty-two founding members of the FA Premier League in 1992. Villa finished runners-up in the inaugural 1992-93 season under Ron Atkinson, ten points behind Manchester United. City's early Premier League years were less distinguished, and relegation in 1996 began a period of yo-yoing between divisions. The fixture remained a regular calendar date through the 1990s and into the 2000s.

September 2008 did not just change a club; it rewrote the entire fixture's pecking order overnight.

Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group completed their takeover of Manchester City in September 2008, fundamentally altering the landscape of English football. Massive investment in players and infrastructure turned City from perennial mid-table side into serial title contenders. The fixture's dynamic shifted permanently. Where Villa had historically been the more decorated club, City's spending power now dwarfed anything in Villa's history.

Foden stole the show as City sealed a hat-trick of League Cups before the pandemic silenced Wembley for months.

On 1 March 2020, Aston Villa and Manchester City met at Wembley in the EFL Cup final. City won 2-1, with Sergio Agüero and Rodri scoring for the holders. Mbwana Samatta pulled one back for Villa, but Pep Guardiola's side secured their third consecutive League Cup. Phil Foden was named man of the match. It was the first major cup final meeting between the two clubs, played in front of 82,145 spectators just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic halted English football.

Emery lifted Villa from seventh to Champions League contenders across two seasons, transforming them from mid-table passengers into genuine top-four rivals.

Unai Emery was appointed Aston Villa head coach in October 2022, replacing Steven Gerrard. The Spaniard's impact was immediate and dramatic. Villa finished seventh in 2022-23, then secured Champions League qualification by finishing fourth in 2023-24. Fixtures against City took on new significance as Villa positioned themselves as genuine top-four contenders rather than mid-table passengers.

Both clubs competing in the Champions League this season lent their Premier League clash the genuine European weight it now carries.

The 2024-25 season saw both Aston Villa and Manchester City competing in the UEFA Champions League, the first time both clubs had been in Europe's premier competition simultaneously. Villa reached the quarter-finals in their first Champions League campaign since 1982-83. The Premier League meetings between the two sides now carry the weight of a fixture between genuine European contenders, a far cry from the days when City languished in the lower divisions.