Aston Villa Football Club (nicknamed Villa, The Villa, The Villans and The Lions) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were one of the founder members of the Football League in 1888 and of the Premier League in 1992. Villa are one of only five English clubs to have won the European Cup, in 1981–82. They have also won the Football League First Division seven times, the FA Cup seven times, the League Cup five times, and the UEFA Super Cup once.
Villa have a fierce local rivalry with Birmingham City and the Second City derby between the teams has been played since 1879. The club's traditional kit colours are claret shirts with sky blue sleeves, white shorts and sky blue socks. Their traditional club badge is of a rampant lion. The club is currently owned by the NSWE group, a company owned by the Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and the American billionaire Wes Edens.
Aston Villa maintain a fierce city-rivalry with Birmingham City with matches between the two sides being known as a Second City derby. However, historically, the club's main rivals, highlighted by a 2003 fan survey, have been West Bromwich Albion, based in nearby West Bromwich. Games between the two are known as a West Midlands derby.
Aston Villa Football Club have won European and domestic league honours. The club's last English honour was in 1996 when they won the League Cup, and most recently they won the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup.