Aston Villa F.C. Under-21s and Academy
| Full name | Aston Villa Football Club Under-21s & Academy | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Villans, The Villa, The Lions, The Claret & Blue Army | |||
| Short name | Villa, AVFC | |||
| Founded | 21 November 1874 | |||
| Ground | Bodymoor Heath Training Ground | |||
| Capacity | 500 | |||
| Owner(s) | Nassef Sawiris Wesley Edens | |||
| Chairman | Nassef Sawiris | |||
| Manager | Jimmy Shan | |||
| League | Premier League 2 | |||
| 2024–25 | Premier League 2, 26th | |||
| Website | www | |||
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The Aston Villa Under-21s, formerly known as Aston Villa Reserves and Aston Villa Under-23s, are the most senior youth development team of Aston Villa and compete in Premier League 2, the EFL Trophy and the Birmingham Senior Cup in the 2025–26 season. The team plays its home games at Aston Villa's training ground, Bodymoor Heath and occasionally Villa Park. Aston Villa also have an academy side that competes in the Under-18 division of the Professional Development League, the U18 Premier League Cup, and the FA Youth Cup annually. They will also field an under-19 side in the 2025–26 UEFA Youth League following Aston Villa's U18 side winning the national league title in the 2024-25 season.
Aston Villa have fielded reserve or 'A' sides since their formation in 1874 and the team were part of the FA Premier Reserve League at its foundation in 1999, subsequently winning five regional titles including the 2011–12 Premier Reserve League South, the last in that format. The side has been successful in recent decades, as well as becoming national champions in the 2003–04 and 2009–10 seasons, the team also won four out of five Southern Championships between 2007 and 2012, before the format changed to the Professional Development League. The side also won the NextGen Series in 2013, a Europe-wide tournament for elite academies.
Current Villa players to have come through the youth system at the club and appear in competitive senior matches are Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba, Lamare Bogarde, Bradley Burrowes, George Hemmings, and Kadan Young. Notable former players to have come through the Villa academy include Jack Grealish, Brian Little, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ciaran Clark, Gary Cahill, Gareth Barry, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Darius Vassell, Marc Albrighton, Andreas Weimann, Brian McClair, and Steven Davis among many others. The U21 team is made up of players under the age of 21, although five over-age outfield players and an over-age goalkeeper may be named in a Premier League 2 match squad, these may include fringe first-team players and senior players recovering from injury.