ASTON VILLA
Premier League, Villa Park, Sunday 26 January 2025, 4.30pm GMT
West Ham United will make a second visit of the month to Villa Park on the final Sunday of January, for a Premier League fixture that will be broadcast live in the UK by Sky Sports.
Those travelling to the West Midlands and those watching on television will both be hoping for a better result than the one achieved last season, when the home side ended a three-match losing run against the Hammers with a thumping 4-1 victory.
Prior to that reverse, West Ham were actually unbeaten in five Premier League visits.
Draws in May 2015 and September 2019 were followed by a Jesse Lingard-inspired 3-1 win on the Manchester United loanee’s debut in February 2021, an even more emphatic 4-1 victory in October of the same year (pictured, below), and finally a 1-0 success in August 2022.
However, Villa have since thrived under manager Unai Emery, finishing seventh in 2022/23, then fourth last season to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
How to get there…
The address for your sat nav is Villa Park, Trinity Rd, Birmingham, B6 6HE. However, there is next to no parking available at the ground and a traffic exclusion zone is imposed around the stadium on matchdays from two hours prior to kick-off until up to 60 minutes after the final whistle.
Official parking is available at Aston Social Club in Aston Hall Road (postcode B6 7JU) and Powerleague Birmingham in Lichfield Road (postcode B6 7TG).
Any supporters with accessibility requirements should contact our Disabled Liaison Officer on 0333 323 1874 for information on disabled parking. Parking needs to be booked in advance of the match.
For those travelling by train, the nearest stations are Witton and Aston, both of which are on lines from Birmingham New Street. There are direct trains from London Euston to New Street on Sunday morning, and also slower services from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street, from which you can walk to New Street.
Where to stay…
If you want to make a Saturday night of it in Birmingham, you are best off staying in the city centre, where you will have the full choice of accommodation, food, drink and entertainment options.
If you fancy somewhere a bit different, the Convention Quarter contains Brindley Place, a vibrant area full of shops, hotels, bars, pubs, restaurants and nightclubs, or why not try Digbeth, which has been transformed from Birmingham’s industrial heartland into a distinctive, trendy and creative area full of independent traders.
What to do…
Birmingham has something for everyone, as you'd expect from the country’s second largest city.
In addition to the pubs, bars and restaurants, there are attractions galore for you to visit if you're making a weekend of your visit to the West Midlands.
The Birmingham Back to Backs are a National Trust run court of back-to-back houses that were home to working-class residents in the 19th century, while the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull charts the history of British motorcycles.
If you have a sweet tooth, head to Cadbury World in Bourneville to learn how the world-famous confectionary is made, or if fish are your thing, visit the The National SEA LIFE Centre Birmingham in the city centre.
The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (pictured, below) has recently partially reopened after refurbishment.
What’s happened there before…
As mentioned in the introduction, we were unbeaten in five visits to Villa Park in the Premier League before goals from Douglas Luiz (two), Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey saw off the Hammers comfortably in October 2023.
Our best Premier League result at Villa Park was a 4-1 triumph in October 2021, when Ben Johnson, Declan Rice, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen were on target.
Our best-ever result at Villa Park was a 5-1 First Division victory scored in April 1927, when Vic Watson (two), Stan Earle, Joseph Johnson and Jimmy Ruffell shared the visitors’ goals.
Overall, our biggest top-flight win over Villa came in August 1958, when Ted Fenton’s newly promoted Hammers thrashed their opponents 7-2 in the First Division at the Boleyn Ground, where Vic Keeble, John Dick and Malcolm Musgrove each scored twice.
