Aston Villa travel to Newcastle United tonight, desperate for points to avoid a second successive relegation, but in 2009 the roles were reversed.
Steve Bruce’s current Aston Villa side is a far cry from 2009
In May 2009, Alan Shearer’s Newcastle United side travelled to Villa Park where they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa to end their 16-year stay in the top flight.
With Villa currently struggling in the Championship, we take a look at the starting 11 they once had in better times.
Brad Friedel
Legendary Premier League goalkeeper Brad Friedel made over 100 appearances for the Villains before moving on to Tottenham Hotspur in 2011. He is currently in charge of the USA’s Under-19’s side.
Craig Gardner
Villa academy product Craig Gardner left the club in 2010 to join cross-city rivals Birmingham City. Since then he has enjoyed spells at Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion before recently re-joining Birmingham on loan.
Curtis Davies during his time at Aston Villa
Curtis Davies
After initially enjoying a spell on loan from West Brom, Curtis Davies signed permanently for Villa in 2008. However, he made just 37 appearances in three years at the club and is now at Hull City via Birmingham.
Carlos Cuellar
Having impressed for Rangers in the then Scottish Premier League, Villa secured the services of the Spanish defender. He spent four years at Villa Park before less successful spells with Sunderland and Norwich City. He is currently 35 and playing for Maccabi Petah Tikva in the Israeli Premier League.
Nicky Shorey
Nicky Shorey caught the eye of Martin O’Neill after rising through the leagues with Reading and earning an England call-up in 2007. However, Shorey never reached those heights at Villa and his subsequent slide back down the leagues saw him ply his trade most recently with Hungerford Town.
James Milner (R) – Aston Villa scores against rivals Birmingham City from the penalty spot
James Milner
Leeds academy product James Milner arguably played his best football at Aston Villa under Martin O’Neill where his high-energy displays and goal scoring record earned him a big money move to Manchester City. He is currently playing a more defensive role for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
Stiliyan Petrov
Stiliyan ‘Stan’ Petrov was a cult hero at both Celtic and Aston Villa before he was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in March 2012. After battling bravely against the disease, he began training with Villa again in the summer of 2016 but was not offered a contract by then manager Roberto Di Matteo.
Gareth Barry
Another top flight stalwart, Gareth Barry has made the most Premier League appearances of any current player. Barry made the last of his 441 Villa appearances in the game against Newcastle before moving to Manchester City. He is still playing at Everton aged 35 and is just 15 more games off breaking Ryan Giggs’ 632 match record for the most Premier League appearances.
Ashley Young celebrates with Stiliyan Petrov
Ashley Young
In January 2007, Villa broke their transfer record to secure the services of Ashley Young from Watford. It is fair to say that Young enjoyed the best years of his career at Villa Park and earned a big money move to Manchester United in 2011 where he is contracted until 2018.
John Carew
Big John Carew was a fans’ favourite wherever he played but he too enjoyed the best years of his career with Villa. Signed from Lyon in January 2007, Carew spent four years at the club before moving onto West Ham United where he helped the Hammers gain promotion back to the Premier League before retiring.
Gabriel Agbonlahor
The only surviving member of the starting 11, it is fair to say that Gabriel Agbonlahor is not the same player he was back in 2009. The Villa academy product made his debut for the club back in 2006 and has since gone on to make more than 300 Premier League appearances for the club. In those games he has netted 73 times to make him Villa’s all-time leading goalscorer. After a difficult couple of seasons, current boss Steve Bruce promised to give Agbonlahor a fresh start when he arrived earlier in the campaign.
Agbonlahor celebrating a Villa goal at Arsenal
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