Aston Villa fans furious as official Villa Park announcement made
Aston Villa have used Villa Park for several different events over the years.
Unai Emery’s side are preparing for a busy season in which they will compete in the Europa League and will hope that the Spaniard can lift the trophy for the fifth time.
Aston Villa’s iconic stadium has played host to countless non-footballing events in the off-season, and more have been announced for next year.
Villa Park recently hosted Black Sabbath’s final concert shortly before Ozzy Osbourne’s passing, but fans are less enamoured at what lies ahead in March 2026.
Fans fume as Villa Park to host rugby matches
Aston Villa have now announced that a Rugby Union match will be played at Villa Park in March 2026, during the international break.
Gloucester will take on the Leicester Tigers at Villa Park on Saturday, March 26.
While this is in the international break, fans are now furious, given that the pitch will be painted and possibly damaged, in the middle of what could be a crucial period of fixtures.
Aston Villa’s crucial month of March
The month of March and beyond is likely to be very crucial for Emery and Villa in their season objectives, and there can be no room for any slip-ups at Villa Park.
March will see Villa host Chelsea and West Ham, and also travel to Manchester United, a set of fixtures which could see them come up against rivals for a Champions League spot.
In the middle of those could be Europa League knockout rounds and a potential FA Cup tie, and this could add two more games to Villa Park’s schedule.
Villa do not have a Premier League home game scheduled until April 18 after the Rugby, but this is liable to change, and European and cup matches could still take place before then.
The hope will be that whatever happens to the Villa Park pitch, such as different paint, damage to the surface and wear and tear, can all be fixed in time for the next match to avoid any disruption to Villa’s footballing plans.
Sign up for the Villa News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Aston Villa news sent straight to your phone.