Aston Villa fans will love what Ashley Young did at Birmingham
Ashley Young’s status as a fan favourite at Aston Villa is unlikely to go away anytime soon after his actions against Birmingham.
Young spent a total of six years at Villa Park across two spells, making 247 appearances in Claret and Blue.
The 40-year-old is still playing professional football after leaving Premier League rivals Everton when his contract expired at the end of last season.
His latest actions will only endear him to Villa supporters even more.
Young gets right into it against Birmingham
Young was touted with an Aston Villa return but ultimately ended up joining Championship outfit Ipswich Town.
The Tractor Boys were facing Villa’s local rivals in their Championship season opener at St Andrew’s on Friday (8 August) and were 1-0 down when they were awarded a 94th-minute penalty.
George Hirst stepped up and converted from the spot, and Young was spotted celebrating in front of the Birmingham fans, and even got involved in a fracas after the goal.
He then heaped fuel onto the fire after the contest in an interview, saying: “I knew what was going to come, obviously, playing at Aston Villa, the biggest club in Birmingham, to be honest, so we knew it was going to be that way.”
How big is Aston Villa’s rivalry with Birmingham?
The Second City derby is contested between the Villans and the Blues, and is one of the fiercest in the game.
Although the sides are not in the same division anymore, there is still a big animosity between the clubs due to there being just 2.4 miles between them.
Villa have had more success than their arch-rivals when the sides have met, with 57 wins to Birmingham’s 38, with 31 draws.
- Villa won the first league meeting 2-1 in the 1894-95 season
- Birmingham beat Villa 3-1 in the 1963 League Cup final
- Villa did the double over Birmingham and won the First Division in the 1980-81 season
- The last Premier League meeting was a 1-1 draw in January 2011
The most recent clash at St Andrew’s in March 2019 ended in a 1-0 win for the Villans, with Jack Grealish scoring the winner after a home supporter had run onto the pitch and assaulted him with a punch.
Grealish and Co. were promoted at the end of that season, and Villa have been in the top-flight since, so the sides have not met in six years.
It is safe to say that the B6 outfit have had the last laugh over their city rivals in recent times, and Young’s actions will go down very well with supporters as the Blues were left furious with the result.
Birmingham’s misery will be music to the ears of the Lions fanbase.
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