The club's first summer signing was the permanent capture of on-loan West Brom centre-back, Curtis Davies, in July, while their first sale was made in May, as Luke Moore completed a move to West Brom in an initial £3 million deal, after he had spent the second half of the 2007–08 season there on loan.
The fixtures for the 2008–09 season were announced on Monday 16 June 2008, with Aston Villa beginning at home against Manchester City and finishing the season at home to Newcastle. Due to Birmingham's relegation at the end of the 2007–08 season, there was no Second City derby, however they faced local rivals West Brom on 20 September 2008 at The Hawthorns and on 10 January 2009 at home.[1]
In December 2008, Everton player and boyhood Villa fan, Joleon Lescott put two past Villa and still lost the match following Ashley Young's "brilliant" equalizer.[2]
After 25 games, having qualified for the UEFA Cup as joint winners of the Intertoto Cup, the club were third in the table on 51 points, 2 points above Chelsea on level games and 7 points above Arsenal in 5th place and on course for a place in the Champions League for the first time since 1983. O'Neill decided to prioritise Champions League qualification above all else, fielding a virtual reserve side for a UEFA Cup game against CSKA Moscow which was subsequently lost.[3] Following this, Villa failed to win any of the next 8 league games and improving form for Arsenal & Chelsea meant that Villa failed to reach the top 4.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The following players made most of their appearances for the reserve team this season, and did not appear for the first team.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The following players made most of their appearances for the youth team this season, but may have also appeared for the reserves.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The following players did not appear for any squad this season.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Source: Premier League Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. Notes:
^ abSince both finalists of the FA Cup (Chelsea and Everton) and the League Cupwinners (Manchester United) qualified for the European competitions based on their league position, the sixth-placed team (Aston Villa) received a berth in the Europa League play-off round and the seventh-placed team (Fulham) received a berth in the Europa League third qualifying round.
^Williams was born in Hamburg, Germany, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his mother and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level before making his international debut for the Republic of Ireland in May 2018.
^Collins was born in Coventry, England, but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his parents and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level.
Brad Friedel
Carlos Cuéllar
Rangers
Patrik Berger
Olof Mellberg
Juventus
Thomas Sørensen
David Bevan
Swansea City
Goals
YC
RC
England
Netherlands
Norway
Togo
Bulgaria
Australia
Austria
Northern Ireland
Kosovo
Hungary