Editing Aston Villa F.C. (section)

===Formation and rise to prominence (1874−1886)===
[[File:George_Ramsay_c.1905.jpg|thumb|left|200px|[[George Ramsay (footballer, born 1855)|George Ramsay]]'s trophy haul of six League Championships and six FA Cups established Aston Villa as the most successful club in England. He has been described as the world's first paid football manager.]]
[[File:Villa Champions 1899.jpg|thumb|right|The Aston Villa team of 1899 that won the First Division and [[Sheriff of London Charity Shield]] (shared with Queen's Park), as well as a number of [[County football association|county cup honours]]]]
Aston Villa Football Club are believed to have formed [[1873-74 in English football|on 21 November 1874]], by members of the Villa Cross [[John Wesley|Wesleyan]] Chapel in [[Handsworth, West Midlands|Handsworth]]: which is now part of [[Birmingham]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Club |first=Aston Villa Football |title=Aston Villa Football Club {{!}} The official club website |url=https://www.avfc.co.uk/ |access-date=1 March 2024 |website=Aston Villa Football Club}}</ref> The four founders of Aston Villa were Jack Hughes, Frederick Matthews, Walter Price and William Scattergood, who were members of the chapel's cricket team looking for a way to stay fit during the winter months.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2007/11/26/cup-presented-to-aston-villa-founder-member-jack-hughes-is-back-with-his-family-97319-20162107/ |title=Cup presented to Aston Villa founder member Jack Hughes is back with his family |first=Nick |last=McCarthy |date=26 November 2007 |newspaper=Birmingham Mail |access-date=21 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125091142/http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2007/11/26/cup-presented-to-aston-villa-founder-member-jack-hughes-is-back-with-his-family-97319-20162107/ |archive-date=25 January 2012 }}</ref> Due to the lack of local football teams Aston Villa's first match was against the local [[St Mary's Church, Aston Brook|Aston Brook St Mary's]] [[Rugby football|Rugby]] team. As a condition of the match, the Villa side had to agree to play the first half under Rugby rules and the second half under Association rules. Villa won their first game 1–0.<ref>Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy; p. 6.</ref>

The infant club's fortunes changed forever when a young Scotsman called [[George Ramsay (footballer, born 1855)|George Ramsay]] stumbled across the Villa players' practice match in [[Aston Park, Birmingham|Aston Park]] in 1876. He was asked to make up the numbers, and they were amazed by his skills; they had never seen such a display of close ball control before. When the game was over, the Villa players surrounded him and invited him to join the club and become their captain.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.avfc.co.uk/players/g/r/george-ramsay |title=Mens {{!}} AVFC |access-date=22 June 2022 |archive-date=19 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919155319/https://www.avfc.co.uk/players/g/r/george-ramsay |url-status=live }}</ref> Word spread about how fine a player Ramsay was, spectators began turning up to watch the little man nicknamed ‘Scotty’. He also took charge of training, Ramsay later described the newly formed club's approach to the game as 'a dash at the man and a big kick at the ball'.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://spartacus-educational.com/ASTONramsayG.htm |title=George Ramsay |access-date=22 June 2022 |archive-date=21 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121114448/https://spartacus-educational.com/ASTONramsayG.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Ramsay was influenced by the Scottish club, [[Queen's Park FC|Queen's Park]], who pioneered what became known as 'combination football' in his native [[Glasgow]], the intricate passing game he introduced was a revolutionary move for an English club in the late 1870s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grant|first1=Michael|last2=Robertson|first2=Rob|title=The Management: Scotland's Great Football Managers|date=2011|publisher=Birlinn|location=Edinburgh|isbn=978-1-78027016-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McColl |first1=Graham |title=Aston Villa: 1874-1998 |date=1998 |publisher=Hamlyn |isbn=0600595293}}</ref>

Villa began to establish themselves as one of the best teams in the Midlands, winning their first honour, the [[Birmingham Senior Cup]] [[1879–80 AVFC season|in 1880]]. The club would go on to lift the trophy 9 times in the next 12 seasons.<ref name="Hall of Fame">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015041500/http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HallOfFame/0%2C%2C10265%2C00.html |archive-date=15 October 2007 |title=Aston Villa Hall of Fame |publisher=Aston Villa F.C |url=http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/HallOfFame/0,,10265,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>