# 2018–19 Aston Villa F.C. season

The 2018–19 EFL Championship season was Aston Villa's 144th season in English football. It was the club's third consecutive season in the Championship following relegation from the Premier League in the 2015–16 season. Villa finished in fifth place and were the winners of the subsequent play-offs to achieve promotion to the Premier League.
Villa surrendered a two-goal lead, drawing 3–3 at home to bottom club Preston North End on 2 October 2018. One spectator threw a cabbage at manager, Steve Bruce, and there were calls from home fans on the Holte End for Bruce to go. The following day, he was sacked by Villa after a poor run of form. A week later, Dean Smith was appointed manager with the club in 15th place, with John Terry as his assistant coach.
Smith was named as the EFL's manager of the week after overseeing a 3–0 win at Derby County on 10 November. He immediately managed to reinvigorate the "Villans" attack, and only a controversial injury-time equaliser from local rivals West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns denied them a place in the play-offs by 7 December. However Villa's form dipped dramatically in the three months after Jack Grealish was sidelined with a shin injury picked up in that match, but on 2 March, Smith gave Grealish the captaincy on his return to the first-team and the 23-year old inspired an important 4–0 victory over play-off rivals Derby County and went on to captain the team from that game onwards.
Smith was given that month's EFL Championship Manager of the Month award after achieving five wins in five games, including a 1-0 victory over Second City derby rivals Birmingham City on 10 March with Grealish scoring the only goal. Earlier in the match, Grealish was "punched from behind by a pitch invader" who was then sent to prison for 14 weeks for pitch encroachment and assault. Following Villa's promotion, the teams have not met since.
On 22 April 2019, the team surpassed a 109 year old club record for longest winning run after defeating Millwall 1–0 at Villa Park to make it 10 successive victories in 10 matches. The record had previously been held at nine straight wins. On 11 May, the new manager oversaw his 18th win with Aston Villa as they came from behind to beat West Brom 2–1 in the first leg of the Championship play-off semi-finals. Three days later, Villa came from behind at West Brom to win on penalties and secure a place in the play-off final. Villa went on to win promotion to the Premier League with a 2–1 victory over Derby County.

## Competitions
### Pre-season friendlies

Villa announced friendlies with AFC Telford United, Kidderminster Harriers, Walsall and Dynamo Dresden.

### Championship
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 2 | Sheffield United (P) | 46 | 26 | 11 | 9 | 78 | 41 | +37 | 89 | Promotion to the Premier League |
| 3 | Leeds United | 46 | 25 | 8 | 13 | 73 | 50 | +23 | 83 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 4 | West Bromwich Albion | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 87 | 62 | +25 | 80 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Aston Villa (O, P) | 46 | 20 | 16 | 10 | 82 | 61 | +21 | 76 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Derby County | 46 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 69 | 54 | +15 | 74 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 7 | Middlesbrough | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 49 | 41 | +8 | 73 | |
| 8 | Bristol City | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 59 | 53 | +6 | 70 | |
* ↑ Four teams play for one spot and promotion to the Premier League.

#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | D | D | D | L | D | W | L | D | D | L | W | L | L | W | W | W | D | W | D | D | L | W | D | D | L | D | W | D | D | L | L | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | L |
| Position | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |

#### Result summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 5 May 2019. Source: BBC Sport

#### Matches

On 21 June 2018, the Championship fixtures for the forthcoming season were announced.

#### Playoffs

On 22 April 2019, Aston Villa confirmed their place in this year's EFL Championship playoffs. On 30 April 2019, Aston Villa confirmed 5th place in this year's Championship and would therefore play their first leg at home. The date is set for Saturday 11 May 2019 at 12:30pm.

### FA Cup

The third round draw was made live on BBC by Ruud Gullit and Paul Ince from Stamford Bridge on 3 December 2018.

### EFL Cup

On 15 June 2018, the draw for the first round was made in Vietnam. The second round was drawn by Chris Waddle and Mick McCarthy on 16 August 2018.

## Transfers
### Transfers in
#### Steve Bruce

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 30 June 2018 | GK | Viljami Sinisalo | FC Espoo | Undisclosed |
| 13 July 2018 | LW | Tyreik Wright | Lakewood Athletic | Undisclosed |
| 7 August 2018 | GK | Ørjan Nyland | Ingolstadt 04 | Undisclosed |
| 8 August 2018 | CM | John McGinn | Hibernian | £2.5m |
| 29 September 2018 | GK | Ákos Onódi | Győri ETO FC | Undisclosed |

#### Dean Smith

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 January 2019 | GK | Lovre Kalinić | K.A.A. Gent | Undisclosed |
| 29 January 2019 | WG | Jaden Philogene | Pro:Direct Academy | — |
| 31 January 2019 | RB | Frédéric Guilbert | SM Caen | Undisclosed |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2018 | CF | Gabriel Agbonlahor | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2018 | LB | Jordan Amavi | Marseille | £9,000,000 |
| 1 July 2018 | CB | James Finnerty | Rochdale | Free transfer |
| 1 July 2018 | RM | Carles Gil | RC Deportivo | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2018 | GK | Pierluigi Gollini | Atalanta | £3,750,000 |
| 1 July 2018 | GK | Emmanuel Idem | Macclesfield Town | Released |
| 1 July 2018 | CB | Christopher Samba | Free agent | Released |
| 1 July 2018 | CB | John Terry | Free agent | Mutual consent |
| 3 August 2018 | GK | Viktor Johansson | Leicester City | Free transfer |
| 31 January 2019 | CB | Jacob Bedeau | Scunthorpe United | Free transfer |
| 18 March 2019 | MF | Jordan Lyden | Free agent | Released |
| 3 May 2019 | LB | Mitch Clark | Free agent | Released |

### Loans in

| Start date | Position | Name | From | End date |
| 26 July 2018 | GK | André Moreira | Atlético Madrid | 23 January 2019 |
| 6 August 2018 | CB | Axel Tuanzebe | Manchester United | 31 May 2019 |
| 22 August 2018 | FW | Anwar El Ghazi | Lille | 31 May 2019 |
| 25 August 2018 | MF | Yannick Bolasie | Everton | 21 January 2019 |
| 31 August 2018 | FW | Tammy Abraham | Chelsea | 31 May 2019 |
| 7 January 2019 | CB | Kortney Hause | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 31 May 2019 |
| 31 January 2019 | CM | Tom Carroll | Swansea City | 4 April 2019 |
| 31 January 2019 | CB | Tyrone Mings | Bournemouth | 31 May 2019 |

### Loans out

| Start date | Position | Name | To | End date |
| 9 August 2018 | MF | Gary Gardner | Birmingham City | 31 May 2019 |
| 10 August 2018 | GK | Jed Steer | Charlton Athletic | 31 December 2018 |
| 16 August 2018 | DF | Mitchell Clark | Port Vale | 31 May 2019 |
| 17 August 2018 | DF | Easah Suliman | FC Emmen | 28 December 2018 |
| 29 August 2018 | MF | Aaron Tshibola | Kilmarnock | 31 May 2019 |
| 29 August 2018 | MF | Andre Green | Portsmouth | 17 January 2019 |
| 31 August 2018 | DF | Tommy Elphick | Hull City | 29 December 2018 |
| 31 August 2018 | MF | Jordan Lyden | Oldham Athletic | 7 January 2019 |
| 31 August 2018 | FW | Kelsey Mooney | Cheltenham Town | January 2019 |
| 14 September 2018 | DF | Ritchie De Laet | Melbourne City | 31 May 2019 |
| 19 September 2018 | FW | Ross McCormack | Central Coast Mariners | 5 January 2019 |
| 5 January 2019 | SS | Ross McCormack | Motherwell | 31 May 2019 |
| 11 January 2019 | CF | Rushian Hepburn-Murphy | Cambridge United | 31 May 2019 |
| 29 January 2019 | CM | Callum O'Hare | Carlisle United | 31 May 2019 |
| 31 January 2019 | CM | Corey Blackett-Taylor | Walsall | 31 May 2019 |
| 31 January 2019 | RB | James Bree | Ipswich Town | 31 May 2019 |
| 31 January 2019 | CM | Jake Doyle-Hayes | Cambridge United | 31 May 2019 |
| 31 January 2019 | CF | Scott Hogan | Sheffield United | 31 May 2019 |
| 31 January 2019 | CF | Harry McKirdy | Newport County | 31 May 2019 |
| 31 January 2019 | RB | Frederic Guilbert | SM Caen | 31 May 2019 |
| 16 March 2019 | CM | Alexander Prosser | Brackley Town | 31 May 2019 |

## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Championship | Championship | Play-offs | Play-offs | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | NOR | Ørjan Nyland | 23 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | ENG | Jed Steer | 19 | 0 | 15+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | GK | CRO | Lovre Kalinić | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | ENG | Mark Bunn | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | GK | MNE | Matija Sarkic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 3 | DF | WAL | Neil Taylor | 37 | 0 | 28+3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Axel Tuanzebe | 30 | 0 | 24+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | WAL | James Chester (team captain) | 28 | 5 | 28 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | SCO | Alan Hutton | 34 | 2 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Tommy Elphick | 14 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | EGY | Ahmed Elmohamady | 42 | 2 | 32+6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Kortney Hause | 12 | 1 | 10+1 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | DF | ENG | Dominic Revan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | DF | ENG | Tyrone Mings | 18 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Micah Richards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 6 | MF | IRL | Glenn Whelan | 38 | 1 | 23+12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | SCO | John McGinn | 44 | 7 | 39+1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Henri Lansbury | 5 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Jack Grealish | 35 | 6 | 31 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | IRL | Conor Hourihane | 48 | 9 | 33+10 | 7 | 2+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 15 | MF | AUS | Mile Jedinak | 18 | 0 | 12+5 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | ENG | Andre Green | 22 | 1 | 8+10 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | ISL | Birkir Bjarnason | 17 | 2 | 11+6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | GHA | Albert Adomah | 42 | 4 | 22+14 | 4 | 2+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 41 | MF | ENG | Jacob Ramsey | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 17 | FW | ENG | Keinan Davis | 7 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Tammy Abraham | 40 | 26 | 37 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | NED | Anwar El Ghazi | 36 | 6 | 25+6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | CIV | Jonathan Kodjia | 42 | 9 | 19+19 | 9 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| Players transferred or loaned out during the season ||||||||||||||
| 2 | DF | BEL | Ritchie De Laet | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | IRL | Scott Hogan | 7 | 0 | 0+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | COD | Yannick Bolasie | 21 | 2 | 9+12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Tom Carroll | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | ENG | James Bree | 11 | 0 | 6+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 23 | GK | POR | André Moreira | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | ENG | Rushian Hepburn-Murphy | 7 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | IRL | Jake Doyle-Hayes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 36 | FW | ENG | Harry McKirdy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | FW | ENG | Callum O'Hare | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | AUS | Jordan Lyden | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Disciplinary record

Disciplinary Records :
| Player | Number | Position | Championship | Championship | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Player | Number | Position | Y | R | Y | R | Y | R | Y | R | Y | R |
| John McGinn | 7 | MF | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Conor Hourihane | 14 | MF | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Alan Hutton | 21 | DF | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Tyrone Mings | 40 | DF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Jonathan Kodjia | 26 | FW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Neil Taylor | 3 | DF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Anwar El Ghazi | 22 | FW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Glenn Whelan | 6 | MF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Jack Grealish | 10 | MF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Kortney Hause | 30 | DF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| James Chester | 5 | DF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Albert Adomah | 37 | MF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Birkir Bjarnason | 20 | MF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Tammy Abraham | 18 | FW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Yannick Bolasie | 11 | MF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Henri Lansbury | 8 | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Ahmed Elmohamady | 27 | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jake Doyle-Hayes | 34 | MF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Keinan Davis | 17 | ST | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Lovre Kalinić | 28 | GK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mile Jedinak | 15 | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ritchie De Laet | 2 | DF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tommy Elphick | 24 | DF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tom Carroll | 11 | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | 80 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 92 | 2 |
^a Given one Red Card, which was later rescinded.
Based on matches played until 28 May 2019

### Top scorers

Top Scorers :
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | Championship | Championship | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Nat. | Player | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists | Goals | Assists |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Tammy Abraham | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 3 |
| 14 | MF | IRE | Conor Hourihane | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 11 |
| 26 | FW | CIV | Jonathan Kodjia | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| 7 | MF | SCO | John McGinn | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 9 |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Jack Grealish | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| 22 | FW | NED | Anwar El Ghazi | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 5 | DF | WAL | James Chester | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | GHA | Albert Adomah | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| 27 | DF | EGY | Ahmed Elmohamady | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 11 | MF | DRC | Yannick Bolasie | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 21 | DF | SCO | Alan Hutton | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 20 | MF | ISL | Birkir Bjarnason | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | DF | ENG | Tyrone Mings | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | IRE | Glenn Whelan | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 19 | MF | ENG | Andre Green | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | DF | ENG | Kortney Hause | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Tommy Elphick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | WAL | Neil Taylor | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Axel Tuanzebe | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | 79 | 56 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 84 | 59 |
Based on matches played until 28 May 2019