# 2006–07 Aston Villa F.C. season

During the 2006–07 English football season, Aston Villa F.C. competed in the FA Premier League. It was Villa's first season under the management of Northern Irishman Martin O'Neill, who was appointed as manager following the sacking of David O'Leary at the end of the previous season.
In August 2006, it was confirmed Randy Lerner had reached a £62.6m agreement with Aston Villa to take over the club. The statement to the London Stock Exchange confirmed that 60% of the club's shares, including the 39% stake of Doug Ellis had been sold to Lerner, beating competition from consortia led by Michael Neville, Nicholas Padfield QC, and Athole Still. Eleven days after the announcement, the LSE confirmed that Lerner had secured 59.69% of Villa shares, making him the majority shareholder. Lerner appointed himself Chairman of the Board of the club. The BBC reported in September 2006 that Lerner had moved closer to taking full control of the club, after increasing his share to 85.5%.
By the time that the deadline passed in September 2006, Lerner had secured the acceptance of 89.69% of the shareholders. Due to the acceptance only being 0.31% below the conditional limit, Lerner accepted it and made the bid unconditional. On September 19, 2006, Aston Villa PLC executive chairman Doug Ellis and his board resigned, and were replaced by Randy Lerner as chairman with General Charles C. Krulak, Bob Kain and Michael Martin serving as non-executive directors. At the close of the deal in 2006, Lerner became only the second American owner of a Premiership club. Ellis became a President Emeritus (Life President) of the club.
Villa started life under Martin O'Neill strongly and were the last team in the Premier League to be beaten, going nine matches without defeat and taking points against the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea away before a 3–1 loss at Liverpool. A run of 11 games without victory during the middle of the season dragged Villa down to 14th place, putting paid to their early-season hopes of Champions League qualification, but Villa rallied and only lost 3 of their last 15 games to finish comfortably in 11th.
There were debuts for Ashley Young (210), Stiliyan Petrov (185), John Carew (113), Shaun Maloney (30), Isaiah Osbourne (19), Phil Bardsley (13), Chris Sutton (8), Didier Agathe (5), and Gábor Király (5).

## Kit

| Kit Supplier | Sponsor |
| Hummel | 32Red.com |

## Transfers
### Transferred in

| Date | Pos | Player | From | Fee |
| 30 August 2006 | CM | Stiliyan Petrov | Celtic | £6,500,000 |
| 12 September 2006 | RM | Didier Agathe | Celtic | Free transfer |
| 3 October 2006 | CF | Chris Sutton | Birmingham City | Free transfer |
| 22 January 2007 | CF | John Carew | Olympique Lyon | £5,000,000 (P/EX) |
| 23 January 2007 | LW | Ashley Young | Watford | £9,650,000 |
| 31 January 2007 | AM | Shaun Maloney | Celtic | £1,000,000 |
| | | | | £22,150,000 |
Record

### Loaned in

| Date | Pos | Player | From | Loan End |
| 13 December 2006 | GK | Gábor Király | Crystal Palace | 8 January 2007 |
| 8 January 2007 | RB | Phil Bardsley | Manchester United | 29 April 2007 |

### Transferred out

| Date | Pos | Player | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2006 | RB | Ulises de la Cruz | Reading | Free transfer |
| 1 August 2006 | CM | Mathieu Berson | Levante | £500,000 |
| 22 August 2006 | CF | Kevin Phillips | West Bromwich Albion | £700,000 |
| 11 January 2007 | LM | Peter Whittingham | Cardiff City | £350,000 |
| 11 January 2007 | RM | Didier Agathe | - | Released |
| 22 January 2007 | CF | Milan Baroš | Olympique Lyon | £5,000,000 (P/EX) |
| 17 April 2007 | CF | Juan Pablo Ángel | New York Red Bulls | Free transfer |
| | | | | £6,550,000 |

### Loaned out

| Date | Pos | Player | To | Loan End |
| 29 September 2006 | RM | Lee Hendrie | Stoke City | 1 January 2007 |
| 29 September 2006 | CF | Sam Williams | Brighton & Hove Albion | 29 October 2006 |
| 20 October 2006 | LB | Stephen O'Halloran | Wycombe Wanderers | 21 January 2007 |
| 23 November 2006 | AM | Patrik Berger | Stoke City | 1 January 2007 |
| 12 January 2007 | DM | Eric Djemba-Djemba | Burnley | 31 May 2007 |
| 30 January 2007 | RM | Lee Hendrie | Stoke City | 31 May 2007 |
| 8 March 2007 | GK | Bobby Olejnik | Lincoln City | 29 April 2007 |

### Overall transfer activity
## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 9 | Portsmouth | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 54 | |
| 10 | Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 52 | 54 | −2 | 52 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup third round |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 38 | 11 | 17 | 10 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 50 | |
| 12 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 44 | 49 | −5 | 46 | |
| 13 | Newcastle United | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 38 | 47 | −9 | 43 | |
* ↑ The highest-placed team who applied for the Intertoto Cup and not in an automatic UEFA Cup spot was awarded with a place in that competition. Blackburn Rovers occupied the Intertoto place, because Portsmouth and Reading did not apply.'"`UNIQ--ref-0000001C-QINU`"' A further place in the UEFA Cup was up for grabs via the Premiership Fair Play League. The winner is placed into a draw with the winners of Fair Play leagues in other countries. The representatives from the two countries that come out of the hat first are given a place in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round. Since the winners of the Premiership Fair Play League, Tottenham Hotspur, had already qualified for the UEFA Cup by virtue of their league position, their place in the Fair Play draw was given to Aston Villa. However, the places in the UEFA Cup were awarded to the representatives from Finland and Norway.

## Results
### Pre-season

| Date | Opponents | Home/ Away | Result F–A | Scorers | Competition |
| 21 July 2006 | Walsall | A | 5–0 | Agbonlahor (2), Moore (2), Whittingham | Friendly |
| 25 July 2006 | Hull City | A | 2–0 | Davis, Gardner | Friendly |
| 26 July 2006 | Chesterfield | A | 2–0 | Bridges (2) | Friendly |
| 29 July 2006 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3–0 | Ridgewell, Barry, Agbonlahor | Friendly |
| 5 August 2006 | Hannover | A | 0–0 | | Friendly |
| 8 August 2006 | NEC Nijmegen | A | 1–2 | Agbonlahor | Friendly |
| 11 August 2006 | Groningen | A | 2–2 | Moore, Ridgewell | Friendly |

### 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 |
| Ground | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | W | W | D | D | W | D | D | D | L | W | W | D | D | L | D | D | L | L | L | L | D | L | W | L | W | L | L | D | D | D | W | D | W | D | W | W | D |
| Position | 10 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |

### League Cup
## Players
### First-team squad

    Squad at end of 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.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | DEN | Thomas Sørensen |
| 2 | DF | WAL | Mark Delaney |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Jlloyd Samuel |
| 4 | DF | SWE | Olof Mellberg |
| 5 | DF | DEN | Martin Laursen |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Gareth Barry |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Gavin McCann |
| 10 | FW | NOR | John Carew |
| 11 | MF | BUL | Stiliyan Petrov |
| 12 | MF | NIR | Steven Davis |
| 13 | GK | ENG | Stuart Taylor |
| 15 | FW | ENG | Gabriel Agbonlahor |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | DF | NED | Wilfred Bouma |
| 17 | FW | ENG | Ashley Young |
| 18 | DF | NIR | Aaron Hughes |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Liam Ridgewell |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Chris Sutton |
| 21 | DF | ENG | Gary Cahill |
| 22 | FW | ENG | Luke Moore |
| 23 | MF | CZE | Patrik Berger |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Phil Bardsley (on loan from Manchester United) |
| 26 | MF | ENG | Craig Gardner |
| 27 | MF | ENG | Isaiah Osbourne |
| 28 | MF | SCO | Shaun Maloney |

### Left club during 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.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 7 | MF | ENG | Lee Hendrie (on loan to Stoke City) |
| 9 | FW | COL | Juan Pablo Ángel (to New York Red Bulls) |
| 10 | FW | CZE | Milan Baroš (to Lyon) |
| 14 | MF | CMR | Eric Djemba-Djemba (on loan to Burnley) |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Peter Whittingham (to Cardiff City) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | FW | ENG | Kevin Phillips (to West Bromwich Albion) |
| 24 | MF | FRA | Mathieu Berson (to Levante) |
| 28 | GK | HUN | Gabor Király (on loan from Crystal Palace) |
| 31 | DF | REU | Didier Agathe (released) |

### Reserve squad

    The following players spent most of the season playing for the reserve team, 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.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 25 | GK | AUT | Bobby Olejnik |
| 29 | DF | IRL | Stephen O'Halloran |
| — | DF | ENG | Paul Green |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | BEL | Christian Tshimanga Kabeya (sacked) |
| — | FW | ENG | Scott Bridges |
| — | FW | ENG | Sam Williams |

### Youth squad

    The following players spent most of the season playing for the youth team, and did not appear for the first team, but may have appeared for the reserve 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.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | ENG | Elliot Parish |
| — | GK | IRL | David Bevan (on loan to Hull City) |
| — | GK | IRL | Lee Boyle (on loan to Bohemians) |
| — | GK | IRL | Stephen Henderson |
| — | DF | ENG | Daniel Bradley |
| — | DF | ENG | Ciaran Clark |
| — | DF | ENG | Jordan Collins |
| — | DF | ENG | Ben Love |
| — | DF | ENG | Will Ricketts |
| — | DF | ENG | Matthew Roome |
| — | DF | ENG | Sam Simmonds |
| — | DF | IRL | Danny Earls |
| — | DF | IRL | Shane Lowry |
| — | DF | SWE | Erik Lund |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | AUS | Chris Herd |
| — | MF | ENG | Marc Albrighton |
| — | MF | ENG | Jonathan Hogg |
| — | MF | SCO | Barry Bannan |
| — | MF | SUI | Damian Bellón |
| — | MF | SUI | Yagó Bellón |
| — | MF | HUN | Zoltán Stieber |
| — | FW | ENG | Nathan Delfouneso |
| — | FW | NIR | Adam McGurk |
| — | FW | SWE | Tobias Mikaelsson (on loan to Ljungskile SK) |
| — | MF | ENG | Josh Burge (on trial from Grimsby Town) |
| — | DF | | Steven Clancy |
| — | MF | | Aaron Griffiths |
| — | MF | | Danny MacDonald (contract terminated by mutual consent) |

### Other players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | NOR | Lasse Staw (on trial from Fredrikstad) |
| — | MF | CYP | Stefanos Georgiou (on trial from Olympiakos Nicosia) |
| — | MF | CYP | Feidos Panagiotiu (on trial from Olympiakos Nicosia) |
| — | FW | SWE | Jacob Flingmark (on trial from Ljungskile SK) |
| — | FW | SWE | Robin Söder (on trial from Stenungsunds IF) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ENG | Phil Green |
| — | DF | IRL | Mark Power |
| — | DF | | Seyi Morgan (contracted cancelled) |
| — | MF | | Morgan Evans |

## Squad statistics

| No. | Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | Sorensen | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Samuel | 2+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Mellberg | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | Laursen | 12+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13+2 | 0 |
| 6 | MD | Barry | 35 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 39 | 9 |
| 8 | MF | McCann | 28+2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31+2 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | Angel | 18+5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 22+5 | 7 |
| 10 | FW | Baroš | 10+7 | 1 | 0+1 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 | 11+10 | 2 |
| 10 | FW | Carew | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| 11 | MF | Petrov | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 2 |
| 12 | MF | Davis | 17+11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20+11 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | Taylor | 4+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Djemba-Djemba | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 15 | FW | Agbonlahor | 37+1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41+1 | 10 |
| 16 | DF | Bouma | 23+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 25+3 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | Young | 11+2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 11+2 | 2 |
| 17 | MF | Whittingham | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 18 | DF | Hughes | 15+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19+4 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | Ridgewell | 19+2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 22+3 | 1 |
| 20 | FW | Sutton | 6+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 6+3 | 1 |
| 21 | DF | Cahill | 19+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20+1 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | Moore | 7+6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8+6 | 4 |
| 23 | MF | Berger | 5+8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 5+9 | 2 |
| 24 | DF | Bardsley | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 26 | MF | Gardner | 11+2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11+2 | 2 |
| 27 | MF | Osbourne | 6+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8+5 | 0 |
| 28 | GK | Kiraly | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | Maloney | 5+3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5+3 | 1 |
| 31 | DF | Agathe | 0+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+6 | 0 |