After winning 12 of their opening 17 matches of the 2023/24 Premier League season, Aston Villa sat just a point back from the summit of the standings.
Had they been able to defeat lowly Sheffield United on December 22, they would have had a real chance of being top of the table on Christmas Day. As it was, Nicolo Zaniolo rescued a point with a 97th-minute goal, but the 1-1 draw meant they could not longer reach the summit before December 25, 2023.
Still, Villa's efforts this season have been worthy of high praise indeed. Alongside their English top-flight performances, the Villans have also progressed in the UEFA Europa Conference League this campaign in top spot from their group. Everything right now points towards this being a highly successful season — perhaps even a Premier League title challenge — for a team that were playing in the second tier as recently as 2018/19.
As they remain on the lookout for silverware this campaign, we take a look through the history books to see what honours Aston Villa have won across club history.
MORE: English Premier League table 2023/24: Updated EPL standings
Have Aston Villa ever won the Premier League?
Whilst they hold a long and storied history in English football, Aston Villa have never won the Premier League title.
Since the competition began in 1992, replacing the old First Division as the top league in English football, there have only ever been seven different winners: Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Leicester City, and Liverpool. The nearest Villa got was in the first Premier League season in 1992/93, when they finished runners-up.
But that doesn't mean that Villa haven't won the English top-flight title before. In fact, the Midlands outfit have lifted the trophy on seven separate occasions, with their first such trophy win coming all the way back during the 1893/94 season.
They won four more league titles before 1901, and again in 1910, but there was then a long wait for Villans fans to celebrate a championship. They finally won the old First Division again in 1981 as they edged out Ipswich Town to win the competition for the first time in more than seventy years.
Aston Villa honours, all-time trophies won
As well as winning the English top flight on seven occasion, Aston Villa also possess a trophy cabinet filled with cup titles.
Villa have won the FA Cup seven times, which is the joint-fifth most of any side. The last of those cup wins came all the way back in 1957, though they have played in the final twice since then, most recently in 2015, when they lost 4-0 to Arsenal.
On top of their FA Cup successes, the Villans have also claimed the League Cup trophy on five occasions with their most recent title win coming in this competition back in 1995/96. In that competition, only Liverpool (nine titles), Manchester City (eight) and Manchester United (six) have managed to surpass their total. Villa lost the 2010 final to Man United and the 2020 final to Man City, both via a 2-1 scoreline.
Perhaps Villa's proudest moment came during the 1981/82 campaign when they famously won the European Cup, the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League. That season, they beat Dynamo Kiev, Anderlecht, and then Bayern Munich in the final to lift their first European title. Villa one the European Super Cup a year later, whilst they also won the Intertoto Cup back in 2001.