Aston Villa Football Club (pronounced /ˈæstən ˈvɪlə/) (also known as The Villa, Villa and The Villans)[4] is an English professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, who play in the Premier League. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder members of the Premier League in 1992.[5] The club was floated by the previous owner and chairman Doug Ellis, but in 2006 full control of the club was acquired by Randy Lerner.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org