Aston Villa relegated from the Premier League

Aston Villa have been relegated from the Premier League after a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford on 16 April, ending the club's long run in the top flight of English football.

The result confirmed what many supporters had feared for months. Villa have been rooted to the bottom of the table for much of the season, and they will play in the Championship next season for the first time in their history.

End of an era

Villa's relegation is their first from the top flight since the 1986-87 season. Until this season, they were one of only seven clubs, along with Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, never to have been relegated since the Premier League began in 1992.

The club were founding members of the Premier League, and finished runners-up to Manchester United in its first season. They are also one of only three clubs to have been founding members of both the Football League and the Premier League.

A season of upheaval

The campaign has been one of the most difficult in the club's long history. Tim Sherwood, who had saved Villa from relegation and taken them to the FA Cup final the previous season, was sacked in October after a run of six straight defeats left the team with just one win from their first ten league games.

Assistant Kevin MacDonald took temporary charge before the Frenchman Rémi Garde was appointed on a three-and-a-half-year contract in November. Garde's first match ended in a goalless draw with league leaders Manchester City, ending a seven-match losing run, but the recovery never came. He left the club by mutual consent at the end of March with Villa still bottom, and former Coventry City manager Eric Black was put in temporary charge for the final seven games.

A proud history

Few clubs in England can match Villa's history. Founded in 1874, the club has played at Villa Park since 1897. A Villa director, William McGregor, founded the Football League in 1888, and the club dominated English football at the end of the nineteenth century.

Villa have won the league seven times and the FA Cup seven times. Under Ron Saunders they won the First Division in 1980-81, and the following year, under Tony Barton, they beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in Rotterdam to win the European Cup.

The club have come back from darker days before. In 1970 they were relegated to the Third Division for the only time in their history, but returned to the Second Division as champions two years later and were back in the top flight by 1975.

What next

Owner Randy Lerner put the club up for sale in May 2014, and the question of who will own Villa, and who will manage them, will dominate the summer. With several games still left to play, supporters will be hoping for a swift return to the top flight, but the size of the rebuilding job is clear.