Council leader tells Aston Villa: Call yourself Birmingham

Nov 28 2008 by Paul Dale, Birmingham Mail

“I think that a closer association between Aston Villa and the city of Birmingham could help boost Birmingham’s profile across the world.

“It is great to see the football club using the slogan ‘Aston Villa - pride of Birmingham’ this season.”

But the proposal was immediately kicked into touch by Villa bosses, who say they have no intention of changing the 134-year-old name.

A Villa spokesman said: “The idea is utterly ridiculous and a complete non-starter.”

It’s thought that fans would be outraged at any break in tradition and at the risk of being associated with deadly rivals Birmingham City.

While Coun Whitby is yet to put the idea formally to Mr Lerner, he has spoken enthusiastically to friends about reasons for the name change.

Since becoming council leader in 2004, Coun Whitby has worked to build Birmingham’s reputation as a “global city with a local heart”.

A regular attender at top games, he has become frustrated by an apparent lack of association between Villa’s “brand” and the city of Birmingham.

Villa, winners of the FA Cup seven times, the European Cup in 1982 and the former First Division seven times since being formed in 1874, counts Prince William and Tory leader David Cameron among their celebrity supporters.

And American film star Tom Hanks famously said: “I’m big on Aston Villa because the name is just so sweet. It sounds like a lovely spa.”