The crest of a wave

The badge, incorporating a star to celebrate Villa's European Cup triumph, will appear throughout the stadium and will be lit up at night to be visible for miles from the M6. "Villa Park is one of the great grounds but we need to invest," said FitzGerald. "We can't stand still. We're the only Midlands venue for the 2012 Olympics and if the United Kingdom's bid for the [2018] World Cup is successful, we'll be one of the venues selected.

"It's our desire to redevelop the North Stand and Villa Village. That's a really important last piece of the jigsaw to re-define where Aston Villa's going to go." Villa are also determined to woo back the lost fans: "We want to fill Villa Park. We want to get around 39,000 fans and a winning team will help. We're going to make sure the season ticket prices are reasonable and make sure we enhance the matchday experience. We've got to work hard at filling the stadium and keeping fans and stakeholders happy."