Aston Villa
Buying a gift for a Villa fan is made under pressure. Pressure that comes with decades of false dawns and seasons drifting by empty handed. Pressure that has made them cynical of anything thrown together with panacea. They can spot something bought with care from something snatched off the shelf because it vaguely has a crest on it. That bar matters. We weren’t messing about.
We didn’t just look for the official or patently obvious. We wanted to find stuff that a REAL Villa supporter would actually use, wear or display proudly on their wall instead of hiding behind thing with guilty indifference. To them the claret and blue means everything. Whether that be European nights at Villa Park or spent away games watching the table grimace at you hoping for a miracle. Through promotions, relegations and all the highs/lows in between. When you buy something for a Villa fan it needs to stand for more than just the badge.
We’ve even considered the buyer themselves. Whether your tackling Christmas shopping for the Villa fan who has everything or you’re a kid who has just gotten hooked on the club. Perhaps your dad who’s been supporting longer than your parents relationship has been and is lucky enough that no matter what division we’re in his pride has never wavered. It’s a different challenge to please each of them but that’s why we’ve made sure there’s something for everyone here.
Anything in here has been earned its keep. We didn’t just chuck stuff in because it was easy or because we needed to fill a section with something Villa related. We looked at every item and asked if a TRUE Villa supporter would be happy to receive this as a gift or would they politely smile and throw it in a drawer. Thank god we introduced The Drawer Test early on as it ended up ruling out quite a few franchises…
Whether its for a birthday, Christmas, match day or you’ve just stumbled across this because you know someone who bleeds claret and blue. This is the go too list we would recommend if your buying a Villa fan something. Not the biggest list. Just a genuine one.