Aston Villa are very proud of their record of having won the tournament six times and been in the final on other several other occasions. The last time we
won the tournament back in 2016 we had the likes of Rushian Hepburn- Murphy and Harry McKirdy in the squad and then in 2017 we missed out in the final to a strong Leicester City team. Players such as Jack Grealish, Gabby Agbonlahor, Gary Cahill and Marc Albrighton have all been to Hong Kong with Aston Villa as part of their learning and education from a football perspective and also because of the cultural experiences that are available away from the tournament. Having missed the tournament because of Covid-19, the staff and players are rightly excited at being involved in the 7s this season and we see this tournament as an important part of our young players journey to a professional career.
This year’s group of players will be relatively young, but most have already had some experience of international football. The unique experience the 7s provides from a technical, tactical, and physical viewpoint will be another important part of their development. Most of the group at the tournament will have trained and had some involvement with the 1 st team this season since Unai Emery has taken over as Head Coach so this is another way of building on those experiences.