24 July 1966: Martin Keown was born. Villa gave him his grounding — 132 games across relegation, promotion and return — then sold him for £750k in 1989. His 43 England caps and Arsenal titles all came afterwards. Built by Villa, enjoyed by others? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/JwfKDjY #AVFC

23 July 1942: Andy Ducat died, aged 56. He won the FA Cup with Villa in 1920 and played for England — and was a Surrey cricketer of 52 centuries who died at the crease at Lord's, the only person ever to do so. A singular life. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/JwfKDjY #AVFC

22 July is Villa's record-signing date. Moussa Diaby, €55m, 2023. Amadou Onana, €59.35m, 2024 — one year to the day, and three days after Diaby left. Both marks fell again last week to Johan Manzambi. Who's given the best return? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/JwfKDjY #AVFC

21 July 1947: Ray Graydon was born. 232 games, 82 goals, a Third Division title and two League Cups. At Wembley in 1975 his penalty was saved — he followed it in to win the cup, then scored Villa's first European goal. Underrated these days? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/JwfKDjY #AVFC

20 July 1991: Villa sold David Platt to SSC Bari for £7.43m — a British record. He had cost £200,000 from Crewe in 1988 and scored 68 goals in 155 games from central midfield, winning PFA Player of the Year. Villa's best ever bit of business? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/JwfKDjY #AVFC

19 July 2013: Phil Woosnam died, aged 80. He gave Villa 125 games and 29 goals in the 1960s, then left for Atlanta in 1966 and became commissioner of the NASL, building American professional soccer. Best second act in Villa's history? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/JwfKDjY #AVFC

18 July 2001: Villa signed Olof Mellberg. A colossus for seven seasons — 263 appearances, 262 of them starts. At his last away game he spent £40,000 on 3,100 shirts for the travelling support. Has any Villa player said goodbye better? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/JwfKDjY #AVFC

Welcome to the Villa, Johan 💜 💙 🇨🇭 #avfc

17 July 1994: Victor Lindelöf was born. Written off as a free agent, he was reborn at Villa — reserve defender to first-choice midfielder, and a Europa League winner in year one. Others left the same day. Faith repaid, rejected & broken. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/JwfKDjY #AVFC

16 July 1995: Kortney Hause was born — a £2.7m defender who scored in all four English divisions and struck the winner at Old Trafford, before a brutal run of injury (113 games across two seasons) outran his Villa career. Fair to call him unlucky? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

15 July is one of Villa's great leaving days. On it Villa lost the adored Richard Dunne (2013) and Stewart Downing (2011) — and in 1950 John Robson was born, the servant the crowd never warmed to. Faith kept, faith unrepaid? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

14 July 1899: George Martin was born — the Villa boss who came from Newcastle's top table and signed a young Danny Blanchflower, but couldn't lift a fading Villa and was sacked in 1953, four years before Houghton won the Cup. Bad luck, or bad fit? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

13 July, a birthday of Villa long-servers. Alec Talbot: 12 seasons, 265 games in the 'Wind, Sleet and Rain' line. Gordon Lee: a decade, the 1960-61 League Cup, then management. Jake Findlay: 8 years' loyalty for 18 games. True servants take many forms It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

Remembered as Trézéguet Day: Trézéguet's brace beating Palace 2-0 in July 2020, survival back on track. But 12 July is really a defenders' date — the day Villa signed Ugo Ehiogu (1991) and, 32 years on, Pau Torres (2023). Which would you take? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

11 July sorts Villa's men into two camps. The sublime: Dalian Atkinson, Ezri Konsa, Eddie Lowe, Alex Leake. Adored. The other: Southgate, Joachim, Kieran Richardson, Carlton Cole, Augustinsson. Less so. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

10 July, Villa's waste-and-worth date. In 2016 they paid £5.3m for Aaron Tshibola, 21 and barely tested: ten games, then a free release. A year earlier, the same date brought Idrissa Gueye for €9m, later a £27m player. Which sums up the era better? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

9 July 2020: Bruno Fernandes fouls Ezri Konsa. Referee Jonathan Moss awards a penalty to Manchester United. A controversial refereeing career takes another step into the absurd. The worst refereeing decision ever from the worst ever? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC #AstonVilla

Two born on 8 July, two short Villa stays: Robbie Keane, a loan at 31 and still Villa's most prolific international scorer, and keeper Pierluigi Gollini, sold cheap before a fine Serie A career. Villa missed the fuller player in both. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

Born 7 July 1999: Moussa Diaby. Villa's €55m record signing in 2023, he gave one season — 10 goals, 9 assists, a Champions League place — before a €60m sale to Al-Ittihad, at a profit a year on. Delivered, then sold: the perfect modern Villa deal? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

Born 6 July 1946: Fred Mwila. Signed by Tommy Docherty from the NASL's Atlanta Chiefs in 1969, he and Emment Kapengwe became the first African players to represent Villa — a pioneering signing that barely lasted 90 minutes of first-team football. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

Villa signed Mark Draper on this day in 1995. Born 5 July 1979: Stiliyan Petrov — Martin O'Neill's first Villa signing and the quiet engine of the O'Neill years, admired as much off the pitch as on it. Who's your favourite Villa midfielder? It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC

4 July is a pass-through date. In 2016 Villa freed academy forward Callum Robinson — he'd earn a £7m move and an Ireland career. In 2000, Steve Watson went to Everton. None of the day's names made their name at Villa. It's on record. AVDB. www.avdb.co.uk/on-this-day #AVFC

3 July 1987: Villa sold Tony Dorigo to Chelsea for £475k — homegrown, an England international, Player of the Year at 21. Doug Ellis preferred the fee to the player. The sale that defined the era. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC #AstonVilla #since1874

2 July 2012. Villa release Carlos Cuéllar — a £9m signing in 2008 — to Sunderland on a free, and sign Karim El Ahmadi from Feyenoord for £2.52m. The reshaping before the slide in micro. Also 2 June: Jordan Bowery born. It's on record. AVDB. Link in bio. #AVFC #AstonVilla

1 July. Seventeen men in Villa's record were born or died on this date — not one made 50 first-team appearances. Among them: Arthur Brown, the club's first international, died 1 July 1909. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/etK506w #AVFC #AstonVilla #since1874

Brian Tiler died 30 June 1990, aged 47. Killed in a road accident in Italy during the 1990 World Cup — the same collision that severely injured Harry Redknapp. 127 Villa appearances, Third Division winner 1972. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/8XlOx14 #AVFC #Since1874 #AstonVilla

29 June. Billy George, 1874 — 398 Villa appearances, three titles, FA Cup, CPG 1.23. Eric Houghton, 1910 — 394 appearances, 170 goals, 30 in a season, FA Cup winner as manager 1957. Two legends. One date. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/8XlOx14 #AVFC #Since1874 #AstonVilla

Ian Maatsen joined Villa on 28 June 2024 — €44.5m from Chelsea, player #999, the 999th in the permanent record. Two years on: 89 appearances, a UEFA Europa League winner's medal. Villa's first European trophy since 1982. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/8XlOx14 #AVFC #Since1874 #AstonVilla

Savo Milošević joined Villa on 26 June 1995, aged 21. 64 Partizan goals before arriving. 34 goals in 117 appearances. League Cup winner. Formed the partnership that unlocked Dwight Yorke. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/8XlOx14 #AVFC #Since1874 #AstonVilla

Billy Kingdon. Born 25 June 1907. Academy graduate #51. 241 appearances, ten seasons, 1926–36. Also born today: Kevin Phillips, 1973 — 27 Villa apps, five goals. Charlie Drinkwater, 1914 — two apps, one goal. It's on record. AVDB. buff.ly/8XlOx14 #AVFC #Since1874 #AstonVilla