Chelsea vs Aston Villa: Head To Head History & Timeline

On Saturday 22nd February at 5.30pm, two of English football's heavy hitters will meet at Villa Park for a match that could prove crucial in the race for European qualification this season. After a strong start to life under new boss Enzo Maresca, Chelsea have dropped out of the title race and ultimately slipped down to an underwhelming 6th place.

Meanwhile, their opponents Aston Villa have struggled for consistency in their first European season for over 40 years, often dropping points on weekends following a dramatic trip to the continent. Unai Emery's side currently sits in 9th place but is just three points behind seventh-placed Newcastle United, and therefore well within reach of a Europa Conference League qualification spot.

When Aston Villa vs Chelsea kicks off on Saturday night, it will mark the 153rd meeting of the two clubs, with the vast majority of those fixtures taking place in the top tier of English football. But when did this fixture first take place and how have the battles between these two great sides evolved and shifted over the years? That's what we'll focus on in this article as we explore the Chelsea vs Aston Villa timeline, list some of the most important players to have shone in this fixture over the years, and dive into how the two teams have fared against each other throughout history.

Chelsea vs Aston Villa Head To Head Record

Aston Villa are one of England's oldest football clubs, established in Aston on the outskirts of Birmingham in 1874, over 30 years before the founding of Chelsea in 1905. The West London club first met the West Midlands outfit two years later in 1907, when both sides were clashing at the top of the First Division. Since then, they've played against each other on 152 occasions in total.

Out of those 152 games, Chelsea have come out on top more often, recording 62 wins, 36 draws, and 54 losses. Aston Villa, meanwhile, have 54 wins, 36 draws and 62 losses. The Blues have scored 237 goals against the Villans while the Midlands side has scored 215 goals in this fixture.

Which Players Have Appeared Most Often in This Fixture?

In the modern era, Chelsea vs Aston Villa has become a staple fixture in the Premier League, and a number of high-profile stars have made their mark on this clash. Since appearance-related statistics began being recorded more diligently, the man with the largest number of Aston Villa vs Chelsea games under his belt is a legend of the latter club, John Terry.

The retired England international did finish his playing career at Aston Villa under Dean Smith, but for the vast majority of his playing days he was a rock at the back for Chelsea, and in total he racked up 26 appearances in this fixture.

Next up is fellow England star Frank Lampard with 23 appearances in this fixture, followed by Chelsea shot-stopper Petr Cech and all-time Premier League appearance-maker Gareth Barry (19) and ex-Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor (16). Terry has racked up a whopping 2309 minutes in this fixture, while Lampard has 1919, Cech has 1710, Barry has 1659, and Agbonlahor 1374. In terms of current players with a chance of breaking into this top five, Villa defender Ezri Konsa is the most likely candidate, with the 27-year-old having played 13 matches in this fixture so far.

When it comes to players who have consistently demonstrated attacking quality in this fixture, the statistics back up Chelsea's recent dominance. Frank Lampard has the most goals in this fixture by far (12), with the next highest-scorers being Branislav Ivanovic (five), Tore Andre Flo and Didier Drogba (four).

Chelsea legend Cezar Azpilicueta has seven assists against Villa, more than anyone else, while the two players with the most bookings notched up in this fixture are John Terry and ex-Blues midfielder Ramires (both seven).

Chelsea vs Aston Villa Timeline: A History of Top-Tier Clashes

The first time Aston Villa met Chelsea, 30,000 supporters packed into Villa Park to watch proceedings unravel on a cold Saturday afternoon in central England. The match finished 0-0, and as Chelsea continued to grow as a club they repeatedly struggled to improve on this result against Villa, winning none of their first eight matches against the Claret and Blue side.

It wasn't until October 1913 that Chelsea managed to record a victory against Villa; at this point, both teams were mid-table in the First Division in 12th and 13th place respectively, but while Villa had the home advantage Chelsea came out on top with a 2-1 victory clinched by goals from Harold Halse and Henry Ford (not the famed motor pioneer). 

After this point, meetings between the two clubs were more even; between 1914 and 1922, they managed five wins each, as Chelsea solidified themselves within the top tier of the English football pyramid (where their opponents had already been well-established for decades).

In the run-up to the Second World War, Chelsea vs Aston Villa was a closely contested fixture with little between the two sides. Evidently, the war had a major impact on the landscape of European football and the late 1940s and 1950s were a period of transition for both these clubs; while this period saw Chelsea's first-ever First Division title in 1954/55, Aston Villa asserted their dominance in this particular fixture, winning 11 fixtures between 1946 and 1955 while Chelsea won just four.

In the late 1950s, the emergence of the late, great Jimmy Greaves — who remains the English top flight's all-time record goalscorer — turned the tide towards Chelsea, as the London club went seven games unbeaten against Villa in league and cup. But the pendulum continued to shift over the following decades, as the clubs' respective fortunes ebbed and flowed. 

Chelsea vs Aston Villa in the Modern Era

It wasn't until the 1990s that a clear favourite in this fixture started to emerge; by this point, Chelsea had established themselves as a strong mid-table Premier League side but had ambitions of going further; after losing just three of eighteen games between 1995 and 2002, Chelsea were able to extend the gap between them and Villa with the takeover of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and the subsequent cash injection that allowed them to start challenging for Premier League titles.

Post-2003, the Blues have been a force to be reckoned with in English football, and they've made that reputation felt in their games against Aston Villa. The biggest-ever margin of victory between these two clubs came in the 2012/23 season, when interim manager Rafael Benitez led Chelsea to a huge 8-0 victory over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge in December.

This triumph came following the departure of Villa manager Martin O'Neill, whose teams consistently punched above their weight. After the Northern Irishman left and joined Sunderland, Chelsea began dominating this fixture, winning 11 of the 13 games played between July 2011 and June 2020, when the West Midlands club narrowly clinched Premier League survival after spending a sustained spell in the second tier.

The Blues also have plenty of trophy success to back up that impressive head-to-head record; since 2005, the club has won five Premier League titles, five FA Cups, three League Cups, two Champions Leagues, and two Europa Leagues, and while the Villans have a glorious, trophy-laden history of their own, they've failed to achieve any major honours in this time.

Recent spending on players and coaches — most notably the hugely successful Unai Emery — means that Villa are now competing on more of an even footing and both clubs have the funds to challenge in Europe as well as the Premier League.

Villa fans will be well aware that it's their club who qualified for the 2024/25 Champions League while Chelsea only managed to reach the Europa Conference League, but in domestic competitions it's the Blues that have come out on top recently, with the latest fixture between these two finishing 3-0 to Chelsea (in December 2024).

Will Chelsea have what it takes to extend their current run of four unbeaten games against Villa this Saturday? There's no doubt they have the firepower to do it; with 14 goals and six assists so far this campaign, their key creator Cole Palmer is one of the Premier League's leading attackers and his strike partner Nicolas Jackson also has an impressive nine goals and five assists to his name.

Villa are no mugs though, with Emery's team recently storming straight into the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League after huge wins against Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Celtic, and Young Boys, and competing well domestically despite those regular European commitments.

These two clubs have both made sizeable contributions to the prestigious story of English football, and as the seasons roll on they'll continue tussling to see who comes out on top.

If you want to find out more about how things play out behind the scenes at Aston Villa, check out our guide to their Bodymoor Heath Training Ground.