Aston Villa fans spur club to Wembley Play-Off final as ‘Part of the Pride’ campaign.
Aston Villa Football Club has successfully secured its place in the EFL Championship Play-Off Finals at Wembley following a 1-nil aggregate win over Middlesbrough.
United behind the club’s ‘Part of the Pride’ moniker, the supporters have been in full voice at Villa Park this season, something that the club has been keen to capitalise on, giving them the extra advantage over opposition sides.
With full confidence in the Villa faithful to make noise on their own, the club’s activations have been focussed on bringing a visual element to the vocal support.
At Tuesday’s Play-Off Semi-Final at Villa Park, the club set the scene with an evocative pyrotechnic display around the ground, ensuring all of the supporters and the team were energised ahead of kick-off.
This is a technique that Villa had previously employed ahead of their 5-0 victory over Bristol City earlier in the season. Following the Bristol City game, AVFC tracked fan sentiment across blogs, social media and forums, recording 99% positive sentiment.
The Play-Off Semi-Final at Villa Park bought in 40,505 Villans, one of the highest attendances recorded this season at Villa Park. With numerous league-attendance records throughout the 2017/18 season, the tremendous support at the club has and will continue to act as the twelfth man.
At the top of the table clash against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa Football Club provided ‘Part of the Pride’ flags for fans, developing a visual accompaniment for the crowd. This activation continued after this important victory, with over 40,000 flags having been handed out over the course of five home games.
Looking ahead to the final, the club continues to draw on the power of the twelfth man. The club will be launching a fan engagement strategy, with supporters sending messages to the team to be displayed in the dressing room at Wembley, delivering vital motivation for the squad working with the Club’s principal partner Unibet.
Adam Lowe, Marketing Manager, Aston Villa Football Club said: “This season, the club has doubled down on its commitment to make the fans the heart of everything we do, and this effort has paid dividends.”
“Throughout the year Villa Park has been in full voice, away support has been some of the best in the EFL and the results have shown on the pitch.”
“We have never felt the need to artificially generate atmosphere with clappers and the like. We know that the Villa fans are more than capable of generating that noise. We just want to supplement that with exciting activations that improve fan experience and give a visual element to their support.
“The fans have responded incredibly well to everything we have done this year and helped carry the side to the biggest game of the season. We’re fully planning on capitalising on that amazing support at Wembley.”
