Aston Villa will celebrate reaching a special landmark this week when they host West Ham in the FA Cup third round.
Unai Emery’s side have been handed an all-Premier League tie as they take on the Hammers, with both teams now entering the competition.
Fans are going to notice that Villa will be wearing a special kit when they step out for the game and there’s a very good reason for it.
Here’s why they will be donning an unusual strip on Friday night…
Why are Aston Villa wearing a special kit?
Villa are set to wear an all-black kit with a new crest against West Ham, to honour the club’s 150th anniversary.
It will be based on the first-ever kits worn by the club while the strip will also include a new crest based on their logo in 1878.
The details pay homage to former Villa director and founder of the Football League, William McGregor, and sponsors have agreed to hand their branding space back for this game.
Revealing their special plans for the FA Cup tie, Villa posted on their website: “To mark the occasion, the players will wear a black kit, modelled on the first kits worn by the club before the transition to our famous claret and blue colours.
“In 1878, Aston Villa became the first team in the UK to put a crest on their playing kit, adopting the Scottish lion rampant.
“The motifs were sourced from Scotland by William McGregor himself and in honour of our Club’s pioneering spirit, a crest inspired by the one that featured on those kits has been authentically redrawn from the earliest sources we have.
“While paying homage to our beloved club’s history, the shirts will also feature adidas’ Aeroready technology as well as the famous three stripes in all black.
“Principal partners Betano and Trade Nation have both kindly donated their branding space back to the club for the fixture, allowing us to create this historic look.”
Chris Heck, President of Aston Villa’s Business Operations, said: “This unique anniversary kit was designed by Adidas with the inspiration to deliver authenticity which is coming from the great, William McGregor.
“We are so grateful to have partners that go above and beyond our partnership for the good of the fans, thank you Adidas and thank you Betano and Trade Nation.”
It won’t just be the kit that is special for the 150th anniversary, as the club are also making some matchday items at £1.50.
That will include food, soft drinks, beer and items in the club shop while there is also going to be some pre-match entertainment to celebrate the landmark.
Shuttle buses to the stadium are also going to be priced at £1.50 and on top of that, a special matchday programme will be the same price too.
Full details on all of Aston Villa’s plans for the FA Cup clash with West Ham are here.
A lot of the attention is likely to be on West Ham as they will have Graham Potter in the dugout after Julen Lopetegui was sacked.
But this new Villa kit is sure to catch the eye of those tuning in.
talkSPORT will have live coverage of the game presented by Hugh Woozencroft.
Commentary will come from Jim Proudfoot and former Aston Villa captain Andy Townsend.
To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.