Hotels for Aston Villa v Coventry City

A West Midlands derby carries a different weight to an ordinary league fixture, with the two sets of supporters separated by little more than the width of a county. Saturday afternoon kick-offs like this one draw families and long-time regulars rather than just the neutral matchday crowd, and the atmosphere tends to build well before three o'clock.

Local rivalries of this kind are remembered long after the final whistle, whatever the result. Expect the pubs and approach roads nearby to fill early.

Aston Villa formed in 1874, when members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel cricket team in Handsworth decided they needed a winter sport to keep fit, and the club they founded became one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Football League itself in 1888. Villa have won the English title seven times and the FA Cup seven times, but the club's defining night came far from Birmingham: on 26 May 1982 in Rotterdam, Peter Withe's goal beat Bayern Munich 1-0 to bring the European Cup home, one of only six such wins by an English club. That achievement still anchors Villa Park's sense of itself as a genuine European heavyweight fallen quiet, rather than a provincial also-ran.

Aston Villa's grand old ground in the Aston district north of Birmingham city centre is one of England's most historic stadiums, a regular host of top-flight football and, in the past, cup semi-finals. The surrounding area is traditional and residential, with Villa's history woven into the streets around it.

Witton and Aston rail stations sit close to the ground, linking quickly to central Birmingham. Staying in the city centre keeps bars, restaurants and transport handy before an easy run out to the match.