Aston Villa accuse Premier League of ‘prejudice’ in furious reaction to Tottenham decision

 Aston Villa have accused the Premier League of showing “clear prejudice” against the club’s supporters after their match with Tottenham Hotspur was rescheduled.

Senior Villa officials are furious with the league for moving the home match against Tottenham forward two days to assist the London club in their bid to win the Europa League.

Spurs are on course to reach the Europa League final after beating Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in their semi-final first leg and asked the Premier League to move their trip to Villa Park to help maximise preparation time.

Villa’s final home match of the season was initially due to be played on Sunday, May 18 but will now take place on Friday, May 16 – five days before the Europa League final in Bilbao.

The new date was confirmed on Tuesday morning and has sparked anger from Villa, who will have two fewer days to prepare for Tottenham.

Villa are chasing a top-five finish and are already frustrated with the Premier League after their plea to move their home match against Liverpool was rejected in March, as reported by Telegraph Sport.

Supporters have also hit out at the decision on social media with Monchi, Villa’s president of football operations, insisting the decision “is not what we wanted”.

On his personal X account, he wrote: “Our fans didn’t deserve [it], but we tried hard to keep the match to protect the most important for us: YOU and OUR TEAM.”

Damian Vidagany, Villa’s director of football operations, went further in a long post on X, claiming there was a “clear prejudice” against Villa fans.

Vidagany also insisted his club “didn’t feel this support” in their last two European campaigns – in the Uefa Conference League last season and the Champions League this season.

“European football is not only demanding for English clubs just on the verge of the finals,” he wrote.

Villa are in seventh place in the Premier League and in a battle with five other teams to secure the remaining four Champions League qualification spots on offer.

While it is commonplace in other countries, there has been no precedent for the Premier League moving games to benefit clubs playing in Europe.

Manchester United are also in the Europa League semi-finals and hold a 3-0 lead over Athletic Bilbao from the first leg in Spain last week.

United will also be playing a Premier League game on Friday, May 16 – against Chelsea. So United and Tottenham would have the same amount of preparation time should they both reach the Europa League final.

The Premier League said in a statement confirming the fixture changes: “This is following a request from Spurs in view of their potential participation in the Uefa Europa League final on Wednesday, May 21.

“Additionally, the match between Chelsea and Manchester United, also taking place on Friday, May 16, will now kick off at 20:15 BST.”