Copyright birminghammail
Aston Villa will continue their European adventure on Thursday when they travel to the Netherlands for Europa League match day three. Unai Emery's side has made a perfect start to the competition, winning their first two matches. A 1-0 home win over Italian side Bologna was followed up with an impressive 2-0 away victory in Rotterdam against Feyenoord. And on the back of three successive Premier League victories, Villa head back to continental Europe this week in both good form and high spirits. Their opponents are Go Ahead Eagles, who might not have the European pedigree of their Premier League visitors , but are writing an exciting story all of their own. Aside from dedicated followers of the Dutch Eredivisie, few may know much about a team that is boxing above its weight and is familiar to this writer only because of its stand-out name on the classic computer video game Sensible Soccer in the 1990s. Birmingham LIVE has pulled together everything you need to know about Go Ahead Eagles ahead of the visit of Aston Villa. Go Ahead Eagles is a Dutch professional football club based in the working-class city of Deventer, in the province of Overijssel. The club has been crowned champions of Holland on four occasions, but anyone who was born before their most recent league triumph would now be 92 years old. The team was founded in 1902 under the original name Be Quick, before the name was changed to Go Ahead in 1905 to avoid confusion with another team. Go Ahead Eagles finished seventh in the Eredivisie last season but qualified for the Europa League after winning the KNVB Cup, ending a 92-year trophy drought by beating AZ Alkmaar in the final on penalties. They are managed by 38-year-old Melvin Boel and are currently 12th in the Eredivisie, without a win in the their last three league matches. Boel is known to usually prefer playing a 4-2-3-1 formation. Go Ahead Eagles play their home games at De Adelaarshorst, which translates into English as 'The Eagle's Nest'. The ground has a traditional British feel to it, as it is situated in the middle of a residential area, with the stands very close to the pitch. The ground's capacity is only 10,400. For context, that is smaller than Prenton Park, the home of Tranmere Rovers in the fourth tier of English football. However, their passionate fan base knows how to create an atmosphere, and the game against Aston Villa is one of the biggest in their modern history, so expect plenty of fireworks. Speaking at Training Ground Guru's Scouting & Recruitment Webinar , Go Ahead Eagles Head of Recruitment and Data, Matthijs Bootsman said: "Go Ahead Eagles. That name always gets a laugh when you’re talking to a foreign crowd, but at least it stays with you! "We have a very loyal fan base – intensity and fighting spirit is what it’s all about. It makes for a very good atmosphere at the home games. If you’re ever in the neighbourhood, please swing by, it’s a great visit." Any Villa fan who is attending the game is one of the lucky ones. Due to the size of the stadium, Villa only received an allocation of 489 tickets. If any team was going to have a bird of prey as its mascot, it was surely this one. And, of course, it's a real one. A bald eagle named Harly is the official mascot of the club and is a popular staple of the club's home fixtures. The beautiful bird is brought onto the pitch before kick-off and under the control of its trainer, interacts with fans at the side of the pitch. Villa fans might want to wear big gloves if they get too close... Go Ahead Eagles might not be that well-known, but some of their former players are. The list includes Raimond van der Gouw, Marc Overmars, Jan Kromjamp and Paul Bosvelt, amongst others. Erik ten Hag also started his managerial career here. The Dutch side don't have any real names of note in their current side, but striker Milan Smit is the club's top scorer with four goals so far this season.
