FIVE YEARS AGO, ASTON were stuck in the Championship. Next season they will be playing in the Champions League, the premier club tournament in world football.
It is tempting to explain the turnaround in two words: "Unai" and "Emery". The reality is a little more complicated. It is a club rich in history, the biggest in the Midlands, and its billionaire owners are savvy operators. Dean Smith, the boyhood fan who took the team back into the Premier League in 2019, can also share credit. The spine of
