There’s something cooking over at Villa Park this season as Aston Villa continue to build on one of their best league outings in decades, while still competing for silverware on multiple domestic and continental fronts.

Given the correlation between the value of football Fan Tokens and the performance of their respective teams’ on-field displays, there are plenty of reasons to be bullish about the Aston Villa Fan Token ($AVL) moving into the new year.

Here are the on-field and off-field reasons why the Aston Villa Fan Token ($AVL) is worth keeping an eye on in 2026.

Best League Performance in Decades

After being promoted from the second-tier of English football in the 2019/20 season, Villa spent three seasons in the bottom half of the table under managers Dean Smith and Steven Gerrard.

Following the appointment of manager Unai Emery in 2022/23, Villa have yet to finish lower than seventh, and even climbed into the Champions League spots with a fourth place finish in 2023/24.

This season, Villa sit third in the Premier League after 21 games, just six points behind league-leaders Arsenal, having achieved an average of 2.04 points per game.

That points-per-game ratio is a sizeable increase on what the team achieved during their fourth place finish in 23/24, where they achieved 1.78 points per game.

Even going all the way back to the inaugural season of the English Premier League in 1992/93 when Aston Villa finished second, the team only achieved a ratio of 1.69 points-per-game.

$AVL Token Price Correlating with On-Field Success

All of this on-field success has coincided with an increase to the valuation of the Aston Villa Fan Token ($AVL), the price of which has followed the team’s wins for the past few months.

Since mid-November, Aston Villa have won 13 out of the 15 games they’ve played in all competitions, losing just once.

In that same timeframe, the valuation of $AVL has increased by 57%, with major spikes occurring following big wins over the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea, as seen below.

Compare this to the mere 9% gains registered by Bitcoin ($BTC) in the same period, and we see how easily Fan Tokens can decouple from the broader crypto market depending on team performance.

Smart (and Profitable) Transfer Dealings

The idea that transfer spend equates to on-pitch success for football teams has been blown out of the water by Aston Villa in the past couple of years.

This season, despite spending $47.5 million on players, Aston Villa’s transfer balance sheet still shows a notable profit of $17.1 million, after cashing in on Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle for $53.1 million, among other sales.

In fact, last season, when Aston Villa spent $250 million on incoming transfers, the club still managed to sell $300 million worth of players – the most notable being the transfers of Jhon Duran and Moussa Diaby to Saudi clubs for $90 million and $70 million, respectively.

Aston Villa’s ability to scout promising players and then sell them at the prime moment has resulted in the club becoming one of the few profitable outfits in the Premier League in recent times.

So much so, in fact, that according to data from TransferMarkt, which tracks team expenditure versus league position, Aston Villa should be rooted to the bottom of the table in 20th position based on their transfer outlay, instead of being just six points off the top.

This shrewd approach to transfer activity suggests a club that’s being run well at the boardroom level as well as on the pitch.

Still Competing for Trophies on Three Fronts

Villa got knocked out of the EFL Cup in a surprise defeat to Brentford back in September, but since then have continued to progress in every remaining competition they’ve taken part in.

Villa just beat Tottenham 2-1 in the FA Cup on Jan. 10, and sit third in the Premier League – eight points clear of Liverpool in fourth.

What’s more, Villa sit third in the Europa League standings having won five and lost just once in six games.

If Villa’s good form this season wasn’t enough to suggest potential European success, it might be worth noting that they currently have something of a European specialist in their dugout in the form of Unai Emery.

Emery has four Europa League title wins to his name (and was also runner-up on a fifth occasion). Emery won the competition three seasons in a row with Sevilla between 2013 and 2016. He also took Aston Villa to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2024/25 (losing to PSG), and made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Conference League in 2023/24.

Looking Forward

It’s not just Villa’s recent performances that make the Aston Villa Fan Token ($AVL) worth keeping an eye on in 2026.

As a relatively lesser-known team on the world footballing stage, $AVL’s current valuation of around $0.14 points to a token with room to grow hand-in-hand with the football team it represents.

Backed by a shrewd scouting team, a profitable balance sheet, a stable managerial team (Emery is the third-longest serving Premier League manager), and their best points-per-game tally in decades, Aston Villa have it all going for them as they move into 2026.

Greg Thomson: Fan Tokens Market Reporter