Legend Brian Little senses a resurgence at Aston Villa

So when the legendary former player and manager, who now acts as an advisor to the board, draws comparisons between the current mood around B6 and the 1970s, which saw the club climb from the Third Division and eventually conquer Europe, it is not a view given lightly.

Little watched on with delight as Dean Smith engineered a dramatic late season charge to secure promotion through the play-offs in May.

Villa, back in the top flight after three seasons in the Championship, have since sold a record 30,000 season tickets with excitement levels among supporters reaching almost unprecedented levels. Little, who remains the last Villa manager to win a major trophy, feels like he has been here before.

“I’ve felt it for a period of time now, a real togetherness,” he said. “I have been at this club for a long time now and I have seen three big waves of momentum. The first was 69-70, coming in and seeing the club relegated to the Third Division and 12 years later winning the European Cup.

“I wasn’t here for the Graham Taylor revival in the late 80s but that led into Ron (Atkinson) being successful as a manager, me being successful as a manager and John (Gregory) to being successful.

“That momentum of a team. I do feel it now, genuinely. I think the supporters feel it too. There is a real togetherness.

“No-one is jumping up and down and saying we are going to do this, that or the other this season.

“But I think we will be okay. I think we will be a good side in this league. I genuinely believe we will be competitive.”

Backed by billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, the close season has seen a major rebuild of Villa’s squad, with nine senior players departing and 12 arriving at a cost of around £130million. It has drawn scepticism from some outside the Midlands and led to comparisons with Fulham’s ill-fated £100million splurge of 12 months ago.

But Little, who carried out an extensive, if slower squad overhaul after taking charge as manager in November, 1994, believes Smith, chief executive Christian Purslow and sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch have done their homework.

He said: “I am not surprised we have done what we have in the transfer market.

“It is similar to 1994/95 when I came in and the club was struggling. After I kept them up I was looking for younger players, people who you felt might be able to walk out on that stage at Villa Park and perform. It was time for something different and I feel the same now. It is time for the type of player they are signing.

“I know a lot of people say if you buy a lot of players it takes time for them to gel. But I honestly think if you do your work properly, you get the type of player you want.

“I’m very comfortable, watching what is going on. It is a challenge, but if you have done your homework you will get the players you want.

“They have picked players for specific roles. It is a structured plan and I think they are executing it very well.”

Little has been hugely impressed by Smith, the boyhood fan who has proved such a shrewd appointment since replacing Steve Bruce last October.

“I’m chuffed to bits for him, he’s done a great job so far and I’m very hopeful that it’ll go on for a long, long time to come,” he said. “I understand how important it is for him to have done what he’s done and what he’s doing.

“For it to have gone well for him, that’s obviously the bonus because it will mean that little bit more to him than it would to a football manager who’s just looking for a football job, you know, when you’ve had a connection with a club.

“I was a player and wanted to come here, Dean was a fan and wanted to come here. It does put that little bit of extra pressure on you as a person, which you put on yourself more than anything else.

“It is special for him. I can tell it is. I popped into the training ground last week and it was lovely and sunny, the players were training. I caught Dean’s eye and just said: ‘Great job, this.’ He laughed and said: ‘Aye, you’re not kidding.’

“It brings that extra bit of tingle, the extra determination. You know what it means. It means a lot to him and I think that is fantastic.”

Brian Little was speaking at the launch of the Football Welcomes Community Project, a three-year initiative to harness the power of the game to create more welcoming communities for refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK.

Villa, through their charity arm the Aston Villa Foundation, are one of six clubs taking part in the scheme.