Aston Villa to initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher after podcast remarks

Aston Villa announced on Friday evening that it will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher after comments he made on the Stick to Football podcast.

Carragher, a 48-year-old Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool defender, told Villa supporters to “shut the fuck up” following criticism for suggesting Unai Emery should consider taking the Manchester United job. His remarks came while discussing the prospect of Emery replacing Michael Carrick at Old Trafford and included the line “Aston Villa will never be Man United”.

The club issued a statement on X signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris that said: “Aston Villa will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults about the club and its fans.” The statement added: “Aston Villa will not allow anyone to stop our ascension in English and European football. Nassef Sawiris, chairman.”

On the podcast Carragher argued there is a hierarchy in football and prefaced his remarks by saying: “I’m not trying to annoy Villa fans but there is a chain in football, whether you like it or not.” He used Manchester United and Liverpool as examples within that hierarchy.

Carragher also said: “So Real Madrid will take Man United’s best player, they’ll take [Cristiano] Ronaldo. There’s very few above United, the same with Liverpool.” He went on to add: “But there will be teams below Aston Villa and they [Villa] will take their manager or they will take their players, so shut the fuck up Villa fans. Aston Villa will never be Man United.”

The club’s announced next step is to pursue legal proceedings against Carragher, according to the statement published on X and signed by the chairman.