Relegated Aston Villa have been awarded Barclays Premier League Grounds Team of the Year.

The club will play in the second tier Championship next season as their players' standard of football did not live up to the standard of the pitch they were playing on all campaign.

Villa came out on top in a process which sees both the referee and the match delegate awarding points at home fixtures before judging by Dr Stephen Baker of the Sports Turf Research Institute and a final decision is then made by the playing surfaces committee.

"We are overjoyed to get this award. It's a reward for the amount of time, dedication and attention to detail from the team, for which I would like to thank them," said Villa grounds manager Paul Mytton. 

"Throughout my time here we have consistently been in the top five and highly commended for the playing surface at Villa Park. This is an achievement in itself but to actually win the trophy is fantastic."