The Aston Events Centre is an indoor sports and event venue, located in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Formerly called Aston Villa Leisure Centre, the venue is situated adjacent to Villa Park

Villa Park

Villa Park may mean:United Kingdom* Villa Park, an association football stadium in Birmingham, EnglandUnited States* Villa Park, California, a small city in Orange County* Villa Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in DuPage County...

 football stadium, home of Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 of the Premier League.

The nearest railway stations are Aston railway station

Aston railway station

Aston railway station serves the districts of Aston and Nechells in Birmingham, England. The passenger entrance is on Lichfield Road.The station is situated adjacent to and above the Lichfield Road , crossed by a bridge as the railway line, part of the original Grand Junction Railway, opened in...

 and Witton railway station

Witton railway station

Witton railway station serves the Witton area of the city of Birmingham, England. It is situated on the Birmingham-Walsall Line, part of the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by London Midland....

.

The venue has played host to many sporting events, and was the former home of basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 teams Birmingham Bullets

Birmingham Bullets

The Birmingham Bullets is a basketball team from Birmingham, who competed in the British Basketball League . The club resigned from the BBL league in the summer of 2006 and soon after went into liquidation, and currently no-longer exist as a basketball franchise.-The future of Birmingham...

 and Birmingham Athletics

Birmingham Athletics

Birmingham Athletics, formerly called and often still referred to as Aston Athletics, is a basketball team based in Birmingham, England.The club was founded in 2004, as Aston Athletics, to play at the Aston Events Centre, which had just been vacated by Birmingham Bullets...

.

From September 2007, the indoor sports arena will be the home venue of new franchise Birmingham Panthers

Birmingham Panthers

The Birmingham Panthers was a professional basketball club in the British Basketball League. Established in 2007, the Birmingham-based franchise competed in Britain's top-tier league during the 2007-08 season, but following a disastrous season and a lack of organisation, the franchise ceased...

, in their rookie season, in the professional British Basketball League

British Basketball League

The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....

, the country's elite basketball division.

Artists that have performed at the venue include Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

, Nirvana

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

, Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...

 & Morrissey

Morrissey

Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...

, among others.