Browns Owner in control of Aston Villa
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by user Alex Holowczak
The owner of the Cleveland Browns, Randy Lerner, today bought the requesite shares necessary to take full control of Aston Villa F.C..
With the chairman for over twenty years, Doug Ellis, selling his shares to Lerner, all that was required was for Lerner to buy enough shares to take full control of operations.
He is now in charge at Villa Park, and hopes of a new era beckon.
After winning the European Cup in 1982, and then Ellis took control.
Villa dropped down the Premier League standings. For a while, Villa were top of the second group of Premiership teams finishing in about 6th place each season.
But the money dried up from Ellis, and for the last few seasons, high money transfers have failed, and the club has been faced with the threat of relegation.
With Ellis and former manager David O'Leary gone, Villa hope for a new start with Lerner's funding, and new manager, Martin O'Neill at the helm. O'Neill is regarded as one of the best managers in the game.
Lerner funded the transfer of Celtic player Stilian Petrov - a player that florished under O'Neill while he was manager of Celtic.
No more can be spent until the transfer window in January, but Villa are currently in third in the table - a great start to the season.
This move is great for Aston Villa. Ellis was an unpopular figure at Villa Park, and this new generation could see Aston Villa return to Europe's elite.
Lerner has promised not to turn the club into a Chelsea - instead, a more steady feed of money is promised.
But great news for Villa, and Villa fans (like me), hope that they can return to the days of when they were great.
The last match of true significance they played was the 2000 FA Cup Final, when they lost to a pre-Abramovic Chelsea.
Date
Tue 09/05/06, 10:52 am EST
