Bye Bye Doug, Bye Bye VFC

Aston Villa Shareholders Association and Villa Fans Combined welcome and back the bid from Randy Lerner for Aston Villa plc.

Jonathan Fear said: ‘It has been our stance for many years that Mr Ellis should step aside and gladly that is now happening.

It is obvious that the club has gone stale and needs fresh ideas and a dynamic board, we feel that is exactly what Randy Lerner and his team can provide.

We will certainly be recommending to the members of AVSA to sell the Association’s shareholding and I’d implore all shareholders, once they have read all the details and come to a decision, to act quickly in order to facilitate a speedy takeover.

Myself and Navid Nazir have been lucky enough to have spoken on numerous occasions with the advisors to RAL and have been impressed with the fact they have gone about things the right and professional way. They have done their talking to the board and to Rothschild’s as opposed to other groups who have done their negotiations via the press.

It is positive news that they have sought the opinions of the fans and small shareholders and we have been given the opportunity to stress that we are the lifeblood of the club and need to be brought back into the fold and involved.

Now that the bid is in, I’m sure RAL will make their plans public and explain exactly what their arrival will mean to Aston Villa. Personally I’m excited at the prospects of not only having the best manager for the job in Martin O’Neill but also a new and dynamic board with plans to put Aston Villa back to where they rightfully belong both domestically and in Europe.

Villa Fans Combined will now disband with immediate effect and would like to thank the many thousands of fans who have helped over the years, lets hope the days of protests are well and truly behind us and the club and everyone involved with it can unite and move Aston Villa forward.’