Aston Villa have the potential to be the leading regional club in the Midlands, but it is a potential that has not been realised in the last 30 years since they were European champions.
Randy Lerner was welcomed as an owner. It was seen as an end to the austerity and lack of hope of the final years of the Ellis regime. Lerner was seen as one of the better foreign owners. For a time he walked the walk as well as talking the talk.
Aston Villa have the potential to be the leading regional club in the Midlands, but it is a potential that has not been realised in the last 30 years since they were European champions.
Randy Lerner was welcomed as an owner. It was seen as an end to the austerity and lack of hope of the final years of the Ellis regime. Lerner was seen as one of the better foreign owners. For a time he walked the walk as well as talking the talk.
For a time all went well. Villa had the sixth biggest wage bill in the top flight and, appropriately enough, finished sixth three years running in the Barclays Premier League.
But then, with the end of the 2009-10 season, everything started to change. With the Premier League changed by the emergence of Manchester City, Lerner came to the view that Villa were living beyond their means. They could not gamble any more on the increasingly faint hope of Champions League qualification. Budgets were cut. From the top third of the table, Villa headed towards the bottom third.
Attendances started to fall. In 2007-8 they averaged 40,375, Last season they were 33,873. There has been a recession in the meantime, but this has not hit attendances at a buoyant West Bromwich Albion. It is the apparent absence of hope that is the hardest thing for Villa fans to bear.
Another way football fans have been enjoying the sport is by playing on football games like the ones over at Galacasino like Football Rules and World Football Stars. They have also been venturing into live casino games as well.