Aston villa fc

Current squad

As of 15 September 2007.[60][61]

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Denmark GK Thomas Sørensen
3 Flag of the Netherlands DF Wilfred Bouma
4 Flag of Sweden DF Olof Mellberg (vice-captain)
5 Flag of Denmark DF Martin Laursen
6 Flag of England MF Gareth Barry (captain)
7 Flag of England MF Ashley Young
8 Flag of England FW Luke Moore
9 Flag of England FW Marlon Harewood
10 Flag of Norway FW John Carew
11 Flag of England FW Gabriel Agbonlahor
13 Flag of England GK Stuart Taylor

No. Position Player
15 Flag of England DF Curtis Davies (on loan from West Bromwich Albion)
16 Flag of England DF Zat Knight
19 Flag of Bulgaria MF Stiliyan Petrov
20 Flag of England MF Nigel Reo-Coker
22 Flag of England GK Scott Carson (on loan from Liverpool)
23 Flag of the Czech Republic MF Patrik Berger
26 Flag of England MF Craig Gardner
27 Flag of England MF Isaiah Osbourne
28 Flag of Scotland FW Shaun Maloney
29 Flag of Ireland DF Stephen O'Halloran
–– Flag of Togo MF Moustapha Salifou


The first shares in the club were issued towards the end of the 19th Century as a result of legislation that was intended to codify the growing numbers of professional teams and players in the Association Football leagues. FA teams were required to distribute shares to investors as a way of facilitating trading amongst the teams without implicating the FA itself. This trading continued for much of the 20th Century until Doug Ellis started buying up many of the shares in the 1960s. He was the chairman and substantial shareholder of "Aston Villa F.C." from 1968–1975 and the majority shareholder from 1982–2006. The club was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1996, and the share price fluctuated in the ten years after the flotation.[31] In 2006 it was announced that several consortia and individuals were considering bids for Aston Villa.[32]

On 14 August 2006, it was confirmed that Randy Lerner had reached an agreement of GB£62.6 million with Aston Villa for a takeover of the club. A statement released on 25 August to the LSE announced that Lerner had secured 59.69% of Villa shares, making him the majority shareholder. He also appointed himself Chairman of the club.[33] In Ellis's last year in charge Villa lost GB£8.2m before tax, compared with a GB£3m profit the previous year, and income had fallen from GB£51.6m to GB£49m.[32] Randy Lerner took full control on 18 September as he had 89.69% of the share. On 19 September 2006, Aston Villa plc executive Chairman Doug Ellis and his board resigned to be replaced with a new board headed by Lerner.[34]

[edit] Board Officials
Name Nationality Role
Randy Lerner Flag of the United States United States Chairman
Richard FitzGerald Flag of England England Chief Executive
Charles Krulak Flag of the United States United States Non-Executive Director
Bob Kain Flag of the United States United States Non-Executive Director
Michael Martin Flag of the United States United States Non-Executive Director