Doug Ellis
| Sir Doug Ellis OBE |
|
|---|---|
Ellis at the Boleyn Ground, November 2014
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| Chairman of Aston Villa F.C. | |
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In office 1982–2006 |
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| Preceded by | Ron Bendall |
| Succeeded by | Randy Lerner |
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In office 1968–1975 |
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| Preceded by | Norman Smith |
| Succeeded by | William Dugdale |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Herbert Douglas Ellis 3 January 1924 Hooton, Cheshire, United Kingdom |
| Spouse(s) | Heidi Marie Kroeger (m. 1963) |
| Children | 3 |
| Occupation | President Emeritus (Life President) of Aston Villa |
Sir Herbert Douglas "Doug" Ellis, OBE (born 3 January 1924), is an entrepreneur, best known as the former chairman of Aston Villa Football Club. Ellis was knighted in the 2012 New Year Honours List for charitable services.
Ellis began life in a poor family with a widowed mother. Ellis had brief glimpses of a football career at Tranmere Rovers, he spent two years as a schoolboy with the club. Before he was 40, he had become a millionaire by pioneering package holidays to Spain.
Ellis was a controversial chairman and major shareholder of Aston Villa for two separate spells; the first being from 1968 to 1975. Ellis was replaced as chairman and finally ousted from the board in 1979. During his absence Aston Villa enjoyed its greatest period of success in modern times, winning the Football League title in 1981 and the European Cup in 1982, also enjoying success in the 1990s with two League Cup triumphs as well as finishing runners-up in the league on two occasions.
Ellis returned as chairman in 1982 and remained there until selling to Randy Lerner in 2006. Some fans blame him for the decline of the club after the European Cup victory in 1981/2. Within five years the club was relegated from the top flight, with many of the European Cup-winning team being sold to other teams, although it can be argued that this was due to large debts built up during the previous regime.
Ellis was nicknamed "Deadly Doug" by Jimmy Greaves, after sacking numerous managers during his tenures as Chairman. During his first spell, Aston Villa's managers were Tommy Cummings (1967–1968), Tommy Docherty (1968–1970), Vic Crowe (1970–1974) and Ron Saunders (1974–1982). In his second spell, Villa's managers were Saunders (1974–1982), Tony Barton (1982–1984), Graham Turner (1984–1986), Billy McNeill (1986–1987), Graham Taylor (1987–1990), Jozef Vengloš (1990–1991), Ron Atkinson (1991–1994), Brian Little (1994–1998), John Gregory (1998–2002), Graham Taylor (2002–2003), David O'Leary (2003–2006) and Martin O'Neill (2006–2010).
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