Sir Doug Ellis

[imavillan]

Just watched Central News and they have done a great piece on Doug. The first 15 mins. 

Its worth watching on catch up or +1. Some great old footage from VP and various matches.

 

Edit; I guess Midlands Today will be similar at 6.30.

Edited October 11, 2018 by imavillan

[Dr_Pangloss]

Sad that he has died. But should never be forgotten that after wrestling back control of the club after our success in 1982 we quickly dropped into the the second division. His chronic mismanagement put paid to any chance of us becoming a real force after winning the European Cup. In the 90s he hamstrung us multiple times by not allocating the correct funds for players who would have pushed us into title contention at various points. Aside these facts he was a total megalomaniac, I will stop short of saying 'good riddance' but he absolutely shouldn't be celebrated. 

Edited October 11, 2018 by Dr_Pangloss

[imavillan]

1 hour ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Sad that he has died. But should never be forgotten that after wrestling back control of the club after our success in 1982 we quickly dropped into the the second division. His chronic mismanagement put paid to any chance of us becoming a real force after winning the European Cup. In the 90s he hamstrung us multiple times by not allocating the correct funds for players who would have pushed us into title contention at various points. Aside these facts he was a total megalomaniac, I will stop short of saying 'good riddance' but he absolutely shouldn't be celebrated. 

I think you are looking for the perfect chairman/owner.....they dont exist.

He may not have been perfect, far from it.....jeez i even voted for the Doug Ellis out party in a General Election in the early 2000's.

But he also did a lot of good for Villa and charitable organisations which should not be over looked.

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2018 by imavillan

[ciggiesnbeer]

RIP

His record was mixed but his love of watching Aston Villa was never in doubt, he did it for many years even after he had no financial interest at all.

[villa4europe]

18 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Sad that he has died. But should never be forgotten that after wrestling back control of the club after our success in 1982 we quickly dropped into the the second division. His chronic mismanagement put paid to any chance of us becoming a real force after winning the European Cup. In the 90s he hamstrung us multiple times by not allocating the correct funds for players who would have pushed us into title contention at various points. Aside these facts he was a total megalomaniac, I will stop short of saying 'good riddance' but he absolutely shouldn't be celebrated. 

nail on the head

im actually quite surprised they are saying minutes silence, wouldnt have thought the club would risk it and would go down the applause route

i know some of the 82 team properly hated him, talking to them was a real eye opener

[briny_ear]

It’s conventional when someone dies to show a bit of grace and reflect on the loss their family will be feeling, as well as the passing of another life and all it has achieved.

I regret to say this thread isn't always living up to those expectations. Dredging up old niggles, feuds, disappointments, etc. Isn’t really very appropriate IMHO just at this moment.

 

Edited October 11, 2018 by briny_ear

[markavfc40]

25 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

nail on the head

im actually quite surprised they are saying minutes silence, wouldnt have thought the club would risk it and would go down the applause route

i know some of the 82 team properly hated him, talking to them was a real eye opener

He'll get his minutes silence or applause and I really hope it is respected as it will reflect badly on us as a club if it isn't.

I have to say that having watched the local news I am not sure they in terms of Aston Villa are at times talking about the same Doug Ellis as I am not sure what good he did for our club. 

Any highs pale into insignificance in comparison to the lows. A couple of league cups under his ownership don't make up for the fact that he ripped apart the league/European cup winning squad out of pure spite and pretty much refused to acknowledge it as he wasn't around. Three rebuilt stands don't make up for the fact that he ripped down the thing of majestic beauty that was the Trinity Road which he rebuilt on the cheap.

I can totally understand people wanting to acknowledge his charity work but in terms of Aston Villa I get the impression some are rewriting history or simply weren't around for much of his time or are using the fact we have had a couple of poor custodians since he relinquished control as a means to look back on his time fondly simply because it is not the worst time they have known. Facts are though he was an owner at a time when we could really have kicked on and established ourselves where Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal find themselves and he failed us and held the club back. 

Not doubting for a second he had an affection for our club but in terms of his ownership too often it was about what was best for Doug Ellis and not Aston Villa.

 

Edited October 11, 2018 by markavfc40

[The_Rev]

Seems appropriate that he goes in a week where we change our manager. He definitely had a lot of faults but I'll miss the old bugger. RIP Doug. 

[PaulC]

Sad to hear. My thoughts go out to his family and friends. I know he had his critics but he loved the club and kept a fan. Lets not forget that the club was in turmoil when he first took over in the late 60s. 

[lexicon]

The shite he got on here over the years was really something. Some of it deserved, as others mentioned and detailed, some of it went too far.

In any case, since he sold up we only saw the good side and deaths are almost always sad. RIP. 

[ferguson1]

Think it’s probably been said, but i hope us fans respect the minute silence for him at our next home game.  RIP Doug. 

[VillaChris]

I know people were massively disappointed by how he went about dismantling our legendary 80s team but at least we bounced back relatively quickly.

If you look back in the 90s we had a superb spell, two 2nd places and constant top 6 finishes and two league cups. Superb managerial appointments in SGT, Big Ron and Brian Little. Also Gregory for a spell.

If people are quick to take out the wrecking ball for his decisions in the 80s they also should praise (through gritted teeth) the many decisions he got right that had us truly as one of the top teams throughout the 90s.

The 2000 cup final was the turning point imo. From then on we were really treading water for many seasons (appointing O'Leary was probably his last role of the dice to get us back to the top) but the decent spending had also stopped. Around that period we had all those mass Ellis out demonstrations so certainly a difficult point in his tenure and he certainly should've sold up there and then.

History will judge his reign more favourably given how the last 10 years have panned out. Since 2008 Lerner and Xia have given textbook case studies of how not to run a football club by ballsing up pretty much all the major decisions. Not quite the path to greatness many of us thought it would be post Ellis.

A divisive figure for sure but even though I never meet him he was a figure who was simply a big part of my life growing up as wierd as that sounds. Feels a little like a death in the family. Let's hope the minute's silence v Swansea is well respected by all.

R.I.P Doug.

[mykeyb]

RIP Doug, hope you get a good send off

[VillaChris]

1 hour ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Sad that he has died. But should never be forgotten that after wrestling back control of the club after our success in 1982 we quickly dropped into the the second division. His chronic mismanagement put paid to any chance of us becoming a real force after winning the European Cup. In the 90s he hamstrung us multiple times by not allocating the correct funds for players who would have pushed us into title contention at various points. Aside these facts he was a total megalomaniac, I will stop short of saying 'good riddance' but he absolutely shouldn't be celebrated. 

Certainly doubt anyone will dispute the 80s decline but to me 90s were a very good decade. You can go right back to the end of the 80s right through to the 2000 cup final (when the real decline gradually started).

Facts are two 2nd place finishes when we did challenge for the league, numerous top 6 finishes, two league cups, Uefa cup quarter finals and FA cup appearence. Maybe it could've been better but it could've been a lot worse as we've had since (in balance of context the last six years of his reign). We were genuinely one of the top teams in the country, not just in size but in what we were producing on the pitch.

We also had a bloody good knack at appointing the right manager for the right time. SGT, Big Ron, Little and even Gregory for the first two years, all excellent decisions. O'Leary would've probably worked aswell if he'd started managing earlier and come in the 90s. Even the failures like Dr Jo you could see the foresight seeing as 7-8 years later many clubs started appointing foreign bosses.

Of course he should've spent more on players at various points, Robbie Keane a classic case. Less so on Juninho as he wasn't that great when he came back to Boro the following year. Muzzy Izzet actually retired from injury about two years after JG wanted to spend 15m on him so that was a bullet dodged.

Ultimately being a football owner ain't easy as Lerner and Xia have shown with woeful decisions regarding managerial and player decisions. We did spend huge amounts during their tenures and have nothing to show for it so spending x amount on more players isn't always the answer to greatness.

[KHV]

Mixed feelings on Doug as a chairman. With hindsight overall he wasn't as bad as some make out. Outside of football he was great, met him many times and he was great fun. I will never forget being in Mere Green with him drinking one night. He said to me the guy dj'ing on the decks was annoying and acting like an idiot. The man on the decks was Nigel Callaghan and Doug had signed from Derby County 48 hours earlier 

[Vive_La_Villa]

RIP

[Brumstopdogs]

RIP Doug. 

[HanoiVillan]

It's kind of astonishing that just twenty years ago, nearly every English football club was owned by a Doug-type British millionaire with a Roller, and now most of them are owned by Gulf state sovereign investment funds, Russian oligarchs or assorted other crooks from the opposite side of the planet. 

[QldVilla]

5 hours ago, Tegis said:

I wish the private family man Doug Ellis a truly peaceful rest. It's not like he is evil or anything.

BUT!

The chairman of Aston Villa Doug can well and truly rot. I will never forgive him for this.

 

Yep, but how close were Villa to being added to the list below, which wasn't part of his tenure. A name on a stand that can be removed anytime, or below? I know which I'd prefer. It's easy to criticise, but even harder to show some class.

Club	Entered administration	Exited administration	League(s)	Deduction(s)
Charlton Athletic	February 1984[24][25]	March 1984 [nb 1]	Second Division	None
Middlesbrough	21 May 1986	July 1986[26] [nb 2]	Third Division	None
Tranmere Rovers	1987[27]	1987[28]	Fourth Division	None
Newport County	1989[29]	February 1989 Dissolved[29]	Football Conference	None
Walsall	1990[citation needed]	−	−	None
Northampton Town	1992[citation needed]	−	−	None
Kettering Town	1992[citation needed]	−	−	None
Aldershot	1992[citation needed]	−	−	None
Maidstone United	1992[citation needed]	−	−	None
Hartlepool United	1994[citation needed]	−	−	None
Barnet	1994[citation needed]	−	−	None
Exeter United	1994[citation needed]	−	−	None
Gillingham	1995[citation needed]	−	−	None
Doncaster Rovers	1997[citation needed]	−	−	None
Millwall	21 January 1997	June 1997	Second Division	None
Bournemouth	1997[citation needed]	−	−	None
Crystal Palace	1998[citation needed]	July 2000	Second Division	None
Chester City	October 1998[30]	July 1999[31]	Third Division	None
Portsmouth	1998[citation needed]	1999	Second Division	None
Hull City	7 February 2001[32]	12 March 2001[33][nb 3]	Third Division	None
Queens Park Rangers	2 April 2001[35]	17 November 2002[36]	First Division	None
Halifax Town	9 April 2002[37]	March 2003[38]	Third Division Football Conference	None
Bradford City	16 May 2002[39]	1 August 2002[40]	First Division	None
Notts County	June 2002	December 1993	Third Division	None
Barnsley	3 October 2002[41]	25 October 2003[42]	Second Division	None
Leicester City	21 October 2002[43]	16 November 2004[44]	First Division	None
Port Vale	16 December 2002[45]	2003	Second Division	None
York City	18 December 2002[46]	26 March 2003[47]	Third Division	None
Derby County	20 October 2003[48]	20 October 2003[48]	Championship	None[nb 4]
Ipswich Town[nb 5]	10 February 2003[52]	30 May 2003[53]	First Division	None
Wimbledon	5 June 2003[54]	21 June 2004[55] (As MK Dons)	First Division	None
Darlington	23 December 2003[56]	26 May 2004[57]	Third Division	None
Bradford City	27 February 2004[58]	10 December 2004[59]	First Division League One	None
Wrexham	3 December 2004[14]	3 August 2006[60]	League One League Two	−10 pts
Cambridge United	29 April 2005[61]	22 July 2005[62]	League Two	−10 pts
Rotherham United	13 May 2006[63]	???	League One	−10 pts
Crawley Town	5 June 2006[64]	10 August 2007[65]	Conference National	−6 pts[nb 6]
Boston United	25 April 2007[67]	20 May 2008[68]	League Two	−10 pts[nb 7]
Leeds United	4 May 2007[70]	11 July 2007[71]	Championship League One	−10 pts −15 pts[nb 8]
Luton Town	22 November 2007[73]	28 July 2008[74]	League One League Two	−10 pts −20 pts[nb 9]
Bournemouth	8 February 2008[76]	18 July 2008[77]	League One League Two	−10 pts −17 pts[nb 10]
Rotherham United	18 March 2008[79]	2008[1]	League Two	−10 pts −17 pts[nb 11]
Halifax Town	26 March 2008[80]	13 June 2008[81]	Conference National	−10 pts
Darlington	25 February 2009[82]	7 August 2009[83]	League Two	−10 pts
Southampton	2 April 2009[84][85]	8 July 2009[86]	Championship League One	N/A −10 pts[nb 12]
Stockport County	30 April 2009[87]	18 June 2010[88]	League One	−10 pts
Chester City	17 May 2009[30]	10 March 2010[nb 13] Dissolved	Conference National	−25 pts[nb 14]
Northwich Victoria	15 May 2009[94]	16 May 2010[95][nb 15]	Conference National	−10 pts[nb 16]
Farsley Celtic	30 June 2009[99]	10 March 2010 Dissolved[100]	Conference North	−10 pts[101]
Salisbury City	3 September 2009[102]	26 February 2010[103][104]	Conference National	−10 pts[nb 17]
Weymouth	28 October 2009[106]	27 November 2009[107]	Conference South	None
Crystal Palace	26 January 2010[108]	20 August 2010[109]	Championship	−10 pts
Portsmouth	26 February 2010[17]	24 October 2010[110]	Premier League	−9 pts
Plymouth Argyle	4 March 2011[111]	31 October 2011[112]	League One	−10 pts
Rushden and Diamonds	7 July 2011[113]	8 July 2011 Dissolved[114]	Conference National	None
Darlington	3 January 2012[115]	21 June Dissolved 2012	Conference National	−10 pts
Portsmouth	17 February 2012[116]	19 April 2013[117]	Championship	−10 pts
Port Vale	9 March 2012[118]	20 November 2012[119]	League Two	−10 pts
Coventry City	21 March 2013[120]		League One League One	−10 pts[120][121] −10 pts[122]
Aldershot Town	2 May 2013[123]

Edited October 11, 2018 by QldVilla

[Tegis]

5 minutes ago, QldVilla said:

Yep, but how close were Villa to being added to the list below,

Pretty bloody close before he sold to Lerner. Make no mistake, we where in freefall at the time.

5 minutes ago, QldVilla said:

A name on a stand that can removed anytime or below?

You are confusing the DE/Witton Lane stand with the demolished Trinity.

5 minutes ago, QldVilla said:

It's easy to criticise, but even harder to show some class

I have no problem doing both.