Aston Villa fans plan to show contempt for board with match walkout

THINGS go from bad to worse for Aston Villa, with a group of disgruntled supporters planning a walk-out at tonight’s game against Everton in protest against the way the club is being run.

The supporters are due to stage their walkout in the 74th minute of the game – the time chosen to reflect the year the club was founded in 1874.

Further walkouts are being planned for the following two home games.

The club currently finds itself bottom of the Premier League with just 16 points –eight points from safety – and relegation looking inevitable.

The protest is the idea of Villa supporter Mark Bricknell, who was quoted on Sky Sports News as saying the club’s support was now down to its hardcore fans.

He claimed thousands of fans had turned their back on the club and were angered by the approach taken by owner Randy Lerner and his board, which is now chaired by former KPMG Midlands chairman Steve Hollis with former Bank of England governor Mervyn King as a non-executive director.

Mr Bricknell said the protest was intended to demonstrate distain for the club’s lack of direction and ambition, which has culminated in this year’s embarrassing performance.

Mr Bricknell and his supporters say they were inspired by the recent protests at Liverpool where fans walked out of a home game against Sunderland in the 77th minute to protest about ticket prices.

That had the effect of persuading the Liverpool board to scrap plans for a proposed price increase.

In the case of Villa, fans hope it will prompt the board to adopt a more positive attitude going forward, although most have resigned themselves to watching Championship football next season.