Aston Villa CFO leaves club

THE CFO of Premier League strugglers Aston Villa has left the club in its latest boardroom shake-up.

Robin Russell joined Villa in 2006 shortly after US businessman Randy Lerner took control of the club. He also served as interim chief executive following the departure of Paul Faulkner in summer 2014 until current incumbent Tom Fox was appointed.

Villa has made no official announcement, but a Companies House filing shows he left Villa Park on 11 February.

His departure follows the appointment of ex-KPMG partner Steven Hollis as chairman, while former Bank of England head Mervyn King joined the board of directors earlier this month.

Aston Villa are enduring a disastrous season and find themselves facing almost-certain relegation from the Premier League having won just three times in 27 games, amassing a paltry 16 points.

Villa are one of the oldest and the most successful football clubs in the history of English football. They won the 1981/82 European Cup and boast the fifth-highest total of major honours won by an English club, having won the First Division Championship seven times, the FA Cup seven times, the Football League Cup five times and the UEFA Super Cup in 1982.