Aston Villa FC: American owner Randy Lerner steps down as club president, replaced by Steve Hollis

Randolph "Randy" Lerner, the American owner of Aston Villa FC (Barclays Premier League), has stepped down as president of the club on 14/01/2016. Briton Steve Hollis, chairman of Birmingham Metropolitan College since September 2013, succeeds him as the head of the club.

"Regarding my future role with Villa, I expect to remain engaged with both Steve Hollis and Tom Fox (general manager) although at a somewhat further distance that I believe suits the reality that I live full time in the (United) States, and that is appropriate given Steve's need to have the room to make decisions on behalf of the Board," said Randy Lerner.

Randy Lerner instructed the bank Bank of America Merrill Lynch to find a buyer for Aston Villa on 12/05/2014. The American had bought the West Midlands club from Doug Ellis in August 2006 for £62.6m (€93.3m at the time). In May 2015, when no buyer had been found, Randy Lerner reiterated its intention to sell Aston Villa, while announcing that he would step down as president of the club as soon as possible.

• Steve Hollis was a member of the board of Sport England, a…