Aston Villa have diced with liquidation, relegation and have taken decisions to sack managers - but, eight years on from their descent into the Championship and the takeover of Dr Tony Xia which followed, they are back on European football's biggest stage - just like Xia intended! The disgraced Chinese businessman took over the claret and blue reins from Randy Lerner following relegation from the Premier League in 2016. NSWE's era has been a defining one in Villa's history, although clearly not without its bumps in the road. “We don’t have a very detailed plan but we have a vision that we will challenge to get back into the Premier League and we will be challenging when we get back,” Xia said at the time. Under NSWE, Villa have realised their ambition which Xia never truly had the means to fulfil.

Source: Metro May 15, 2024 15:28 UTC