Aston Villa face relegation: Up to 50 jobs to go as club face Premier League drop
Up to 50 job losses and 'huge pay cuts' are expected at Aston Villa after they were all but relegated to the Championship next season.
Villa's 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday made it virtually impossible for them to be saved from relegation, leaving them 15 points from safety behind Norwich City with five games left. Norwich delayed Villa's inevitable exit from the league after losing 1-0 to Crystal Palace.
They will be relegated if they fail to pick up three points away to Manchester United next Saturday.
But the financial repercussions for the club could be catastrophic, with new chairman Steve Hollis announcing that players will face huge pay cuts in the Championship.
As part of the clubs cost-cutting measures, meetings have been scheduled today for all full-time, part-time and zero hours employees, with up to 50 thought to be facing redundancy this week.
Meanwhile, all players signed in the last five years have clauses in their contracts to see their wages slashed.
The club will be losing out on £100million as part of the new Premier League TV deal coming into play next season. A report in March saw Villa's financial losses soaring to £27.3million in the year to May 31, 2015, with the club still remaining on the market after chairman Randy Lerner's decision to sell.
It takes Lerner's losses since buying Villa in 2006 to a staggering £248.9million, which works out to more than £70,000 per day. He originally bought the Midlands outfit for £62.6million, but has since recorded nine straight years of tax losses.
Fans protested as the team lost 1-2 at home to Bournemouth on Saturday and continue to voice their anger online.
Dominic Higgs posted: "Thanks Lerner your decisions and appointments have destroyed our club. Well played!"
Last year wages increased dramatically from £70million in 2014 to £85.6million – up almost 20 per cent as a host of new players were signed, mainly from abroad.
In a recent report by Forbes, average attendances at Villa Park crowd have dropped by 13 per cent or over 5,500 spectators since the top-six days of 2007/08, although the club's 34,482 average is still the 11th highest in the league.
Last season Villa finished 17th in the Premier League, which was their 'worst performance since the creation of the league in 1992'.
