---
title: "Ellis does not regret selling to Lerner"
canonical: "https://readastonvilla.com/2016/04/01/ellis-not-regret-selling-lerner/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Ed Payne"
section: "Aston Villa News"
published: "2016-04-01T00:45:01Z"
modified: "2016-04-05T13:04:07Z"
---

# Ellis does not regret selling to Lerner

Former Villa chairman Doug Ellis has insisted that he does not regret the decision to sell the club to Randy Lerner.

Ellis, who sold his stake to Lerner in September 2006 for £60 million, had two spells as a majority shareholder at Villa, the first being from 1968-1975 with his second spell lasting from 1982-2006 and currently serves as Villa’s President Emeritus.

Lerner, Ellis’ successor, has endured numerous criticism from Villa fans and journalists, with Villa continuing to rack up massive financial losses despite Villa sliding towards the Championship, with relegation to the second tier of English football set to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

However, despite the turmoil at Villa since Ellis sold to Lerner, the former owner – in an interview with the [BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35931220) – said he would sell the club to Lerner again and also commentated that the absentee American owner was a ‘good man’.

Ellis also said:

> When I did the deal with Randy, he made it clear he wouldn’t be able to come to many matches and he certainly hasn’t.
>
> I said I’d be there for him at any time because I left £20m in for new players. Consequently he hasn’t asked.

Lerner has been looking to sell Villa since the summer of 2014, but so far has not had any serious interest with the club’s latest accounts reporting a £27.3 million loss for the 2014-2015 season.