By David Owen
February 4 – After a barren January transfer window, Aston Villa, the Premier League’s basement club, have completed a new signing. Step forward Lord King of Lothbury, former Governor of the Bank of England, who has joined the Birmingham club’s board of directors.
Buckinghamshire-born King, 67, ran the bank for precisely a decade, until July 2013, and is said to be a life-long Villa supporter. Announcing his appointment, Villa said the former banker had a “deep understanding” of the club, having “always taken a close interest” in its workings.
King would, it said, provide a “strong, well-informed point of view which will be invaluable as we look to take the club forward”.
With the claret and blues six points adrift at the foot of the table, King’s early contributions are likely to focus on preparing for life in the Championship, English football’s second tier, and coping with missing out on the latest TV windfall, which is set to enrich Premier League clubs still further, starting in the close season.
Commented Villa chairman Steve Hollis: “Mervyn successfully steered the Bank of England through the most turbulent economic headwinds in living memory and his appointment to the board is a huge boost as we plan our path back to more successful times.”
King himself said it was a “privilege to be asked to serve as a director of this great club.”
He continued: “I watched my first match at Villa Park more than 55 years ago, and have experienced the highs and the lows since then. I shall do my best to help the rebuilding of Aston Villa Football Club as together we return it to its position as one of the top clubs in the world.”
King is not the only former steward of the UK economy to have ventured into the Premier League goldfish bowl in recent weeks. Ed Balls, long a key adviser of Gordon Brown, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister, and later a Cabinet minister in his own right, was recently appointed Chairman of the 17th-placed club Norwich City.
The two men know each other well and will doubtless find much to discuss on Saturday when their two clubs clash at Villa Park in a crucial relegation ‘six-pointer’.
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