With Aston Villa waiting for their relegation to become official, the club is already planning ahead for next season in the Championship.
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While the players have been wildly disappointing this season, it will be the people behind-the-scenes who will suffer, as the club has announced upcoming layoffs for staff.
The club released the following statement on Monday, detailing their plan for a “headcount reduction” next season.
Aston Villa Football Club can confirm it has updated all staff on the proposed changes to the Club structure in order to put it back on a firm footing.
These changes will result in a headcount reduction but every effort will be made through a voluntary scheme, to mitigate as much as is possible, the need for compulsory redundancies.
The objective is to secure a sound financial platform from which the Club can rebuild for the benefit of the fans, staff and sponsors.
We recognise this is an extremely difficult time for all staff and the Club will offer support to all staff affected.
Villa’s finances have been just as messy as their play on the pitch, with the club recently bringing in new faces to run the club’s board and business dealings. While it is unfortunate that the team’s poor performance is negatively affecting those who work to support the club for a living, this decision shows that Villa are moving in the right direction.
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There have been plenty of stories of clubs who were unable to deal with the financial drop-off from the Premier League to the Championship (Portsmouth, anyone?), and Villa is working to maintain stability and hopefully return to their rightful place in the first division.
