Editing Doug Ellis (section)

==Sport==
Ellis was the [[chairman]] and major shareholder of Aston Villa for two separate spells, the first being from 1968 to 1975. Ellis was replaced as chairman and finally ousted from the board in 1979. During his absence, Aston Villa enjoyed its greatest period of success in modern times, winning the [[Football League]] title in 1981 and the European Cup in 1982.  In June 1982, Ellis ousted Harry Marshall as chairman of [[Wolverhampton Wanderers]]. At the time, he noted the club was 24 hours from extinction, with debt as high as £2.5m.<ref>''Wolves saved on the brink'', 19 June 1982, [[The Times]], Issue: 61264</ref> In November 1982, he was elected to the board of the [[World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association]].<ref>''In Brief'', The Times, 17 November 1982</ref>

Ellis returned to Aston Villa as chairman in 1982, and remained there until selling to [[Randy Lerner]] in 2006. Some fans blame him for the decline of the club after the [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]] victory in 1981–82.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/low/football/teams/a/aston_villa/5191072.stm Who is the Villain of the piece?] – BBC Sport, 18 July 2006</ref> Within five years, the club was relegated from the top flight, with many of the European Cup-winning team being sold to other teams, although it can be argued that this was due to large debts built up during the previous regime.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pye |first1=Steven |title=Remembering the last time Aston Villa were relegated |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/that-1980s-sports-blog/2015/dec/31/aston-villa-relegation-1987-european-cup |access-date=11 October 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=31 December 2015}}</ref>

Ellis was nicknamed "Deadly Doug" by football pundit [[Jimmy Greaves]], after sacking numerous managers during his tenures as chairman.<ref name="GuardianProfile"/> Aston Villa had 13 different managers during his two spells.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aston Villa Manager History |url=https://www.soccerbase.com/teams/team.sd?team_id=154&teamTabs=managers |website=Soccerbase |access-date=11 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="GUP">{{cite news |last1=Culf |first1=Andrew |title=The Guardian profile: Doug Ellis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jul/21/football.comment |access-date=11 October 2018 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 July 2006}}</ref> Only two won any trophies for the team – [[Ron Atkinson]] and [[Brian Little]] with the [[Football League Cup]] in 1994 and 1996 respectively.<ref name=express/>

In 1996, Ellis owned 47 per cent of Aston Villa. In May 1997, the club floated on the stock market with a valuation of £126m.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2006/aug/15/sport.comment2 |title=Ellis, relic of a vanishing breed, finally gets on his bike |author=David Lacey |work=The Guardian |date=15 August 2006}}</ref> Ellis sold a number of his shares at flotation, reducing his shareholding to around 39% of the total shares.<ref>{{cite news |work=Birmingham Mail |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/interview-sir-doug-ellis-price-15266583 |title=An interview with Sir Doug Ellis – the price he paid for his devotion to Villa |date=1 October 2018}}</ref>

Ellis was reported to be the first football club director to pay himself a [[salary]] (in 2005 it was £290,000 after a 12% increase from the previous year) when it was made legal by [[The Football Association]] in the early 1980s.<ref name="GUP" /> He also served on the boards of [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]], [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] and [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]] (as chairman).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rodger |first1=James |title=Birmingham City fans put rivalry aside to pay classy tributes to Sir Doug Ellis |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-fans-put-rivalry-15267835 |access-date=11 October 2018 |newspaper=The Birmingham Mail |date=11 October 2018}}</ref>

In 2004, at the age of 80 and suffering from [[prostate cancer]], Ellis agreed to relinquish some of his control of the club by appointing [[Bruce Langham]] as [[chief executive officer|chief executive]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2006-08-13 |title=Doug Ellis factfile |url=http://www.birminghampost.net/news/local-news/doug-ellis-factfile-3979241 |access-date=2024-04-19 |website=Business Live |language=en}}</ref> Langham resigned in May 2005, reportedly after a disagreement with Ellis. In 2005, underwent a heart bypass operation and, after a three-month absence, returned to his role at [[Villa Park]] soon after the start of the 2005–06 season. By this time, some supporters and former club managers criticised Ellis's alleged lack of ambition, noting that the club often struggled to bring in top players.<ref>[http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/premiership/article1178580.ece Villa squad attack Ellis for lack of ambition] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716154627/http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/premiership/article1178580.ece |date=16 July 2006 }} – [[The Independent]], 15 July 2006</ref><ref>[https://www.expressandstar.com/articles/sport/villa/article_91852.php O'Leary departure no surprise] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926132724/http://www.expressandstar.com/articles/sport/villa/article_91852.php |date=26 September 2012 }} – The Express and Star, 20 July 2006</ref>

On 14 August 2006, it was announced that Ellis had agreed to sell the club to American [[billionaire]], [[Randy Lerner]] in a deal worth £62.6 million.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/05/18/randy-lerner-agrees-65m-sale-of-aston-villa-to-chinese-businessm/ |date=18 May 2016 |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London |title=Randy Lerner agrees £65m sale of Aston Villa to Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia}}</ref> Ellis stood aside when the takeover was completed on 19 September 2006, becoming a [[President Emeritus]] (Life President) of the club.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2018/10/11/rip-sir-doug-ellis |work=Aston Villa F.C. |date=11 October 2018 |title=RIP Sir Doug Ellis}}</ref>