Aston Villa fans groups are hoping the anticipated £64million takeover by property company Comer Homes Group will signal the launch of a new era with the club finally able to make a realistic bid to attain Champions League football.
The Irish-based company, which has assets of £1billion, are set to complete the formalities of the takeover at a meeting with Villa chairman Doug Ellis and the board during the forthcoming week.
Ellis, and the other major shareholder Jack Petchey, are understood to have agreed to sell their combined stake of 58% and the bid of £5.60 a share will be put to the shareholders over the next few weeks.
Ellis, who underwent triple heart bypass surgery in the summer, may stay on in a non executive role but it will effectively mark the end of his 23-year reign as Villa supremo.
Villa Fans Combined spokesman Jonathan Fear said: 'It is fantastic news for the club. The foundations have been there for quite some time. We've had a lot of chances to push on and the board haven't taken them.
'If they have negotiated a deal with the spending power that reports are claiming then, with the foundations in place, we should not only start competing for Europe - but also compete once we are there.
'The whole place has had an air of stagnation about it in recent years and the Boltons and Charltons have not only caught us up but have overtaken Villa.
'The start of this season is the worst we have had in the Premiership. It is not good enough for a club of our size and the fans have very much started voting with their feet.
'With a new group coming in, with a fresh impetus, I think the fans will come flocking back.'
Fear believes that Ellis recognises the time is right for him to stand aside because of his own health and the need for Villa to move forward again.
He said: 'He knows his health is poor and must know at the age of 82 that it is time to move over. He might be a lot of things but he is not an idiot.
'He can see that results are not happening and the club is in stagnation. It will be fascinating to see who the new chairman will be.'
Fear is excited at the prospect of manager David O'Leary finally having the funds needed to restore Villa to a major power in the game.
He said: 'If you look at some of the players O'Leary said he wanted to sign, there are a lot of decent players there and they would have done our team the world of good.
'You can go back to Paul Robinson and Alan Smith and this summer there was Scott Parker among others. This is very positive news.
'Villa have spoken about the Champions League, but with the level of spending, the club has had, it was never going to be an option.
'The fans no longer have any belief that the club is moving forward so with a new group, at last, everyone will have big sigh of relief and move forward. Hopefully it is the dawning of a new era.'
