Former Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow is on a shortlist to chair the newly formed Independent Football Regulator, it has been reported. Purslow joined Villa in 2018 and was in situ until 2023, but since he hasn't been working in football.
Now, though, Purslow is on a three-person shortlist as the government look for someone to lead the incoming football watchdog, Sky News reports. Alongside him on the list is the chair of anti-racism charity Kick It Out, Sanjay Bhandari. The new role will be based in Manchester and will pay a salary of £130,000 a year.
Purslow has been outspoken previously on wider football issues beyond Villa, especially when it comes to football finance and the ever changing landscape of the P&S rules which many clubs have fallen foul of in recent years.
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"As night follows day, if you have a set of rules which require you to make profit, and if you're trying to compete with the Big Six, complying with the rules, you have to spend substantial amounts of your turnover on your wage-bill just to be vaguely competitive," he told talkSPORT last year.
"Villa are more than competitive this season with a wage-bill that is half of that at a club in the Big Six. You can do it, but in the long run over time it's very difficult.
"Essentially I think the rules need rebooting, and the proposed rules which are basically to mimic UEFA's new rules is going to make it harder, not easier, for teams outside of the elite and the establishment to compete. I don't think any reasonable football fan thinks Newcastle's or Manchester City's owners have been bad for football."
Purslow, who arrived at Villa with a wealth of experience collected over his spells with Chelsea and Liverpool, was appointed by Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens shortly after their takeover in 2018 and he oversaw the employment of Dean Smith, who guided Villa back to the Premier League in the same season.
In 2021, Villa pulled the trigger on Smith's reign and Purslow led the search for his successor, leading Villa to appoint Steven Gerrard. That proved to be poor appointment in the long run and Gerrard was sacked in the autumn of 2022. The following spring, Villa announced Purslow would be leaving the club.
