 Villa were one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992 , and finished runners @-@ up to Manchester United in the inaugural season . For the rest of the <unk> however Villa went through three different managers and their league positions were inconsistent , although they did win two League Cups and regularly achieved UEFA Cup qualification . Villa reached the FA Cup final in 2000 but lost 1 – 0 to Chelsea in the last game to be played at the old Wembley Stadium . Again Villa 's league position continued to <unk> under several different managers and things came to a head in the summer of 2006 when David O 'Leary left in <unk> . After 23 years as chairman and single biggest shareholder ( approximately 38 % ) , Doug Ellis finally decided to sell his stake in Aston Villa due to ill @-@ health . After much speculation it was announced the club was to be bought by American businessman Randy Lerner , owner of NFL franchise the Cleveland Browns . 
