Cheer up James, at least you have the league’s best board

Things may a little bit pony on the pitch for Aston Villa right now, but according to a study published today, Martin O’Neill’s side are top of the league when it comes to their owners and board members.

A “not-for-profit” research think tank called Tomorrow’s Company had nothing else to do, so they ranked the Premier League’s clubs according to something called “Stewardship”. Spokesman Mark Goyder explains:

“Stewardship means handing something on to the next generation in better shape than you inherited it, and not just the next quarter’s results.”

Essentially measuring whether owners consider their clubs a short term cash cow or a long term asset, Stewardship is assessed by five criteria: putting the club first (are owners using the club to make a quick buck or are they planning for the long term future?), long termism (youth policies, debt management, stadium improvements etc), clarity of purpose (can the board be trusted not to meddle with the team?), respect for fans and local community and passion (are the board doing the right thing for the club and the game in general?).

This all sounds like an incredibly subjective test that supports itself with pithy business jargon, but you can check out the Stewardship league table after the jump…