Aston Villa relegated: Seven-time champions drop to the Championship

Scoring just 23 goals all season and suffering their ninth consecutive reverse at Old Trafford this afternoon, the seven-time champions of England will start the 2016/17 campaign in the Championship

Aston Villa fans react to suffering relegation from the Premier League (Getty)

Aston Villa have been relegated from the Premier League following the 1-0 defeat by Manchester United, bringing to an end their 28-year stay in the top flight of English football.

The Midlands club, who lifted the European Cup in 1982, have sat bottom of the table since October and taken just 16 points from 34 matches, sacking both Tim Sherwood and Rémi Garde as manager, amid supporter protests against owner Randy Lerner. Marcus Rashford's 32^nd minute strike ultimately sealed their fate.

Scoring just 23 goals all season and suffering their ninth consecutive reverse at Old Trafford this afternoon, the seven-time champions of England will start the 2016/17 campaign in the Championship in what will be just their 13th season outside the top-tier in their 141-year history.

Eric Black remains as caretaker manager with Nigel Pearson and David Moyes among the contenders to succeed Garde on a full-time basis at Villa Park. Pearson is believed to be the frontrunner and has designs to make Chris Powell, the former Charlton Athletic and Huddersfield Town manager, his assistant if negotiations prove successful.

The decision rests in the hands of Villa’s new football board: including David Bernstein, Sir Mervyn King, Brian Little and Adrian Bevington. Lerner, the besieged Villa owner, will act on their recommendation but the American’s own future remains unclear also.

The group ‘Out The Door On 74’, which actively encourages Villa supporters to vote with their feet and leave matches after 74 minutes - symbolic of the club’s formation in 1874 – are planning further protests against Lerner before the season’s close.

Villa released a statement on Monday confirming plans for a “headcount reduction” amid reports that scores of employees could face “compulsory redundancies” in the coming weeks.

Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner (Getty Images)

Relegation comes at a wretched time for the fallen Midlands giants with £5.136bn of domestic television rights money destined to flood through the Premier League next term. Instead, Villa must complete a comprehensive squad overhaul in the harsh, financially barren environment of the Championship.

The second-tier has proven to be an inescapable trap for the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Fulham, Blackburn Rovers and Queens Park Rangers in recent seasons since their respective relegations.

“This could very easily implode,” Black said this week. “It could very easily turn into anarchy. I'm going to try and ensure that is not the case. If they're all relegated I can only put certain parameters down to ensure that doesn't happen.”