Aston Villa appoint Tom Fox as chief executive

Fox is widely known in Premier League circles, having spent the last five years at Arsenal as chief commercial officer.

Chairman Randy Lerner said: "I was delighted and even flattered by Tom's interest in the Villa job.

"His achievements at Arsenal speak for themselves and, above all, his reputation as a leader and team builder makes him, to my mind, a great fit to take our club forward."

Chief financial officer Robin Russell added: "I have got to know Tom over five years of Premier League meetings and have come to respect his professionalism and industry knowledge. I am looking forward to working with him."

Lerner is even more aware of Fox's exploits, having tracked his career before he came to work in the English top-flight.

In addition to opening the NBA's first office in Asia as managing director, Tom has also headed up sports marketing for Nike.

He represented the brand in both Asia and the US and held the same role for PepsiCo's Gatorade brand, before joining the Gunners.

Fox said: "First of all, I would be remiss not to thank everyone at the Arsenal for all their support over the past five years.

"I consider it a huge privilege to have represented the club and to have helped move it forward.

"Aston Villa has always been an important club in English football and it has a long and rich history of success at the top of the game.

"The chance to work with Randy, Paul Lambert and Robin to help restore the club to its rightful place in the Premier League is a challenge I'm really energised by and greatly looking forward to."

Fox replaces summer departure Paul Faulkner, who is understood to have agreed terms to take up the same post at Nottingham Forest.