Aston Villa blasted by Keith Wyness after ‘totally embarrassing’ Premier League punishment: ‘I just can’t understand it’

Aston Villa have embarrassed themselves with the delays to their kick-off times in 2025-26, which have just been punished by the Premier League. 

That is according to their former chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that his former club have no excuse for their misdemeanours. 

The Villans oversaw delays to either first or second half kick-offs in nine separate home games during last season’s Premier League campaign, and have now been fined a total of £570,000 for the issue. 

Wyness made it clear that he simply cannot find any viable reason for the club to have been so “lax” and pointed towards a lack of professionalism at all levels. 

The club have accepted their guilt after the Premier League publicised their judgement, with the fine coming against a backdrop of sustained PSR concerns at Villa Park. 

Wyness believes that while the fine is relatively insignificant in terms of its implications, it is not a good look for his former side. 

Aston Villa handed wage hit by £570,000 fine

Villa’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs – believes that the fine is not “chicken feed” given the club’s current financial picture. 

He pointed out that £570,000 could have covered the wages of several youth players at the club for the entire year, but will instead be completely wasted. 

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the Scottish businessman tore into Villa for their lack of care, and labelled it “a complete embarrassment.”

“I looked into this, and apparently there were two or three the season before as well, so I just cannot understand it. It's just a complete embarrassment,” Wyness said.

“It's a pattern that's developed that is totally embarrassing. There's no excuse for it, and I just don't understand it. I mean, it's something that should not happen in a Premiership club.

“We all know the reason for the fines is to make sure that TV times are adhered to because there's a global broadcast product at stake here.

“Villa, as we've discussed for many weeks, are pretty tight on the PSR issues. £570,000 is a small number for the Premier League, but it’s not chicken feed and certainly could be a significant chunk towards wages for some youngsters.

“I just think that's embarrassing, especially nine times, how you can get it wrong? Why aren’t there more buzzers in the dressing rooms and people managing to get them out on time?

“I'm completely at a loss as to why that happened. We haven't heard any reasoning behind it from Villa, but just very lax, very strange."

Ex-PGMOL chief: Villa ‘very lucky’ they aren’t facing bigger fine

Ex-PGMOL chief and former FIFA referee Keith Hackett recently told Football Insider that Villa are “very lucky” that they aren’t facing a more severe punishment for their errors. 

Manchester City were fined £1million for the same issue last summer, as they were also punished for nine separate occasions where the game kicked off late. 

Hackett suggested that an amount like £570,000 will “get lost” in the riches of today’s Premier League, and believes that the fine won’t have the desired impact as a result. 

He emphasised that the club should have been hit with a far bigger punishment, in order to deter them more from future misdemeanours.