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As the Aston Villa crisis deepens, senior management figures have hired bodyguards, and players have been banned from leaving the ground until at least an hour after the final whistle to avoid clashes with fans, a club whistleblower claims.

Elaine Rose, a matchday hospitality hostess at Villa Park for six years and a supporter for 40 years, resigned on Tuesday. She had most recently been working as a part-time customer service host in the Trinity Road Stand’s directors’ balcony.

The grandmother-of-two says:

* Six minders have been brought in since angry clashes with the fans after the FA Cup tie at Wycombe Wanderers on January 9;

* Players have to remain behind at the ground for at least an hour after the end of each game to avoid trouble with supporters;

* Fans paying up to £400 for hospitality packages no longer get chocolate digestives at half-time because of cutbacks;

* Some stewards are now teenagers and so failed to recognise England coach Roy Hodgson, and

* A member of security didn’t recognise Villa’s European Cup winning legend and development coach Sid Cowans – and made him empty his pockets in a security search

“It’s like working in Beirut now, to be honest,” she told the Birmingham Mail.

“Tom Fox, the Chief Executive, has two bodyguards. The others who now have a bodyguard include Paddy Riley (director of recruitment), Charlie Wijeratna (chief commercial officer), Hendrik Almstadt (sporting director) and Nicola Keye (head of sales).

“Players now have to stay behind for an hour after matches in case they get attacked.

“Meanwhile, so many good employees have been forced to leave and have been replaced by agency staff who often don’t know anything about football.

“One steward didn’t know who Roy Hodgson was. Another security guard made (development coach) Sid Cowans empty his pockets in a security search before the Norwich game on February 6.”

Leaving the club she has supported through thick and thin was a difficult decision, says Elaine.

“It’s not something I have decided overnight. Everyone is complaining, but nobody has been doing anything about it.

“If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny. We all had to re-apply for our jobs. One woman had to leave after 40 years’ service because she was told she ‘couldn’t do her job’.

“We had a great bunch of people, now it’s two-thirds agency staff, many of them teenagers.

“I thought if I do leave this place I am not leaving quietly. I decided last weekend, after we had lost 0-6 to Liverpool, that enough was enough.

Elaine Rose

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“During the Manchester City FA Cup tie a lot of staff were told to go home at half-time.

“Because I was wearing a Villa uniform I was given abuse in the car park by fellow supporters.

“I am hurting just as much as they are so that wasn’t fair.”

Born in Tile Cross, but now a franchised driving instructor in Rugeley, Elaine has called on fans to follow the Liverpool example – and vote with their feet.

“All the people at the top want is the money, but if the fans didn’t turn up for a game or two, or walked out at half-time, they would start panicking,” she said.

All of Elaine’s allegations were put to Aston Villa FC by the Birmingham Mail but the club declined to comment.

Who turned Villa into a laughing stock?