Aston Villa manager David O’Leary has been charged with using abusive and insulting words to a match official.
The incident occurred after Villa’s victory over rivals Birmingham City on Sunday.
The charge relates to an incident after the final whistle as O’Leary confronted referee Graham Poll.
‘Leary defended his action after the game by saying he was dedicating the win to Ellis.
He said: “I knew how much this meant to the chairman and this was the only way of going over.
“The chairman has taken a lot of stick this week and has been very ill.
“I could see him and how ‘smiley-wiley’ he was.”
