Given Leeds United’s very public financial meltdown, which followed the years of ‘living the dream’ as one former chairman put it, it could be reasonably expected that fans of the West Yorkshire club would be ecstatic that they are now posting profits season on season.
Strangely enough, this is not the case. Some sections of supporters have levelled stinging criticism at chairman Ken Bates for his economic policy and subjected him to calls for his immediate resignation at nearly every match.
The 79-year-old former Chelsea supremo has responded in his usual brash manner and has been seen orchestrating chants of ‘Bates out’ from the executive boxes at Elland Road; Bates even described fans opposed to his ownership as ‘morons’.
The most contentious issue has been centred around Leeds’ infrastructure gobbling up the lion share of the club’s profits, with Elland Road’s East Stand undergoing an estimated £7M refurbishment to include new corporate facilities and a museum.
With Leeds not owning their stadium or their state-of-the-art training facility at Thorp Arch, some fans have questioned the necessity for such a capital project, especially when combined with a perceived lack of investment in the first team.
In recent months a number of big names have exited the club, including midfield playmakers Bradley Johnson (free transfer to Norwich City), Neil Kilkenny (free transfer to Bristol City) and Max Gradel (undisclosed fee to Saint-Etienne), plus goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (undisclosed fee to Leicester City).
Despite declaring the fees received for Gradel and Schmeichel as undisclosed, selling the pair is believed to have netted Leeds around £3M, yet manager Simon Grayson again seemed to be trading in the bargain basement end of the transfer market during the summer window.
Michael Brown arrived at the club from Portsmouth on a free transfer, goalkeeper Paul Rachubka from Blackpool also landed without a fee, while a reported £150,000 was paid to Preston North End for stopper Andy Lonergan and both Andy Keogh and Danny Pugh have arrived on loan.
This discrepancy has left Leeds’ supporters disgruntled, especially given that clubs with ambitions of winning the Championship, such as Leicester City, Ipswich Town and West Ham United, have spent in the millions bracket.
Bates insists that Grayson has his and the board’s full backing when it comes to transfers and explained how the club operates. Profits are divided into three pots, a ‘rainy day’ fund, capital investments and running costs and the playing budget.
The playing budget is all encompassing (both wages and a transfer fund) and Bates indicated that Grayson could go out and spend £5M on a player, but would then only be able to pay him £10 per week.
Leeds fans have high ambitions for the club and given the Elland Road outfit’s history, structure and profitability it is easy to see why.
But money does not guarantee promotion from England’s second tier to the promised land of the Premier League; any number of teams will be able to vouch for this. Even big spenders Leicester and Ipswich have found the early season slog hard going and are in no better a position than Leeds who, despite a sluggish start, are within touching distance of the playoffs.
Fans of the Yorkshire giants would also do well to remember that clubs in the Football League will soon be adopting their own financial fair play system where teams can spend only what they earn.
This has received the backing of a majority of clubs and could see Leeds United move to the front of the pack in the Championship, should they not gain promotion this season.
Ken Bates is and always will be a figure that attracts criticism and divides opinion, but he is not in the game to make friends.
Two things the ‘boo boys’ at Elland Road should keep in mind is that one, the club lived beyond their means before and are still feeling the effects 10 years on, and two, the only way to ensure Bates leaves – their ultimate aim – is if the club once again win a spot in the Premier League.
