And to think we ueed to laugh at Ken Bates's plans for hotels and casinos near Elland Road! His *"Beeston Rivera" dreams may finally come to fruition.

*Robbed from old editions of The Square Ball.

Having approved in principle the 53,000 expansion of Elland Road, Labour-led Leeds City Council have today turned their focus on the regeneration of the surrounding area.

In tonight's Telegraph and Argus (T&A) the council claim that 30 acres of land could be sold leading to 2000 new homes being built and £2bn of much needed investment in the area.

With no disrespect to the LS11 postcode, it isnt the most desirable area of the city. Other than the football stadium theres very little else there, a mixture of low-value housing, light industrial units and a big police station!

However Im sure many of us would love to live within sight and sound of the famous old stadium?

But not everybody is entirely happy with the plans. Conservative opposition leader Alan Lamb spoke of "mass transit" being the "elephant in the room", in particular citing the delays to the proposed new £2.5bn tram system which West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has admitted to.

Its not often I agree with a Tory but he has a point. The stadium is most easily accesible by car. Parking is getting more and more difficult. Although the rail mainline runs over Elland Road itself Leeds Station is around a mile and half away. The roads leading away from the stadium to the M1/M62/M621 are always gridlocked after the match.

Imagine the scenario with 25,000 more fans attending?Without a doubt transport improvement must be of high-importance within the expansion plans.

Unless the new houses will be affordable for the average fan?

M Monk