As soon as our latest takeover goes through, the first action of the new owners will be to buy our wonderful stadium back from it’s present owners.
The takeover is expected to go through early in the new year once it’s been rubber-stamped by the Football League, and the new consortium will then own 75 per cent of the club. The group is led by current managing director David Haigh and is believed to include Andrew Flowers, the managing director of current shirt sponsors Enterprise Insurance.
Today the Yorkshire Post have revealed that the group see the re-purchase of Elland Road for around £15m as their highest priority. And whilst some fans would rather see the money spent on the team, the reason for their urgency is that the cost of leasing the stadium is expensive and rising all the time.
The stadium was sold in 2004 by our then chairman Gerald Krasner for £8m to Manchester businessman Jacob Adler, in order to raise funds that were urgently needed to meet our rising debts. The following year the ownership was passed on to Teak Commercial Limited, a firm based in the British Virgin Islands.
Many people (myself included) suspected that this meant that Ken Bates had bought the stadium, as he had done business in the Virgin Islands in the past, but I’ve been assured that isn’t the case. I’ve been told by Gary Cooper of the Supporters Trust that the city council have checked the land registry and satisfied themselves that Teak is actually controlled by Jacob Adler.
Leeds still have a cast-iron guarantee that the club can continue to play at Elland Road, as the lease taken out in 2004 was for a 25-year period which can be extended by a further quarter of a century. This means Leeds’ future at Elland Road is safe for at least the next 41 years, and there is also a buyback option that allows the club to purchase the stadium at a set price.
But the re-purchase amount rises each October and currently stands at £15m, while the rent also increases by three per cent each October , and this season it will cost the club £1.4m. This is why the new investors are so keen to purchase the stadium at the earliest opportunity, to remove this constant drain on the club’s finances. GFH haven’t had sufficient funds for the buy-back during their period in charge, but this will be possible once the new consortium have provided extra resources.
Some fans may be frustrated that investment in bricks and mortar will take precedence over a buy-back of Max Gradel, especially as we’ve all just endured the Bates regime and his dubious property schemes at the expense of the playing squad. But this time it will be for the best. Paying this sum now to remove an increasing drain on the club’s resources will mean more money to improve the playing squad in the years to come.