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The resurrection of the Ghost stand?
The resurrection of the Ghost stand?
Saturday, 14th May 2011 12:28

Leeds are redeveloping the East End of the stadium.

The official Leeds United website report that the builders are working round the clock to get the East Stand ready in time for the new season in August!

Although the East Stand is the newest part of our stadium (notwithstanding the redevelopment of the Kop, which took place in 1994) it is an area dear Uncle Ken clearly felt needed some TLC - in the name of revenue and hospitality.

Building on the success of "The Pavillion", the club have decided to install 20 new executive boxes in the East Stand Upper - which has been largely redundant since our relegation in 2004 and only opened for big-matches such as the play-offs and the visit of Premiership clubs in the cup ties.

The club are improving the concourse areas in the East Stand, obviously the more "Chicken n Chips" they can sell at half-time the better. Long queues for the half-time refreshments have always been a gripe.

Another lurch towards hospitality culture will have the critics, such as myself, yearning for the good old days when Elland Road was the most intimidating sports arena in the country - if not Europe.

Before the East Stand, there was the Lowfields Road Stand with a small section seats in the upper section and a massive standing paddock which spanned the entire length of the pitch.

The bulldozers moved into Lowfield';s just hours after we celebrated our League Championship win in May 1992. In its place gradually emerged what was then the biggest cantilever construction in the world containing 17,000 seats.

It was in part funded by a bond scheme, where supporters were invited to pledge £500 up front and receive a £100 discount from their season tickets for seven years (I will stand corrected on these facts as I am only going from memory). A good friend of mine who moved into the East Lower from the Kop paid around £42 a season (plus inflation and other rises) for his seat!

On Friday, the club announced that an East Stand central season ticket will cost £750 for new applicants!

During the disappointing 1992/93 season, parts of the stand were eventually opened to the public but much to the dismay of the home fans it was Middlesbrough and Manchester United fans who got first taste of the facilities as sections were used for away supporters.

It was fully functional by the time we played West Ham at the start of the 1993/94 season, but two months later there was anguish as David Batty was sold to Blackburn - the accusation being that Leeds were in trouble with the bank over the size of the overdraft due to the redevelopment costs.

Although it was the envy of many other clubs, critics said it dulled the once white-hot Elland Road atmosphere. It also made the rest of the stadium look quite shabby and dated. Indeed had Peter Ridsdale's mad plans come off, the ground would have been razed and the club would have relocated to a new venue on the outskirts of town.

It still looks magnificent from inside the ground and as you approach the city from the West on the M621, it has had a bit of a chequered past and seen some of the toughest periods of our history. Lets hope its facelift is part of the gradual regneration of our club back to our rightful place in the English game.

Photo: Action Images



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