Gotta love Leeds

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

Ridsdale's legacy

 

To get to the top floor of the Leeds United training ground you have to climb stairs still lined with photographs of Jonathan Woodgate, Harry Kewell, Alan Smith and Paul Robinson. To get back to the top flight of English football, Leeds have to overcome Watford tomorrow in Cardiff without any of that quartet, and the rest.

 

Two years and two weeks ago, as they were being drubbed into relegation at Bolton and Smith's tears flowed, the mere idea of renaissance seemed addled. Leeds, reeling under a £103m mountain of debt, were on their third manager in 12 months and players were coming and going even quicker.

 

In the boardroom too it was musical chairs. Peter Ridsdale departed early in 2003 and was followed into the seats of power by Professor John McKenzie, Trevor Birch, Gerald Krasner and Geoffrey Richmond's son David. The cast list seemed to grow daily, with the property developer and former Watford chairman Jack Petchey lending money. Finally, last January, Ken Bates paid Krasner £10m and became chairman.

 

All the while Kevin Blackwell, a 47-year-old 5ft 10in former lower-division goalkeeper, was beavering away in the dugout. Brought in from Sheffield United by Peter Reid, he assisted Eddie Gray before taking charge after relegation, and he reflected this week on some joyless times. Most alarming and depressing of all was his revelation that Leeds are still paying eight players from the David O'Leary era, including Robbie Fowler three years and three months after he left for Manchester City.

 

"Last year I had the biggest wage bill in the Championship, I think £19m," Blackwell said. "Many managers have said, 'How we'd love Kevin's wage bill,' and I'm sure they would. However, I'd love to have Robbie Fowler, Danny Mills and the like because I'm paying them all. My actual wage bill was in the region of £3m. The rest went on players no longer here."

 

For some reason Ridsdale's goldfish always hogged the headlines but this is serious, long-term economic recklessness. Blackwell felt more than ripples. "When the club came out of the Premier League it was as low as it could be. It wasn't just the fact we'd been relegated, it was that there were so many people leaving. I couldn't say who was and who wasn't in training day to day. It'd be 'You're wanted in the office, you're going.'

 

"The atmosphere was awful. I brought in 28, 29 players that first year and none knew each other. Then we were 24 hours away from liquidation. No money, then Scott Carson sold at Christmas [2004] to pay the wages. And on and on.

 

"Many people thought when Leeds came down that we'd do a Sheffield Wednesday, a Man City or a Barnsley and go straight through because we'd lost all our players. Luckily we had a good run after Carson and got ourselves a 10-point breathing space if the club needed to go into administration.

 

"But if the administrator had walked through the door he couldn't sell Elland Road because that was already sold, he couldn't sell Thorp Arch [the club's training ground] because that was already sold, he couldn't sell the pies because they'd gone. There was nothing left so there was no administration to be done. It was effectively done and finished; whoever was coming in was coming in to lock up."

 

Slipping off the Premiership radar, much of the detail of Leeds's decline has been passed over. Blackwell is correct to say the club did not go into administration but Leeds United plc did. The week after Krasner took over in March 2004 he said there had been 113 separate contracts involved in the rescue deal, and many had confidentiality agreements.

 

The secrecy vexes Blackwell. He thinks it disguises so much of what he has had to encounter on a weekly basis, and Leeds fans have occasionally turned on him. As the boardroom changed he was the constant but in the November after relegation, after a third consecutive defeat, he turned on his board.

 

"I caused a few ructions because I said what I felt. And what I felt was that the club couldn't carry on down the road it was on because it was only a matter of time before the club was gone. At times you have to be a bit political but I felt the club had been kicked, like a football, all around the place. No one was taking care of it. I think the decisions that should've been made were dodged and I wasn't prepared to dodge the situation any more."

 

Only recently has Blackwell been awarded the security of a new contract from Bates, who is resident in Monte Carlo but going to Cardiff tomorrow. "He's been absolutely terrific," Blackwell said. "He's a hard taskmaster but you know where he's coming from and he doesn't bulls*** you in any way."

 

Gray is another willing to praise Bates. At the club almost continually since being signed by Don Revie in 1962, he described the Premiership relegation at Bolton as "probably my most disappointing day in football", though he could see it coming.

 

"There were times when I took over when I thought we might get out of it," said Gray. "But I don't think it helped when players were asked to take wage cuts. Some were willing to do it and some weren't, so you get a split camp. Players were talking about whether they'd be getting paid or not and sometimes football takes a back seat."

 

For too long at Leeds football has taken a back seat. Gray thinks they will beat Watford tomorrow but he emphasised that money is still owed. The fact that the midfielder Shaun Derry makes himself physically sick before every kick-off somehow seems fitting. Nothing is straightforward and promotion may trigger payments submerged while the club are in the Championship.

 

Woodgate's return to Thorp Arch in recent weeks - he is training there - is another reminder of where Leeds United have been. When they went top of the Premiership on January 1 2002 Woodgate partnered Rio Ferdinand in central defence. Mark Viduka and Fowler were the scorers that day against West Ham. Mills played, and Lee Bowyer, and Smith.

 

But the following week Leeds lost a volatile FA Cup tie at Cardiff and Ridsdale sees that defeat as the start of Leeds's decline. The former chairman wished Leeds well this week and he will be at the Millennium Stadium. So many have left Leeds, yet the past still hangs around.

[Clay Davis]

they best win.

[Maldini]

We saved Leeds

[Guest Scot]

Stay down and go bust.

 

Bates and Leeds...Christ...

[John am Rhein]

Good lukc Leeds

[Gray - YPC]

I'm no fan of Leeds - quite the opposite, but it would have been terrible had they have gone bust and disappeared.

[Stevie H]

i hope watford batter them.

[Guest redmilky]

As was said a while back. Lets hope they come up so we can watch them go down again. t***s.

[Des]

Don't really care but would probably favour Leeds coming up. Can't stand their fans and have no regard for their current chairman but a club of their size should be in the top division.

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

1-0 Watford. 25th min

[Guest Scot]

1-0 Watford. 25th min

 

C'mon Watford.

 

Leeds going bust would have been brilliant. A glorious day.

[Guest TanMan]

eveything crossed now. f***ing hate dirty Leeds

[Guest JV]

eveything crossed now. f***ing hate dirty Leeds

That's gotta hurt

[Guest RedLegend]

Would actually prefer Leeds to go up.

 

Watford look like a right bunch of hoofers. Plus one of my best mates is a long suffering Leeds fan.

[Guest Cardie]

Would actually prefer Leeds to go up.

 

Watford look like a right bunch of hoofers. Plus one of my best mates is a long suffering Leeds fan.

 

Be good to see watford in the prem, see if they can beat sunderlands lowest points total.

 

That and it's a big kick in the guts for leeds

[George Costanza]

By the looks of it, Watford are another Bolton. Dirty f*****s who play for set-pieces.

[Guest TanMan]

c*** of a commentator just said

 

'Watford will be with the big boys next season. With Chelsea and Arsenal and Man Utd and Spurs and Newcastle and Liverpool.'

 

Get your priorities right dicksplash

[Guest Scot]

 

...and stay down you cn*ts

[Mike S]

linesboy

 

watford v bolton will be a great game next year

[Greenoak]

Watford in the prem. Well for 10 months anyway.

 

Awful team. Looked like Bolton. Hoof push foul shove. Long balls everywhere.

 

God I hope that get battered in the prem.

 

Plus side is Ken Bates stays in coca cola league, plus cant face Chris Moyles gonning on about being back where they belong etc etc etc

[anny road]

 

...and stay down you cn*ts

 

 

did you see Ridsdale there?

 

f***ing hell there should have been a lynching

[Scally Bob]

What a truly dreadful game. Two alehouse teams and not one player on the pitch of Premiership standard.

 

Glad we never had that referee against West Ham as well. He was woeful.

[Clay Davis]

f*** off leeds

 

we best get them in the cup so i can actually have some sort of liverpool away match when im living in uni in that s***-at-sports place.

 

what a dreadful team they are.

hulse my a*** i could score 20 in the championship.

at least.

 

that marlon king is good i'll say it again, he'll do well in the prem.

[Maldini]

Ashley Young looks good too.

[Clay Davis]

Ashley Young looks good too.

yeah, he suits yellow.