As the 2010-11 accounts of Championship clubs show, Leeds United spend a lower percentage of turnover on the playing squad than any other team in the division – around half of what UEFA suggest is a reasonable percentage to spend on the squad.

This could of course be considered fiscal responsibility, especially when you take into account that Leeds United are the only Championship club to post a profit for 2010-11. Considering how low this profit was, some fans could – and no doubt will – argue that we simply can’t afford to spend anything else on wages, but I think we can safely reject that argument based on the amount of funds Leeds United have spent on ground improvements over the past few seasons (circa £20m in all).

If it was simply a case of Leeds United being unable to afford additional investment in the first team squad then no one would be complaining. As Ken Bates loves to remind us, Leeds United have gambled before and the result was absolutely devastating (ie. we ended up with Ken!)

But that’s not what anyone is asking for here, a club with our turnover doesn’t need to gamble. It’s always been a matter of misguided priorities that many – myself included – would cite as the ultimate problem. Take the £20m spent “improving” a stadium we don’t own for example. Had that money been invested in the squad over the last couple of seasons, we’d be one of the most financially competitive teams in the division, capable of matching the demands of the highest quality of players instead of losing out on Keith Andrews to the mighty Ipswich Town and seeing a whole host of key players walk away for pittance.

Take for example, the 2010/11 wages. Had Simon Grayson been given an additional £10m he would have had a £21.6m fighting fund, which is up there with the highest in this division. That budget would account for roughly 70% of our turnover, in-keeping with the wages cap UEFA have suggested and still a lower percentage of turnover than almost every other team in the Championship.

The trade-off would be no Pavillion, no East Stand executive boxes and no museum, but does anyone really go to Elland Road for any of that? I’m 100% certain that we all managed to get suitably drunk before Ken Bates came along, and I don’t recall anyone demanding a museum and more executive boxes – we couldn’t fill the ones we had!

That’s not to say these things are a particularly bad idea, they’re just poorly timed. Executive boxes for example are a status symbol for the overly wealthy who care little for Championship football – hence our inability to fill them. A museum will be well-visited initially, but the curator will struggle to keep people interested long term with only 93 years of history to work with and limited to the niche subject of Leeds United. The bars and restaurants meanwhile will always get some trade, but profit margins for these businesses will always be pennies in the grand scheme of things and they would be much more useful to a Premier League team than one that can’t even half-fill their ground most weeks.

You have to invest in the playing squad first, generate the success necessary for these facilities to be worthwhile, then use the additional funds to improve the stadium and add additional facilities.

Ticket sales account for the vast majority of Leeds United’s turnover, yet Leeds United’s expenditure doesn’t fairly reflect this. The supporters pay to see a team they can be proud of, they care not for executive boxes most could never dream of being able to afford, and even less for a Valentine’s day lunch at a football stadium – most of us would be in the bad books for weeks following a stunt like that!

There’s an old Chinese proverb that goes something along the lines of; “If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people”

If the grain is Peter Ridsdale’s approach, then Ken Bates’ approach is probably the trees. But growing people was never a big deal to either of them. Ridsdale failed to recognise the value of the players we already had and indulged in pointless transfers and an eye-watering wage bill. This ultimately led to Ken Bates, who refused the quick-fix approach and instead looked a little further ahead by diverting a huge percentage of the clubs resources into building work and ignoring the playing squad completely.

Neither of these two men tried the third option – the Norwich City, or even the Manchester United approach. These two teams recognised the value of the players they had, did everything they could to keep the team together as they rose to prominence and did so without spending recklessly on quick fixes and bodge jobs. It’s also worth noting that Manchester United didn’t build a 75,000 seater stadium and the accompanying facilities in anticipation of their success, they did so as a response to it. Leeds United meanwhile failed to nurture a team that was capable of achieving back-to-back promotions with a little investment, some long-term contracts and the right set of priorities.

Touching the void.

Ken Bates’ departure is far from certain. As many have pointed out :-

A)    He’s an obstinate individual who enjoys going to court

B)    He’s an obstinate individual who enjoys going to court

C)     He’s an obstinate individual who enjoys going to court

Add to that the fact that Russian Oligarchs and DotCom Billionaires are thin on the ground, even moreso now than in the good times of 2005.. and you do tend to give credence to the doom mongers who see no future other than with Ken at the helm of the leaky ship. Lack of investment in the team, a continued drain of talent, and total disregard for the view of the fans.. the prognosis isn’t good.

The other point that gets raised is one of the more difficult ones – What happens when Ken erm.. Expires. Well it happens to us all, as difficult a point to talk about as it is. The answer is quite complex. And yes somewhat morbid to discuss, but I think it bears investigation. And bear with me as a non-expert in probate law.

The nub of the answer is relative to the ownership structure in place. Ken Bates – according to the press is the majority shareholder and owner of the club. If that is a simple equation, and hes really just the guy who owns the business – then on his expiry the club ownership passes to the executors of his estate.

If Ken is a petty sod, he could have gone as far in his will as to divvy up the club, and liquidate its assets to remunerate the beneficiaries of his will. More likely though as a businessman I’m sure Ken would understand the inherent value of the business and ensure its maximum value is realised either via passing ownership to his Wife or Children most likely.

There are 2 recent examples we should pay attention to

1. Southampton FC. Southampton was rescued from administration by a Group `controlled and owned’ by Markus Liebherr in July 2009. He of course died in March 2010, but it was announced the following August that plans had been made to assure the long term security of the club. It ostensibly then continues to be run by those in charge of the vehicle he created to run the business – and a good stick theyre making of it too.
2. Marseilles – In 1996 after some years in the wilderness (or should that be the maquis?) Marseilles shed their UEFA imposed punishment and returned to Ligue 1, backed by Adidas owner Robert-Louis Dreyfus, they were soon mixing it in the Champions League, and spending vast sums of money on players. Louis Dreyfus by trade was a corporate turnaround expert, cognisant of good business practice, Marseilles remain profitable based on the principles he set out. Sadly for the Provencales he lost a long battle with Leukaemia in October 2009, and like Liebherr died at the tragically young age of 63. In this instance the ownership of his shares passed to His wife, Margarita. A former Russian Businesswoman some 20 years his junior.

Her tenure has been `colourful’ to date, sacking the chairman in October last year, and lambasting the players. (sound familiar)… She shows no signs of moving on. Given the proximity of Marseilles to Monaco, one wonders if she’s attending personal seminars in football club chairmanship delivered by our own irascible scamp of a chairman? If she starts striking `vampire’ poses outside the Stade Olympique – Marseilles fans better get worried.

I can’t imagine Ken or a minute would put his own personal fortune at risk, so albeit this is guesswork – I’m going for something like Option 1 as the most likely avenue we’d end up going down, with Harvey appointed as the `trustee’ to run the business.

I can’t see Mrs Bates as our chairwoman, though judging by her obvious vast reserves of patience and good grace I can’t imagine she would be too bad a bet! The other interesting trend I’ve noticed is simply that both Louis Dreyfus, and as per my article yesterday Doug Ellis, both started `putting their affairs in order’ when they realised their health might not enable them to carry out their duties.

Obviously I and the rest of us just want Leeds to be sold to someone else, and wish our Kenneth many more years of well, `Rude’ health. 10 More Years , 10 More Years.

Written by Matthew Brown-Bolton

Picture Credit: Alex Knight Photography

10 years ago at Elland Road

Today in Yeovil, myself and the rest of the travelling Leeds United fans will be turning our backs on football to show our united disgust at the contiued failure of the Turkish authorites, UEFA & FIFA.

Despite several swift arrests and an admission of guilt from one of the thugs responsible, the Turkish authorites have still failed to prosecute anyone for the vicious and unprovoked crimes. A lack of punishment from UEFA and FIFA for both Galatasaray and Turkey has not gone unnoticed either and our disgust should be noted by them all.

Ken Bates gave his support to the campaign on Saturday suggesting that a country with such a failing legal system should not be allowed entry into the European Union;

‘We were holding a minute’s silence before the Swindon match and it was silence not applause because we were mourning their lives after they were murdered in Turkey. 

‘I would use the word murder because that’s what it was.  

‘I’ve read a lot about it, and about what happened in the bar area where the Turkish thugs were following the Leeds fans. 

‘Where were the police? What were they doing? It’s supposed to be a pretty tough state – why was it allowed to get out of hand?

‘And why after 10 years is there no justice? It doesn’t make sense. 

‘It would suggest Turkey is not ready to be admitted to the EU and maybe that’s something the campaigners should focus on. 

‘It would concentrate the authorities minds, because if the country cannot hand out European justice …’  

Chairman of the time, Peter Ridsdale also added his own thoughts;

‘Some things that happened ages ago are etched in your memory as if they were yesterday. 
‘It was just the most amazingly awful experience. I don’t mean for me, this wasn’t about me, it wasn’t about Leeds United, it was about the families of two individuals who should never, ever have lost their lives.‘

As the appeals for justice continue from the victims families, Leeds United fans around the world are united behind their campaign. A decade on and still no justice, but the fight continues.

Christopher Loftus & Kevin Speight. Never forgotten!

Just a quick heads up to anyone else heading to Yeovil about a planned protest to show our united disgust at the lack of justice served to those responsible in the deaths of Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight.

The protest will see all the travelling Leeds United fans turn their backs on football for one minute after the whistle blows for kick-off. The protest is a fitting way to show our disgust at how not only the Turkish courts, but UEFA and FIFA have failed in this matter.

What still makes me bitter to this day is how Turkish “fans” are allowed to go unpunished for the mindless acts of terror they inflict on any visiting team. If such events took place in England, I have no doubts whatever team was involved, would be banned from the competition as punishment. As someone in attendance for that game, I can’t even begin to describe how hostile the fans and Police were to the visiting Leeds United fans. The club should have been banned from European football indefinitely.

Ben Parker’s hopes washed away

The longest anticipated injury comeback in the history of sport (slight exaggeration maybe)continues as Ben Parker’s planned Tuesday night outing for the reserves was thwarted by torrential rain.

It seems that fate is against our young full-back and whether he’ll feature in the managers plans at all for the rest of this season seems questionable. In his absence, the left-back spot has been a really troublesome area for Larry with Hughes occupying it for the majority of the season.

Somma continues to reign at Lincoln

Four goals, two assists and only five games in to his Lincoln loan spell, but those kind of stats guarantee you a place on the League Two player of the month shortlist. Good to see Davide drawing the plaudits and we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that his form can continue and carry over into next season for Leeds United.

Every lower league club has been a victim of the higher clubs tactics. I bet there’s not a single club outside the Premiership that’s never trained a youngster upto the age of 16, only to see him snatched from their grip just as he turns old enough to sign a professional contract.

Since our relegation, we’ve been a constant target for the Premier League clubs. The reputation we have for developing youth talent is recognised throughout the country and there’s always a scout on hand waiting to move in and steal our latest development. Perhaps it’s divine retribution. Leeds will have snatched plenty of players from the smaller clubs back when we were a major force in this country, but it’s not until you’re sitting on the other side of the fence that you realise how frustrating it can be.

The FA brought in the transfer tribunal so clubs would be compensated for the money spent on developing young players. Leeds have done well from this netting millions over the past few years with the most recent award being £600,000 (plus possible add-ons) for Garbutt just a few days ago. It’s a good first step, but not really enough.

UEFA have now started to act on this suggesting that players should be tied to the club that trained them ’til the age of 18. This again is a positive, but I personally feel it should be older. 21 for me is a good age. Afterall, the player is highly unlikely to make the starting XI until he reaches this age and will most probably spend his time out on loan at lower clubs. Bringing this in will be tough though as it’s unlikely to meet the European Union’s working laws.

Shaun Harvey’s raised a good point saying that compensation is no longer adequate punishment for clubs that breach the rules and tap up young players. The compensation rule has been in place a while now but has failed to deter the major clubs. Harvey suggests it may be time to start docking teams points for breaking the rules and I couldn’t agree more. If clubs that are struggling financially and are forced into administration are to be docked points then this should apply to the Premier League clubs that are causing the problems too.

Fabian Delph is a prime example of the kind of money clubs should be getting for their talent. Most clubs are paid off so cheaply that it makes little difference to the bottom line of Premier League clubs finances. However, when the clubs have the player tied down and he’s unable to leave without both parties agreeing, the lower clubs get a decent sum of money for their talent. There’s a major difference bewteen £600,000 and £6,000,000! The kind of difference that could stop lower clubs from going into administration in the first place and give them the chance to compete in the Sky Sports savaged football leagues.

For me, the Sky Sports funded Premier League is destroying football with it’s uneven distribution of money. When the lower clubs develop a player capable of earning them some money (or helping them achieve promotion) he’s snatched away from them for pittance. If a rule was brought in whereby young players could only leave through mutual consent, it would go a long way to levelling the uphill playing field.

The ban imposed on Chelsea is an excellent move from UEFA. It’s taken a while for them to get into gear, but they have to start playing hard ball for the long term benefit of the game. If they were to follow this with bans (or points deductions) on Manchester City, Manchester United and anyone else found guilty of tapping up then it would bring an end to this ridiculous and totally unfair culture once and for all.  More of the same please UEFA!