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"We run a tight ship and it will stay like that,” mused former Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside in April 2005, “Leeds United are a prime example of what can happen when you gamble and fail.”
Hindsight may be 20-20, but no Bolton fan will be able to read that quote and not feel uncomfortable as their team heads to Elland Road this Saturday.
Wanderers have recently found themselves at the top of a slippery slope Saturday’s opponents know only too well. Leeds’ modern history reads as a cautionary tale for what may be about to unfold.
Back in 2005, Wanderers were on the verge of their first season in Europe and Gartside was warning against the dangers of overspending on a squad to cope with the additional workload.
The season before Leeds had been relegated from the Premier League at the Reebok with a 4-1 defeat, the memories of Champions League football still fresh in the memory as players walked from the pitch in tears.
From there, perhaps only Portsmouth can match the incredible deterioration of fortune and finance that has now passed into footballing legend. One can only hope Wanderers are not someday mentioned in the same breath.
Leeds had completed a takeover shortly before their relegation but still went into the Championship with big overheads.
They brought with them a £40million wage bill – the average at the time around £9m – and were forced to sell on stars like Alan Smith and James Milner. Others big earners were moved on for free – and Wanderers fans may want to take note – often with the club continuing to contribute towards their salary for years to come.
Agents became an expensive but necessary luxury to facilitate all the deals. Leeds spent £1.5m in the financial year up to December 31, 2004. Likewise, Wanderers have relied heavily on agents to arrange their recent transfers, spending £1m between October 2014 and September 2015. If a fire sale becomes necessary this summer, that figure is bound to rise.
The similarities continue when you examine the procession of players that came and went under under Kevin Blackwell, who had been tasked with rebuilding Leeds’ squad virtually from scratch. Lennon rattled through 45 different players last season, a post-war record, but has used just 31 this time around.
Gerald Krasner and his Adulant Force consortium had completed their takeover at Elland Road at the time of the club’s relegation but less than a year later Leeds found themselves in court over a £1.2m tax bill which led to the sale and lease-back of their Thorp Arch training ground and Elland Road stadium. Wanderers have no such option on the land they have just sold to the Huron Group at Euxton but no-one has yet indicated they would cash-in on the stadium.
The buyout had bought Leeds time and successfully reduced debts from an eye-watering £103m to £40m but it quickly became clear the savings had not been enough.
That is where Wanderers find themselves right now. Cuts have been made across the board with Lennon claiming he wiped £10m off the wage bill in his first seven months in charge – but player salaries remain completely off-kilter with a club no longer receiving parachute payments and staring at life in League One – something Leeds managed to avoid before eventually sliding into administration in May 2007.
Relegation will bring a £5m loss in TV and central funding, and possibly more in stadium sponsorship and local advertising. Dean Holdsworth’s Sports Shield consortium are struggling to convince the Football League their business plan is able to cope with the shortfall.
Serious concerns were voiced by Leeds fans about mortgages raised against remaining assets from the club owners at the time – and these have also been echoed at Wanderers as they surveyed potential bidders in the last few months. No one, Sports Shield included, was bidding completely with their own money – and that too has raised alarm bells at the league as they attempt to get the takeover ratified.
Leeds’ administration spilled into the next season in League One and eventually cost them another 15-point deduction. Wanderers are aware they must file notice by March 24, or avoid the same fate.
It took the Yorkshiremen three years to get back into the Championship and their financial vulnerability has been reflected in a precarious boardroom situation that exists to this day.
Protests against Massimo Cellino are predicted to continue on Saturday at Elland Road, where Steve Evans could yet become the latest managerial casualty of the Italian’s volatile reign.
Both sets of fans this weekend are sick of talking finances. They want the focus off the boardroom and back on to the pitch.
For 90 blessed minutes that might just be the case.
Source
Hindsight may be 20-20, but no Bolton fan will be able to read that quote and not feel uncomfortable as their team heads to Elland Road this Saturday.
Wanderers have recently found themselves at the top of a slippery slope Saturday’s opponents know only too well. Leeds’ modern history reads as a cautionary tale for what may be about to unfold.
Back in 2005, Wanderers were on the verge of their first season in Europe and Gartside was warning against the dangers of overspending on a squad to cope with the additional workload.
The season before Leeds had been relegated from the Premier League at the Reebok with a 4-1 defeat, the memories of Champions League football still fresh in the memory as players walked from the pitch in tears.
From there, perhaps only Portsmouth can match the incredible deterioration of fortune and finance that has now passed into footballing legend. One can only hope Wanderers are not someday mentioned in the same breath.
Leeds had completed a takeover shortly before their relegation but still went into the Championship with big overheads.
They brought with them a £40million wage bill – the average at the time around £9m – and were forced to sell on stars like Alan Smith and James Milner. Others big earners were moved on for free – and Wanderers fans may want to take note – often with the club continuing to contribute towards their salary for years to come.
Agents became an expensive but necessary luxury to facilitate all the deals. Leeds spent £1.5m in the financial year up to December 31, 2004. Likewise, Wanderers have relied heavily on agents to arrange their recent transfers, spending £1m between October 2014 and September 2015. If a fire sale becomes necessary this summer, that figure is bound to rise.
The similarities continue when you examine the procession of players that came and went under under Kevin Blackwell, who had been tasked with rebuilding Leeds’ squad virtually from scratch. Lennon rattled through 45 different players last season, a post-war record, but has used just 31 this time around.
Gerald Krasner and his Adulant Force consortium had completed their takeover at Elland Road at the time of the club’s relegation but less than a year later Leeds found themselves in court over a £1.2m tax bill which led to the sale and lease-back of their Thorp Arch training ground and Elland Road stadium. Wanderers have no such option on the land they have just sold to the Huron Group at Euxton but no-one has yet indicated they would cash-in on the stadium.
The buyout had bought Leeds time and successfully reduced debts from an eye-watering £103m to £40m but it quickly became clear the savings had not been enough.
That is where Wanderers find themselves right now. Cuts have been made across the board with Lennon claiming he wiped £10m off the wage bill in his first seven months in charge – but player salaries remain completely off-kilter with a club no longer receiving parachute payments and staring at life in League One – something Leeds managed to avoid before eventually sliding into administration in May 2007.
Relegation will bring a £5m loss in TV and central funding, and possibly more in stadium sponsorship and local advertising. Dean Holdsworth’s Sports Shield consortium are struggling to convince the Football League their business plan is able to cope with the shortfall.
Serious concerns were voiced by Leeds fans about mortgages raised against remaining assets from the club owners at the time – and these have also been echoed at Wanderers as they surveyed potential bidders in the last few months. No one, Sports Shield included, was bidding completely with their own money – and that too has raised alarm bells at the league as they attempt to get the takeover ratified.
Leeds’ administration spilled into the next season in League One and eventually cost them another 15-point deduction. Wanderers are aware they must file notice by March 24, or avoid the same fate.
It took the Yorkshiremen three years to get back into the Championship and their financial vulnerability has been reflected in a precarious boardroom situation that exists to this day.
Protests against Massimo Cellino are predicted to continue on Saturday at Elland Road, where Steve Evans could yet become the latest managerial casualty of the Italian’s volatile reign.
Both sets of fans this weekend are sick of talking finances. They want the focus off the boardroom and back on to the pitch.
For 90 blessed minutes that might just be the case.
Source