Relegation to the Championship means Leeds United have plenty affairs to get in order before they even think about an immediate return to the Premier League. Elland Road expansion plans will move down the pecking order and are likely to be dependant on a return to the top flight.
However, even with the change of ownership, there's still a long-term plan to expand Elland Road. 49ers Enterprises have agreed a deal with Andrea Radrizzani as the takeover begins to accelerate, with vice chairman and 49ers Presider Paraag Marathe set for a bigger role at the club.
When asked about expansion plans back in October 2022, Marathe said: "I'll be honest with you, the main thing is to protect the magic and electricity that is in Elland Road. The answer then is it's probably a stadium expansion than a new stadium because I don't want to take away that aura.
"Players from the other 19 clubs, if they're going to list the three worst places that they want to play on the road, Elland Road is probably one, two or three for them. I don't want to take that away."
The last public comments made from the club in relation to an expansion came from Radrizzani, last August, telling The Athletic and Elland Road developments were tied to top-flight security.“I always said to Angus Kinnear (chief executive), we’ll look at the expansion of the stadium when we’re in the third year of the Premier League,” he said.
“The chance to go back in the Championship is very high in the first and second year, but much lower after. Now we can move on. Angus has initiated some activities to finance the project.
"It will be over £100m to renovate the West Stand and build it to a 55,000 capacity. We’re going step by step, but, hopefully, we move soon with a financial partner.”
Those immediate plans will now be put on the back burner, but Angus Kinnear briefly divulged into plans back in August 2021 ahead of the Whites' second season in the top flight. The chief executive spoke to The Square Ball podcast and said:“If we stay up this year, then construction wouldn’t start next year, but the process would.
“That process is planning, full designs and actually the financial commitment you need before you start construction is tens of millions of pounds. So the first gate you need to go through is we [stay] up again, and therefore that’s tens of millions of pounds [of Premier League revenue] to take us to the point where you can put a shovel in the ground.
“The West Stand would be the first stand we develop because it’s the oldest and has the most upside potential,” he said. “Those discussions are in place with the council. The deal on the land [behind the West Stand] will be announced very shortly. Plans are continuing to move forward.”
Elland Road is in need of a revamp, as supporters well know. Kinnear spoke with supporters at the Supporters Advisory Board meeting in March and acknowledged a need to do better.
“AK [Kinnear] acknowledged that a lot of work needs to be done around the stadium and that there are areas that are not fit for purpose. The club accepts it needs to be better and will look at ways of making some quick improvements in certain areas, especially with regards to cleanliness, toilet seats and improving period products for supporters etc,” minutes from the meeting read.
