Elland Road
From Waccoepedia
Elland Road is the home stadium of the football team Leeds United. It is currently the 11th largest football stadium in England and the largest stadium in Yorkshire. It is also the largest English stadium outside of the Premiership, and the largest in Football League One
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History
Initially the ground was used for rugby league matches before being purchased by the newly formed Leeds City F.C. in 1904. When City were forcibly bankrupted by the Football Association in 1919, the FA took possession of the stadium (along with all the other assets of the club) and sold it to the city council, possibly under the impression that the stadium would be torn down and used for housing, which Leeds was in short supply of in the wake of World War I. When Leeds United was formed immediately afterwards, the council allowed the new club to rent the stadium until they could afford to buy it themselves. Many United supporters refer back to Leeds City as 'The Black Peacocks' due to the tainted stigma of corruption. With the exception of periods from the 1960s until 1983 and from 1997 to 2004, the council has owned the stadium (an unusual situation in British football).
In 2004, Sebastien Sainsbury backed by Nova Financial Partners tried to take over the football club, and buy Elland Road. However, they failed to transfer £25 million by the 13:00 GMT Friday deadline on 12 November, and so to stave off administration the club sold the stadium to Manchester based business man Jacob Adler.
Leeds' board set the deadline as it needed to pay the latest instalment on a loan to Aston Villa shareholder and former Watford chairman Jack Petchey by close of business on Friday or trigger a £2m penalty clause. With the funds not transferred in time, Leeds had no alternative but to use their most bankable asset, Elland Road, on a 25-year lease deal with buy-back clause to raise the funds.
It emerged on 27 December, 2006 that Adler had sold the stadium to the British Virgin Islands based Teak Trading Corporation Ltd some 15 months before.
Present day layout
The most recent stand at Elland Road is the East Stand, a huge cantilever structure which was completed during the 1992-93 season and holds 17,000 seated spectators. At the point of construction it was the largest such cantilever stand in the world. The Don Revie Stand (also known as the Kop was opened at the start of the 1994-95 season, holding just under 7,000 seated spectators, after a refurbishment scheme. It was named after Don Revie, the club's most successful manager. The South Stand (previously known as the 'scratching shed') was built in 1971 and until 1993 the lower tier accommodated standing spectators, but this section of terracing was replaced by seating to comply with the requirements of the Taylor Report.
Following a fire which destroyed the original West Stand in September 1956, a public appeal raised £60,000 towards a new one which was opened in August 1957 at a cost of £180,000. The roof of the West Stand holds a television commentary gantry and walkway for TV personnel who may be asked to film here on a matchday. The adjoining conference centre and banqueting suite behind the stand was opened in 1991.
The ground has hosted several England Internationals, the most recent was against Italy. It also hosted several group games during the Euro 96 tournament. In addition to football the ground has hosted rugby league in the past including being temporary home to the Hunslet Hawks. It also hosted the rugby league Rugby League Tri-Nations final in 2004 and 2005 and the Carnegie World Club Challenge in 2005 and 2008.
Elland Road has also hosted concerts, the most notable of which saw the band Queen play at the stadium in 1982 and U2 play at the stadium five years later. The alternative band Happy Mondays also played a gig at the stadium in 1991, which was later released as a live album. Future plans for a gig have also been announced with self confessed Leeds United Fans the Kaiser Chiefs due to play at the ground on 24th May 2008. Support will be provided by The Enemy and Kate Nash with others support to be confirmed.
During the close season of 1994 the names of all Leeds United players who have represented their country were listed on an International Honours Board in the club reception area at the back of the West Stand and this is updated when required.
In December 1997, pictures were shown in the Leeds United matchday programme of the plans to improve the West and South Stands which would have brought capacity up to around 45,000. The new structure mirrored the East Stand but would have seated around 12,000 people. The 3 tier structure would also focus on VIP hospitality and the inclusion of an indoor arena on the back of the West Stand. This added venue would have accommodated basketball, ice hockey, pop concerts and other entertainment events. However, after naming an ice hockey team (The Leeds Lasers) to play at the arena during the half-time interval of a match, the project never got off the ground for various reasons and was quickly forgotten about.
Future
In September 2001, the then Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale announced plans for relocation to a new 67,000-seat stadium at nearby Skelton because Elland Road's capacity was inadequate for such an ambitious club. Ridsdale was also considering the possibility of improving Elland Road. If any improvements at Elland Road are carried out, they are likely to involve the reconstruction of the three older stands at the stadium. But the relocation plans soon fell through when the club encountered rising debts and finally relegation from the Premiership in 2004. Any relocation or expansion is unlikely considering the club's current position. The current Chairman, Ken Bates, has however stated that once the club's premiership status is secured from a few seasons in the top flight he plans to re-develop some of the stands at Elland Road, in particular the John Charles (West) Stand which is the oldest part of the Ground.
The current priority is simply to buy back the ground, which was sold in 2004 for £25m to save the club from going into administration after a take over fell through. Although Ken Bates plans to eventually re-purchase Leeds' home stadium, Elland Road, and the Thorp Arch training-ground, he has purchased the pitch at Elland Road and leased it to the fans of the club on a 999 year lease, to ensure that in whatever sense, football continues to be played at Elland Road for a long time to come. On 14 March 2007, Leeds United chief executive Shaun Harvey has confirmed that the club have approached Leeds City Council with a request to assist the club in re-purchasing Elland Road and Thorp Arch.
Shaun said: "I can confirm that we have approached the council with a request that they assist the club by providing a mortgage so we are able to re-purchase both the stadium and Thorp Arch from the current owners, and give the club financial stability. The mortgage sought from the council would be comfortably covered by security in the form of a charge over the stadium and Thorp Arch and also a personal guarantee from a prominent Leeds businessman. The council is able to borrow money and with the club re-paying them there would be no cost to either the council or the tax-payers. If the club owned the stadium then there would no longer be any mystery as to who owns Elland Road and it would enable us to play a full part in the re-development of the Elland Road area and create income streams to support the club on days other than matchdays. Our dialogue with officers of the council is ongoing."
However, reports on BBC Radio Leeds also on 14 March 2007, stated that Leeds City Council had denied Leeds United's plea for assistance. Whether ongoing discussions between Leeds City Council and LUFC can provide assistance to allow Leeds United to buy back the ground remain to be seen.
Attendance
Considering that Leeds United have always been a well-supported team, Leeds City F.C. attendances were among the worst in the league, and the club was never particularly well financed. This is mainly attributed to the area being traditionally a rugby league area. The club however are the highest placed team, not currently in the league, in the all time average attendance figures for The Football League & Premiership having an average attendance of 10,234 and a total attendance of 1,944,365 for all matches played
In comparison, 42,339,944 have watched all of Leeds United matches combined, with an average of 25,689, which is the 10th highest average in England.
