Daily Mail article on 49ers arrival

[Batley_white]

Sceptics were quick to criticise the 49ers' full takeover at Elland Road - but now, with ambitious and intelligent plans, the relegated club has been given a new lease of life.

Paraag Marathe, the new chairman of Leeds United, addressed the club's staff for the first time.

The American negotiates player contracts with hard-nosed agents for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers and is no stranger to a tough audience.

Perhaps that is just as well - given that is exactly what he got in a suite inside Elland Road's west stand.

After he outlined plans following the completion of 49ers Enterprises' takeover earlier this month it was time to throw it to the floor.

'Any questions?' Marathe asked.

The first response was more a demand:

'You can't change the name of the stadium!' a long-serving stalwart shouted.

Marathe, a smile on his face, quickly assured the staffer that there were absolutely no plans to do so.

There was scepticism.

This is Yorkshire, after all.

They do it well at a club that spent 16 years outside the Premier League.

But it is fading.

At Leeds United there is now optimism.

It may sound strange following last season's exhausting relegation from the top flight but it is there - and it is growing.

There is also another emotion floating around the offices: relief

While Andrea Radrizzani's entrepreneurial reign, which is now at an end, restored the club to its rightful place for three seasons, it was also fraught with uncertainty.

It all felt temporary.

The club existed month to month.

That is no longer the case.

From the moment the ink dried on completion there was surety of funding, a rare commodity in modern football.

With it, comes the ability to plan for the long-term - and that is already happening.

We’ve taken a close look at the early days of the new Leeds United.

What it discovered is an old institution taking the first steps of rebirth.

While the 49ers had been part-owners for five years, the conclusion of the deal has already been transformative.

The Americans quickly got to work.

Aside from promotion, the priority is Elland Road.

Currently, Leeds bank £1m each matchday at their decaying home or £19m per season in the PL era.

That puts them £4m per game behind Tottenham, who earn £5m per game and earn £95m per season.

It should not be like this.

Love them or hate them - and many do - facts are facts.

Leeds has 24,000 season ticket holders.

There are 20,000 more on a waiting list.

Plans are being drawn up to increase capacity to 55,000 with a raft of new corporate hospitality offerings in revamped east and north stands.

That gap to Spurs will be bridged.

Much-needed redevelopment, which was effectively on hold under Radrizzani, is, all of a sudden, gathering pace.

Planning consultants have started work.

Designs have been drawn up,

Costs have been estimated at £200m.

The money is there, as is the expertise.

In 2014, the 49ers moved from the iconic but crumbling Candlestick Park to the new state-of-the-art Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Silicon Valley.

It can be disclosed that the man who worked on the funding for that £1bn move is already doing likewise for Elland Road.

A group who managed the construction at Levi's has now switched its attention from West Coast to West Yorkshire.

There has already been reassurance for the sceptics.

Among the early drawings for redevelopment were a bunch of modern designs based on a futuristic bowl-like structure similar to so many new-builds.

The Americans were absolutely clear - they did not want that.

Instead, they pointed down the M62 to the recent expansion of Anfield.

Raucous Elland Road will keep many of its original fixtures.

It will just become a bigger, even more raucous Elland Road.

It is telling that there has been reason to pause over the improvement of the Wi-fi network within the ground.

The benefits are obvious.

But there is a view in the boardroom Leeds is one of few venues were fans keep their phones in their pockets and concentrate on backing their team for 90 minutes rather than filming themselves pretending to celebrate.

Whether Wi-fi would dilute the atmosphere is part of the conversation.

'These people get it, they absolutely do, said one LUFC staff member.

There is a level of cultural awareness that some of the 49ers compatriots now in charge of English clubs appear to have lacked.

It is understood that senior 49ers officials have even demanded that LUFC staff tell them if they 'start to make mistakes Americans make' they absolutely do not want to dilute LUFC at all.

The 20 acres surrounding the ground, neglected for so long, will also be put to good use in the coming years.

Among the investors the 49ers have brought onboard is Peter Lowy, the leading Australian businessman whose family recently sold the Westfield Group for £26bn.

Lowy, it can be disclosed, is in talks with Leeds city council about that vast horseshoe-swathe.

They are ambitious, very ambitious

Leeds has, for too long, been a city held back by a transport system that consists of buses and more buses.

There is no underground, no tram network.

While it is early, discussions include the prospect of Elland Road becoming a transport hub to link neglected South Leeds with a city centre it has been disconnected from since the building of the M621 back in the early 70s.

Other work has been quicker to come to fruition.

One example is staffing levels.

Leeds United, one of the big names of English football, had half the number of workers of Brighton and Hove Albion.

The stadium manager not only also looked after the training ground but, staggeringly, tripled-up as the director of IT.

A recruitment drive will soon be launched on the commercial front.

Up until recently Leeds did not have an efficient CRM system - a customer database and a key component in maximising revenue.

For a business of its size it is unthinkable.

That size, and the opportunity to maximise revenue, was a key component in catching the 49ers' eyes.

Leeds will sell 330,000 shirts this year, if not more.

That puts them around sixth in the country.

On domestic sales, they attract similar revenue to Spurs and Arsenal, with huge numbers of supporters in Ireland and in London.

While internationally they are nowhere near the Big Six, the potential is huge.

Take parachute payments out of it and nobody in the Championship would be able to get anywhere near their turnover.

That they spent 16 years outside of the Premier League is viewed as gross mismanagement.

Relegation itself, while not wanted, also presented a positive.

In adding Radrizzani's share to the 44 per cent they already owned the value of the club was set at £170m, some way short of the £400m retaining Premier League status would have demanded.

That 'saved' money can now be ploughed into the club.

While the approach to infrastructure has been hands-on, it is a different story when it comes to what happens on the field.

'They've taken more of a strategic approach,' one insider explains.

'They want to hire people who know what they are doing and then find out why they are doing it.'

That has been the case with the plans for promotion back to the Premier League.

While those involved want to keep the precise detail to themselves, for obvious reasons, a third-party data company was commissioned to uncover what it takes for a relegated club to make an immediate return.

Their findings were myth-busting and many.

While they are not being treated as gospel, they have formed part of the club's planning.

What can be said is that retention and know-how formed a key element.

That may well explain the arrival of Daniel Farke.

In his first full season with Norwich, the Canaries won the Championship with 94 points.

After subsequent relegation, they won it again, this time with 97.

Others were looked at, including Enzo Maresca and Russell Martin, who are now in charge of relegated rivals Leicester City and Southampton.

Those with knowledge of the process say that Farke, unlike many, did not come to his interview armed with a glitzy Powerpoint presentation.

Instead he spoke not only of promotion but focussed on establishing Leeds in the Premier League.

The German told them he was determined not to become known as a Championship specialist and that he wanted an opportunity to go into the top flight armed with the resources needed to succeed.

That struck a chord.

As did his work upon his arrival.

Following the takeover Marathe asked to speak to the new manager and his players and was told he was welcome to do so, but would have to fit his introduction around the team's intense schedule.

Some in the building cringed at that - given that the man who now effectively runs the show was being given an order.

By all accounts Marathe loved it.

Training - with incredible focus on fitness - is at a level they have not seen since Bielsa.

One insider described it as 'Bielsa with love'.

'Marcelo would destroy them on the training ground with his fitness drills and Daniel is similar.

We've had players throwing up at the side of the pitch after his sprint drills.

The difference now is that they get the next day off.'

In keeping with the hire-people-who-know-what-they-are-doing mantra Farke will be assisted by Nick Hammond, the ex-Celtic head of football who most recently saw Newcastle's post takeover transfer window which saw the arrival of the likes of Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn and Bruno Guimaraes - key moves which guided the Magpies away from the drop.

Former Tottenham performance director Gretar Steinsson has also arrived, with the club moving away from the director of football role which saw previous incumbent Victor Orta ruling the roost.

Adam Underwood, head of the conveyor belt academy, has also taken on extra responsibility while Angus Kinnear remains as chief executive.

There are barriers.

The club's fanbase, while loyal, is notoriously demanding, as some would argue it should be.

And then there are the EFL's profit and sustainability rules.

Even if the Americans wanted to inject tens of millions to invest in players they would not be permitted to do so.

And these are different times.

For many players it is now about the division, rather than the club.

While it may seem belief-defying, some targets would prefer Luton, Sheffield United or Burnley over Leeds thanks simply to the fact they are in the Premier League, despite being offered the same money.

Much has been made of Leeds allowing players to leave on loan rather than selling them on.

There is method in the madness.

Take the case of Brenden Aaronson, for example.

Leeds paid £25m for the US midfielder.

Some £21m of that is still on the books.

Given current circumstances, they would be lucky to get £15m should they put him up for sale.

Had they gone down that route it would be £6m down on the accounts.

Instead, Union Berlin are paying 100 per cent of Aaronson's wages.

That cost is gone for a year.

There is also a loan fee which, while small, is not insignificant.

Immediately, space is created on the balance sheet.

Union are in the Champions League.

Should Aaronson impress, in a year's time his value will be higher than it is now.

And should Leeds be in the Premier League by then, they may well want to bring him back into the squad.

While that may seem unthinkable, fans are pragmatists, and in 12 months the picture may well be very different.

What is in no doubt, is that in 12 years it certainly will be.

The Americans are investors.

They are here to succeed and to make money.

With Leeds in a 55,000 capacity, revenue-generating stadium and part of the Premier League furniture, the club's value would be through the roof and offer a huge return on their outlay.

At that point it may well be time to cash in - and let someone else answer tough questions from the floor.

The 49ers are not here to lose money, and to make significant money, you need to spend significant money, money makes money as the old saying goes.

Very exciting times lay ahead for LUFC and their fans.

[Rick]

"The stadium manager not only also looked after the training ground but, staggeringly, tripled-up as the director of IT."



I hear they shoved a broom up his arse anorl

[Leedsfromsouth]

Good read , but as always we want to see progress on the pitch….