How did Leeds Utd fall?

What didn't help was the quick and dirty way they offloaded half their players too. In a desperate effort to cut their debts in the short term, Ridsdale happily agreed to paying a percentage of their outgoing players' wages at their new clubs. Robbie Fowler was still picking up a proportion of his pay check from them for years.
 
the Guardian in 2003 said:
McKenzie must take a club who forked out £5.7m in compensation to their sacked former managers David O'Leary and Terry Venables while still spending £600,000 a year on a fleet of over 70 company cars - £70,000 on one vehicle alone - back to a firm financial footing. To that end, the new manager Peter Reid has been handed a performance-related, one-year rolling contract.

Ridsdale's Leeds may have briefly rubbed shoulders with the best in Europe but the club's directors continued to live a life of luxury as their team subsequently spiralled down the Premiership table. The club spent £70,000 in one year on private jets for directors and senior management, handed out £300,000 a year to charity despite announcing losses of £33m in the last financial year, and still contribute £500,000 a year to Robbie Fowler's wages despite selling him to Manchester City in January.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2003/may/21/sport.comment1
 
They borrowed extensively against future prize money obtained from league placing and champions league qualification and subsequent progress in the competition.
Combine this with a chairman and board of directors who were living the life of kings on money taken fron the club and an inexperienced manager who was spending money like water and not capable of seeing passed the end of his nose either tactically or financially and it was a recipe for disaster.
I have a post on here the season they were doing well in the champions league detailing why and how they were going to go bust and every one said "what a load of rubbish" and it transpired to be 100% the case.
 
David O'Leary wasn't the problem. If he'd not had the backing of the board, who sanctioned every single one of his signings, then Leeds wouldn't have been in the trouble they were.
 
[ASSE]Hinchy;15731781 said:
Would be interested to see this post out of curiosity?
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Use the search function.
You might be out of luck though, because if memory serves, the cup run was before the nuke, so it wont be archived.

Gilly will remember it though, he was one of the ones who were asking "how do you know about the finances of leeds united?"
 
Nope.

I wouldn't even do Liv Tyler, who is the female equivalent of Rio, and just as ugly.
 
shoot1st said:
Leeds just didn't make it into Europe iirc, they pinned everything on it.
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This is what I remember. I recall Arsenal being in the same position a few seasons back. Not getting a 4th spot would have spelt financial disaster for them. Spurs knew they wern't ready for CL football.. I'm pretty convinced to this day that some deal was passed under the table that final day to allow to grab 4th place.. and for the team to get food poisoning of all things. Conspiracy!
 
I remember you reminding me, but I didn't even remember it at the time! Never mind now...
 
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