New Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe: ‘The Premier League needs us, they know that’ - The Athletic 18/7/23

By Phil Hay

New Leeds United chairman Paraag Marathe has said the Premier League “needs” the club because they make the top flight “more special”.

The 49ers Enterprises’ purchase of the club has now been confirmed and Marathe, who was previously vice chairman and a board member of the club, has taken over from Andrea Radrizzani after the Italian agreed to sell his majority stake in the club.

Marathe led the transition to the 49ers Enterprises and in an interview with the official Leeds United Podcast, spoke about how important the club, who were relegated to the Championship last season, are to England’s top flight.

“I hate the fact that we didn’t get the chance to stay in the Premier League,” he said. “But one thing it did show me. Everybody tells me that Leeds deserves to be in the Premier League because it is a big club and that is true.

“The Premier League needs Leeds. Call it whatever you want. The way we play. The tenacity in which we play. Our history. The Premier League needs us. They know that they need us because we make the league more special.

“There is something different about Leeds. It is not like these other clubs. A lot of these clubs have had great success. Better success than we have had. But we have something that they do not have. There is a movement beneath the surface, and I want to be a part of that movement and I cannot wait to see what that becomes in five, ten years.”

Marathe also spoke about his 20-year history in sports and how his past makes him different from other chairmen in football.

He said: “It has been an interesting ride the last four or five years. I have been a passenger on the train so far. I haven’t really had my chance on the controls or had a front-seat view of how a football club runs. I have learned a lot over that time.

“I am different from your typical chairman or owner. I am not a fifth-generation multi-billionaire who is doing this for a hobby or wants to kill some time. That is quite the opposite. I came up on my own and I grew up loving sports. That is first and foremost who I am. I love competition. I love winning. I have always had a chip on my shoulder because this is not a hobby, this is life to me. This is something that I am meant to do. I am a supporter first.

“I have a particular empathy and understanding of everyone’s jobs at the club because I have done all of those jobs. 23 years at the 49ers starting as an unpaid intern. I have been the head negotiator. I have been the president or chief executive of a team. I have built a stadium. I have hired coaches. I have been through the peaks and troughs of mountains in support. I have seen it all and been through it all. I think that differentiates me from any other club’s chairman.”

In a statement, the club confirmed that Angus Kinnear, a board member and the club’s CEO, would remain in his current position, and continue to direct day-to-day operations while Rudy Cline-Thomas will join the board as co-owner and vice chairman.

Marathe said that his new role at the club had made him feel inspired and offered insight into the club’s search for a new manager before appointing Daniel Farke earlier this month.

He said: “I am feeling inspired. There is so much work to do to get back up to the Premier League and get the club back to where it belongs both on and off the pitch. We want this club to be something that everybody can be proud of. Not just players and coaches, but supporters and sponsors. It is something that is inspiring to me. I am carrying the torch on behalf of everybody else.

“We had everything done and every box checked, ready to do the takeover had we stayed up. That was going to be a fairly easy handover had that happened because months and months of work had gone into it at that point. Of course, when we were relegated, it opened up a whole new can of worms. The approval times have taken a little bit longer than we had wanted.

“We were still working in the meantime. We went through dozens of interviews with first-team managers and football people who could help us really feel good about the direction we are going in. There was a lot of work that went in behind the scenes.”