Blackburn 1 Leeds 0: New investors are set to hand McDermott transfer war chest
Yorkshire Post 2/12/13Leeds United’s 7,000-strong travelling army at least had some good news to savour at Ewood Park.
The club are set for a major cash boost after majority owners GFH Capital confirmed they have granted a period of exclusivity to potential investors in readiness for the January transfer window.
After months of work by managing director David Haigh, a deal will be in place by the end of next month,subject to Football League approval, that will allow manager Brian McDermott to make major signings.
Although the names in the consortium that is set to buy a majority stake in the Elland Road outfit are not being revealed, it is understood they do not include any previous owners or players.
That rules out the involvement of former director Adam Pearson and popular former captain Lucas Radebe, who have both been linked in recent reports.
“The two parties have signed a share acquisition agreement for the purchase of shares in the club with GFH retaining a significant stake,” said a statement confirming the deal.
Haigh, who has become increasingly influential, will remain as managing director, with Salah Nooruddin staying on as chairman.
GFH Capital see Saturday’s development as fulfilling their original idea for Leeds when they bought the club in December, 2012.
Although their involvement was greeted with some suspicion by many long-suffering supporters, who have been let down so often since the finances of the club began to unravel around a decade ago, GFH Capital’s intentions were always to bring in the additional finance to restore them back to the Premier League.
Haigh has pursued this task with vigour, with GFH stating their long-term plan was “to ensure the long term and sustainable regeneration of the club through partnering with strategic and like-minded investors who share its vision”.
McDermott felt his side deserved something out of Saturday’s game, which ended their run of three successive wins, and pointed to the first-half chance missed by Danny Pugh as a crucial moment.
Pugh was put through by Ross McCormack after 33 minutes but Jake Kean’s outstretched leg denied him.
McDermott said: “I didn’t think we deserved to lose. I think if we’d have scored in the first half we would have won the game. I thought first half an hour we controlled the game and looked very comfortable.
“They took the ascendancy in the last 15 minutes of the first half, scored the goal from a set-play, which is obviously disappointing, then it became a real battle and our players tried to get something from the game. It wasn’t pretty and we couldn’t quite do it.”
Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer hailed ‘fantastic’ Tommy Spurr as his first goal at Ewood Park gave Blackburn victory.
Leeds-born former Doncaster defender Spurr popped up in first-half stoppage-time to volley home David Dunn’s corner.