The immediate task for San Francisco 49ers money men at Leeds United as they quietly increase investment - YEP 11/11/21
For some time there has been an air of inevitability surrounding 49ers Enterprises in the Leeds United boardroom.
By Graham Smyth
Even when Qatar Sports Investments’ conversations with
Andrea Radrizzani were sending up white smoke signals, despite never passing
the conversation stage, and a section of fans were on private helicopter watch
at Leeds Bradford Airport, the 49ers were sitting quietly at the table with
their feet tucked firmly underneath.
Even at that stage, the feeling at Elland Road was that if
anyone was likely to take the club off Radrizzani’s hands, it was the 49ers and
not QSI.
Last week the financers behind the NFL franchise upped their
stake at Leeds again, to 44 per cent.
It’s three and a half years since they dipped a toe in the
water with an initial buy-in that netted them 15 per cent of a Championship
club. They, like Radrizzani, saw the potential, although they waited until some
of that was realised with a promotion to the Premier League, before increasing
their level of financial investment.
It was midway through the Whites’ stellar first season back
in the top flight that the 49ers bought a further 22 per cent, announcing it
with a personal letter to Leeds fans from 49ers Enterprises president Paraag
Marathe, in the pages of the Yorkshire Evening Post. Both he and Radrizzani
held court with the media to explain their relationship and Marathe, as he has
done since 2018, went to great lengths to make clear it was the Italian’s
vision and plan they had fallen in love with and into line with.
Although the very eloquent Marathe has spoken extensively
about his involvement in Leeds and the possibilities of the future, the 49ers
have obviously wanted to tread lightly. He has said nothing out of turn, not
really ever provided a great deal of detail on his and the 49ers’ daily input
at Elland Road or what their future intentions are. No toes have been trodden
upon, no egos dented.
Less than a year after that last increase, the 49ers have
bought a little more of the pie. This time, there was little fanfare.
Radrizzani’s partners appear content to tuck their feet a little further under
the table quietly, but it does feel like their involvement is only leading
towards one thing – full control.
Why else would they have traversed the Atlantic in the first
place? Why else would they have invested to this degree, undertaken so many
fact-finding missions, explored how they could augment and develop Elland Road
and brought Peter Lowy, billionaire Westfield heir, to the table with them?
His involvement is intriguing but his boyish enthusiasm for
the club as a lifelong fan – he wandered onto the pitch late last season and
looked around the old stadium mouth agape - explains why he would want to be
part of it. His presence could be a reassuring one, not just from a financial
point of view, but because while the 49ers have always made soothing noises about
understanding and retaining the authentic Elland Road atmosphere and charm,
they are still newcomers, still getting to grips with the history and culture
after all they do fall into the bracket of ‘American owners.’
Supporters at other Premier League clubs owned by US
billionaires have had cause for complaint, whether that be a lack of
engagement, the price of supporting, a failure to understand the club culture
or the cynical power-grab of the swiftly-aborted European Super League.
Manchester United fans have protested against the Glazers,
Arsenal fans have protested against Stan Kroenke and John W. Henry felt the
need to issue an apology video to Liverpool fans after their protests in the
wake of the ESL debacle.
The 49ers should not be unfairly tarred with the brush used
to paint other US investors in the top flight, not when they’re yet to put a
foot wrong. They will, by now, have an idea of what will and will not fly at
Leeds. If their intention is to take over from Radrizzani, who will one day
walk away with a considerable amount of money and a place in history having
transformed the club’s fortunes and led them back to the Premier League, they
know they have to prove they get Leeds.
Radrizzani has not always got it right and it is unusual to
hear quite so much in public from a Premier League owner, but fans get a level
of accessibility with him and the open-door policy led by CEO Angus Kinnear.
They seem engaged and broadly in tune with what supporters want to see and
hear.
As they have discovered, an engaged and on-board Leeds
fanbase is a powerful thing, an ingredient for commercial and sporting success.
The best course of action for the 49ers while Radrizzani
remains majority owner, is to listen carefully and learn. The time to talk will
come and when it does, detail, substance and ambition will all be required.
This current act will be a hard one to follow but it will come as no surprise
if the next players to take the stage are already in the boardroom.
