Phil Hay: Leeds United handicapped by paying rent for Thorp Arch - MOT Leeds News 24/9/22
By Pranav Shahaney
Leeds United are reportedly being handicapped financially
for constantly having to pay rent for their Thorp Arch training facility.
According to the Athletic journalist Phil Hay, this immediately
disadvantages them compared to other clubs that own their training ground.
While there are plans to move it closer to the city centre,
it does lead to the owners having a tougher time shelling out money for the
first team.
Speaking on the Phil Hay Show, he said (37:50), “They do
want to move to the city centre. There’s been all this talk of a new training
ground in the city centre to make it more accessible.
“But the fact is that they are paying huge amounts of rent
for Thorp Arch as they have been on Elland Road and that handicaps you.
“So while other clubs have avoided all these liabilities,
Leeds are still dealing with quite of them.”
There is only so much that Andrea Radrizzani can do and it’s
probably time for new owners to come in and take the club to the next level.
If Leeds want to establish themselves as a top 10 club in
the next five years and they surely would want that, it all starts with the
right investment off the pitch as well.
Owning Thorp Arch or setting a facility up closer to the
city centre is beneficial in more ways than one and the hierarchy knows it.
It will also be more convenient for the players if their
training ground is more accessible and saving on rent would mean that more
money is there to spend elsewhere.
Leeds are currently on the rise and it’s important that this
continues or everything can soon come cascading down and they would not want
that.
Jesse Marsch does seem to be keen on integrating more
youngsters to the team so it’s important that Thorp Arch remains well funded.
