Mighty Leeds Weblog

A group representing Leeds United supporters will ask sports minister Stuart Andrew to take a "bottom up" approach to the Government's long-awaited football reforms. By Stuart Rayner Clive Miers, vice-chairman of Leeds United Supporters Network (LUSN), will meet Andrew (pictured) one-to-one on Friday to discuss plans to implement all 10 key recommendations of a fan-led review into English football by Conservative MP Tracey Crouch published in late 2021. These included a proposal for an independent regulator, greater powers for supporters and an improved “owners and director’s test”. She also suggested clubs have “shadow boards” of supporters that allow more input into decision-making. The Government promised reforms in its 2019 general election manifesto but a pandemic and two changes of prime minister mean it has so far only progressed as far as the White Paper published in February it is now consulting on. LUSN, a self-financed body representing around 38 inde...

Pivoting away from front-of-shirt betting adverts prior to football's incoming ban is a good look for Leeds United, regardless of the motives. By Graham Smyth The Whites confirmed on Thursday that Boxt, a company with actual links to the city of Leeds, would replace gambling firm SBOTOP on the front of the shirts for the upcoming season. Boxt began life in offices on Elland Road in 2017, which in itself is a nice, neat story, but not the only nice aspect of all of this. For young fans, for the first time in eight years, the shirts they can buy and wear will look exactly the same as the ones worn by their Elland Road heroes because Boxt can appear on a junior jersey where a betting advert cannot. The YEP understands the sleeve sponsor will also come from an industry other than the gambling business. Cynics will argue that Leeds' move to a non-betting sponsor was forced on them by relegation but that's an easy one to bat away, because this is still Leeds United, the o...

Leeds are on the verge of hiring Daniel Farke to lead them back to the Premier League and hope to have him in place by the start of pre-season Daniel Farke is set to take over as Leeds boss at Elland Road ahead of next season The Yorkshire club were relegated to the Championship at the end of last term The German manager twice marshalled Norwich to Premier League promotion By DAVID COVERDALE Daniel Farke is on the brink of becoming the new Leeds United manager, with the club hoping to have the German in place for the start of pre-season training next week. Mail Sport revealed last week that the former Norwich boss had emerged as the Whites' preferred candidate following a lengthy interview process. And Farke is now understood to have agreed terms about taking charge at Elland Road and has already visited their Thorp Arch training ground. Leeds had been waiting for the EFL to approve their takeover by 49ers Enterprises before announcing who would be managing them in ...

Leeds-based firm BOXT will replace betting company SBOTOP as Leeds United's main shirt sponsor next season. By Stuart Rayner Gambling sponsorship is a hot topic in English football, with the Premier League attempting to head off Government legislation by banning front of shirt sponsors from 2025-26. It has not stopped Aston Villa, Burnley and Fulham – who will carry the SBOTOP logo – last week signing short-term deals. Villa's deal with Asia-based BK8 is particularly controversial as Norwich City cancelled a deal with them in 2021 because of "provocative marketing material". Premier League clubs will still be allowed to advertise gambling on their shirt sleeves. Leeds, who are not in the Premier League but will hope to get back by 2025-26, have headed off the issue by upping their involvement with a firm which came into being at Elland Road. The Whites’ agreement with SBTOP was announced simply as a "multi-year" deal when it started in 2020-21. I...

Leeds United are delighted to announce we have expanded our partnership with BOXT, the award winning British smart home systems installer, who will become principal partner of the club from the beginning of the 2023/24 Season. BOXT, the Leeds headquartered technology company, has been a loyal and valued partner of the club since their formation in 2017. Currently one of the fastest growing businesses in the UK, BOXT offer consumers an easy to use, Uber-style service for fitting boilers, solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and air conditioning units, as well as accompanying Google smart home devices such as thermostats, smoke alarms, home security cameras and speakers. The new deal will see BOXT branding feature across the front of Leeds United men’s and women’s first team kits, along with all academy and replica shirts for both adults and juniors. Working alongside BOXT, Leeds United will spearhead brand activity by the creation of innovative partnership activations, digital ...

Leeds United midfielder Alfie McCalmont agreed to join League One side Carlisle United earlier this week on a permanent deal. By Joe Donnohue McCalmont spent the second half of last season out on loan at Brunton Park, where he secured promotion to English football’s third tier via the League Two play-offs. The Northern Irish international scored twice during his time with the Cumbrians and has expressed his delight at joining the club permanently. “After finishing the last game of the season I was thinking about what was going to happen to me next and then a couple of days after the final we were already talking about me coming back,” he told Carlisle’s official club website. “I was delighted about that and it’s just been a case of getting it all sorted over the summer. Now it’s about being ready for the first game of pre-season.” “There was no hesitation from me at all, to be honest,” he added. “The fans, the players, the staff, they’ve all made it feel like home for me. ...

The problem with Leeds United's takeover isn't so much the time it's taking but the timing of it all. By Graham Smyth Takeovers take time. There's the wrangling and negotiating between seller and buyer - call that round one. You might have expected 49ers Enterprises to be able to skip that part, having thrashed out a deal with Andrea Radrizzani for his 56 per cent stake, but you'd be wrong. The deal they agreed was for a Premier League club, at a Premier League price. And when Premier League status was lost, that deal meant next to nothing. For whatever reason, there was no contingency deal in place for the event of relegation and so it was back to square one, insofar as both parties had to first ascertain that a takeover was what they actually wanted. Then they had to come up with a fresh price. All in all, between the confirmation of Leeds' exit from the top flight and an agreement being announced, round one took 12 days, which doesn't feel at all le...

Soon-to-be former Leeds United chairman Andrea Radrizzani has embarked on a new project with historic Italian club Sampdoria, whom he hopes to return to the glory days of the 1990s. By Joe Donnohue Radrizzani spoke at length during the unveiling of new Sampdoria manager Andrea Pirlo and head of performance Nicola Legrottaglie on Wednesday afternoon, having agreed to acquire the club in the midst of financial turmoil earlier this month. The departing Leeds chairman stated he hoped to repeat his achievements with the Whites, returning Sampdoria to Serie A and prominence within Italian football. “We managed to save Sampdoria from bankruptcy which would have killed half of the city of Genoa,” Radrizzani said. “This is just the beginning, now we must talk about football. We are here to present the first steps of our projects, Andrea Pirlo and Nicola Legrottaglie, our head of performance. “We bought a club with many difficult situations. We are committed from day to night to rest...

Karl Robinson’s time at Leeds United was only ever going to be a four-game stint but it still held drama befitting the club’s storied history and heartbreak that fans know too well. He spoke exclusively to the YEP about the Big Sam era. By Graham Smyth Karl Robinson had just teed off a round of golf when the name Sam Allardyce flashed up on his phone. A call from Big Sam is no cause for surprise for Robinson, who worked with Allardyce at Blackburn Rovers early on in his coaching career and considers the ex-England boss somewhat of a footballing father figure. But this phone call was one for the books. "I was playing golf, literally on the first hole and it was Sam,” begins Robinson. "He went: "Do you want to go to Leeds?" I went: "What?" He said: "Get in the car, I'll meet you in Leeds tonight." I went: "What do you mean?" and he replied: "I'm going in, it's getting announced tomorrow." "I made a f...

By Callum O'Connell Leeds United and their new owners are keen to get started, as they have shown interest in Liverpool’s Nat Phillips, with the deal being pushed regardless of the managerial situation – according to the latest report by Phil Hay in The Athletic. It is believed Phillips could cost as much as £10m, which Leeds United should be able to afford with backing from their new owners, 49ers Enterprises. Making movements in the transfer window without a manager to give recommendations or assessments is a display that the new owners will look to do things their way, on their terms, and as quickly as they can. This is a clear show of intent by the 49ers, who have moved quickly to start the club’s transfer dealings despite their takeover not being officially confirmed by the EFL. It is unclear at this stage whether this will be positive or negative for Leeds. The new ownership will have a plan for the way they want the club to be run, and the direction they wish to go...

Leeds United's players will begin to return from their summer break as pre-season kicks off at Thorp Arch on July 2, with off-field affairs dominating and Whites title winner Tony Dorigo says the squad will want to hear exciting things from their incoming owners. By Tony Dorigo 49ers Enterprises are awaiting EFL ratification of their takeover and although that kind of boardroom stuff has nothing to do with the bleep test or body fat measurements, it still matters to the players. Ownership and the way a club is run can impact you, as a player. When I started out in football at Aston Villa we had 'deadly' Doug Ellis, who had a bit of a reputation and he was certainly a firm businessman but by and large he allowed the people that he employed to get on with the job so you would very rarely come across him or never had much to do with the owner. I found my time at Chelsea very frustrating. It's easy to say players shouldn't be bothered at all when they cross that...

Leeds United midfielder Alfie McCalmont has today joined Sky Bet League One side Carlisle United for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year-old Academy graduate helped both the Under-18s and Under-23s win their respective leagues during his time with the Whites, before going on to make two senior appearances for the first team, which both came in the Carabao Cup during the 2019/20 season against Salford City and Stoke City. Winning caps for Northern Ireland at both youth and senior level during his time at Elland Road, in the last three campaigns McCalmont has spent time away from the club, with loans stints at Oldham Athletic, Morecambe and Carlisle, and he now joins the Brunton Park outfit on a permanent basis after helping them win the Sky Bet League Two Play-Offs last season. Alfie departs with the club’s very best wishes, we would like to place on record our thanks for his professionalism and efforts, and wish him all the best for the future.

Willy Gnonto’s agent has been speaking about the Italian’s Leeds United future By Ben McKenna Willy Gnonto’s agent says his client will want to remain in the Premier League after an impressive first season at Leeds United. The Italian has been linked with a move away from Elland Road since the club’s relegation on the final day of the 2022-23 campaign. As reported by the YEP on Monday, Leeds have not yet received expressions of interest or bids for the player. Everton has been one club credited with interest but Crystal Palace, West Ham and Brighton are also keeping tabs on the player, according to the Mirror. Gnonto is currently with Italy Under-21s at the UEFA Euro Under-21s Championship. He scored in a 3-2 win over Switzerland on Sunday, having come on as sub in their 2-1 loss to France in their previous game. Up next is a clash with Norway on Wednesday and speaking to Calciomercato in Italy, Gnonto’s agent Claudio Vigorelli says the player’s focus is on his exploits wit...

Andrea Radrizzani has chosen World Cup winner Andrea Pirlo to become the next manager of Sampdoria as the takeover of Leeds United continues By Ben McKenna Outgoing Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani is set to make his first managerial appointment as part of Sampdoria’s new ownership group with Andrea Pirlo agreeing a two-year deal to join the club. Radrizzani has agreed to sell his majority stake in Leeds United to minority shareholders 49ers Enterprises. The American investors are in the midst of lining up a new head coach to take over at Leeds but say EFL ratification of their takeover must come first. As reported earlier today by the YEP, the hope at Elland Road is that both the takeover and a new manager will be confirmed by the time the first set of players return for pre-season training on Sunday. According to Sky Sports Italy, Radrizzani was impressed by Pirlo’s enthusiasm after three meetings with the Italy legend as he will be tasked with guiding Sampdoria back in...

By George Overhill Leeds United were supposed to have decided on their new manager on Friday (23 June) yet there still no announcement into the next week, according to Alan Nixon. The interview process led by Angus Kinnear and Paraag Marathe was reported to have included Daniel Farke and Scott Parker on the basis of their previous achievements in the Championship, as well as Patrick Viera who emerged late but impressed with his presentation [The Athletic, 23 June]. But with that process thought have been carried out over the previous two weeks the delay is dragging on, with plenty of transfer business to conduct, and Nixon isn’t clear what the hold up is. The Sun journalist responded to a question on Twitter Monday night (26 June) about the appointment to say: “There’s been a process. There was meant to be a decision on Friday. Don’t know what delay is. This happens a lot at clubs with owners all over the place. Wearing.” It seems likely that the new owners may be waiting for...

Leeds Fans Utd are seeking a written commitment to fan ownership from 49ers Enterprises by the end of the year or they will begin to refund 90 per cent of members' investments, but insist they are confident their aim will be met. By Graham Smyth The scheme was set up eight years ago with the goal of obtaining a level of fan ownership at Leeds United through a stake in the club. Leeds Fans Utd first reached an agreement in principle with former owner Massimo Cellino in 2015 to buy a majority stake but the Italian later decided against selling to them. Two years later Leeds, owned by Andrea Radrizzani, announced they had agreed heads of terms to pave the way for supporter investment. A July 2019 statement then confirmed that the investment would 'kick-start' plans for a brand new training facility but the unveiling of those plans would be put back to the club's centenary year - 2020. The delay led to investors in Leeds Fans United being afforded an opportunity to wi...

By Lucas Sposito Following his departure from Leeds United, Victor Orta’s arrival at Sevilla took place in a bit of a troubled time. The La Liga side had just seen their director, Monchi, leave them for Aston Villa, and we all know the reputation he had as a transfer market star. Now as Sevilla president Pepe Castro today spoke to the local media (via El Desmarque), he felt the need to defend Orta while the local media kept asking about Monchi. It all started with journalists insisting on questions about the director who left the role, and Castro made his attempt to hype up the former Leeds United man. “Today I’m going to answer all the questions that you ask me about Monchi because I understand that it’s news. But I’m not going to talk about him anymore and not because I have anything against him, on the contrary I have respect and affection for everything he did for Sevilla.” “There’s a man there with a beard called Víctor Orta, he’s his substitute and he will govern the ...

byAdam Marshal As Manchester United play Leeds United in our first pre-season friendly, we have decided to focus on Alan Smith as the next subject of our Transfer Tales series. The Reds meet the Championship side in Norwegian capital Oslo on 12 July, with more details on the fixture available here. Smith is the last player to move from Elland Road to Old Trafford and it was always going to be a controversial switch, despite the fact the West Yorkshire side had been relegated, in 2004. Much of the Leeds faithful could never envisage it happening, as the homegrown product had been linked with numerous other clubs. A dyed-in-the-wool Whites fan and the club's star striker and chief asset had been the subject of relatively little speculation about joining Sir Alex Ferguson's men but as relegation loomed large, rumours started that the Reds boss fancied adding the tenacious England international to his squad. The blond forward had previously gone on record as saying he c...

Former Leeds United assistant Robbie Keane has landed his first job in outright management, less than one month after his departure from the Whites. By Lee Sobot Ex-Leeds striker Keane returned to the club in May to join new boss Sam Allardyce’s backroom staff as an assistant along with Karl Robinson. Allardyce was brought in with four games of the Premier League season remaining in a bid to keep Leeds up but the 68-year-old, Robinson and Keane all left the club upon United’s relegation to the Championship. Three and a half weeks later, 42-year-old Keane has now been unveiled as the new manager of Israeli Premier League outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv. The club announced the news on Monday morning on their social media channels with a picture of Keane together with “welcome coach.” Keane has signed a two-year deal with the Tel Aviv side who say that the ex-Leeds ace will arrive in the city in the coming days to begin preparations for the forthcoming season. Multiple former champions Ma...

By Ellandback1 Good Morning. It's Monday 26th June, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road... Leeds name their price for Meslier Leeds have slapped a £30m price tag on Shot-stopper Illan Meslier. The 23 year old is renowned as being one of his best young keepers in the World, and even though he had a poor campaign last season, he is expected to be high on the wish list, of many top Europe sides. Data compiled from 'FBref' give the young Frenchman a 'PSxG minus goals metric' (the calculation showing opportunities keepers should have saved) of -12.4, placing him 26th out of 27. His shambolic defence did little to inspire confidence. Only Max Wober and Robin Koch come through the season with any sense of dignity. If truth be told, the remainder should be embarrassed by their performances of last season. Leeds linked to four shot-stoppers With Meslier in the shop window, and Robles released back in the wilderness, Leeds need ready made replacemen...

Leeds United will hope to have a new head coach appointed and in place at Elland Road in the coming days Leeds United are due to return to Thorp Arch at the start of July to begin their preparations for the new Championship season, but there’s still so much to do. Hiring a new manager is the obvious task at the top of their to-do list and that has to happen this week if they’re to be in place for day one of pre-season training. We’re expecting to see news on that front in the coming days with Daniel Farke and Patrick Vieira thought to be the frontrunners. Ahead of the appointment, though, Leeds Live take a look at some of the tasks the new man will be immediately faced with when he steps through the door. Put pre-season plan together It’s obvious, but the new head coach must put some sort of plan together for the five weeks he’ll have with his side before the season opener against Cardiff City on August 6. It’s a shorter pre-season than usual and plenty must be crammed in, alon...

One Whites star is said to be the subject of a loan bid from a former Premier League rival. By Mark Carruthers Fulham have reportedly submitted a bid to take Leeds United midfielder Brenden Aaronson on a season-long loan. The Daily Mail have claimed Fulham are keen to hand the United States international an opportunity to remain in the Premier League following the Whites relegation into the Championship. Aaronson has failed to live up to his early promise after he made a £25million move to Elland Road from Austrian club RB Salzburg last summer. The 22-year-old netted his first goal for the club in a memorable 3-0 home win against Chelsea in the first month of the season and provided an assist in a 1-1 home draw against Everton just over a week later. However, he would provide just three more goal involvements in all competitions throughout the season as he was unable to help the Whites preserve their Premier League status. The likes of Rasmus Kristensen, Wilfried Gnonto, Crys...

By Lucas Sposito Back on Saturday, the Italian media broke the news about Leeds United having ‘advanced negotiations’ to sell Rasmus Kristensen to AS Roma. It was claimed by Gianluca di Marzio that the Giallorossi made this ‘surprise move’, and since the player ‘expressed his willingness’ to make the switch, the talks were moving forward. Today, it’s time for newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport to feature an update on that situation, bringing a few more details on what is going on between the club. It’s said that ‘as usual’, Roma want Kristensen on a loan with an option to buy, while Leeds would rather see him going with clauses that would automatically make the deal permanent. Those would be related to his performances at the Italian club. The sides are now working on a solution, while the Serie A side also use the talks to speak of Diego Llorente, for whom they’re not triggering the buying option and try a new loan. Gazzetta highlights there are good relations between Leeds an...

Leeds United forward Rodrigo has set the bar high in outlining his international ambition. By Lee Sobot Rodrigo returned to the Spanish national team fold for the first time since November 2021 for this month’s Nations League conclusion in which the Leeds striker helped his nation end their 11-year trophy drought. The Whites forward started the Nations League semi-final against Italy in which his side recorded a 2-1 victory and then looked on as an unused substitute as Spain defeated Croatia 5-4 on penalties in the final. Spain are now among the main fancies for both the 2024 Euros and 2026 World Cup – and Rodrigo has set his sights on helping his nation win both. "If you want, I can tell you that we are here to win the World Cup or the European Championship,” said Rodrigo whilst on international duty to Marca. "I think that in the end what generates the illusion will not come from what I tell you here, that illusion will come if we go out on the field and win impor...