Leeds United Elland Road expansion: Plan change, 49ers promise, are Leeds expanding Elland Road? - YEP 9/8/23
Elland Road has a huge demand for season tickets and an expansion to the historic stadium has been called for by fans for years.
By Toby Bryant
Over 20,000 Leeds United supporters are patiently waiting
for their time to move off the waitlist and own an Elland Road season ticket as
passion for the club continues to boom despite last season's relegation.
The need to expand Elland Road is clear with tens of
thousands of fans wanting to be there every week but not currently being able
to. There were worries that a return to the Championship would stall progress
on that front, but the recently completed takeover is cause for optimism.
In a thorough rundown of the 49ers Enterprises' early plans
for their tenure at Elland Road, Mail Sport reported that ‘aside from
promotion, the priority is Elland Road’.
Last season, it appeared that relegation from the Premier
League would stall any such expansion plans but new ambition means that no
longer seems to be the case. Andrea Radrizzani had said: “I always said to
Angus Kinnear, we’ll look at the expansion of the stadium when we’re in the
third year of the Premier League.
"The chance to go back in the Championship is very high
in the first and second year but much lower after. Now we can move on. Angus
has initiated some activities to finance the project. It will be over £ 100
million to renovate the West Stand and build it to a 55,000 capacity. We’re
going step by step but, hopefully, we move soon with a financial partner.”
The club are pulling in £1 million every matchday at the
historic stadium which, might seem a lot, but is some £4 million less than a
Premier League club such as Tottenham Hotspur banks every fixture.
Plan change
It was confirmed only in June 2021 that plans to build a new
training facility had been withdrawn in favour of increasing the capacity of
Elland Road to 55,000. Investment from the San Francisco 49ers had allowed them
to review their stadium development plans, however it was made clear that they
would need to remain in the top flight to uphold these plans.
Speaking to The Square Ball, Angus Kinnear revealed: “If we
stay up this year, then construction wouldn’t start next year, but the process
would” - suggesting plans would likely have been put on the backburner had the
Yorkshire club returned to the Championship.”
Traditional not futuristic approach
The Mail reports that planning consultants have already been
set to work by new owners with £200 million designs being drawn up to expand
Elland Road. Those employed to draw up plans are the whizzes involved in the
49ers move from the ageing Candlestick Park to impressive Levi's Stadium in
Santa Clara back in 2014.
Despite their links with such plans in America, it is
believed the new Leeds United owners have already shut down futuristic projects
like the Levi's Stadium for the football club, wanting to honour the original
fixtures of Elland Road with an expansion plan similar to that of Anfield.
Speaking to the BBC, Paraag Marathe previously said: “I’ll
be honest with you the main thing is to protect the magic and electricity that
is in Elland Road. The answer then is [it] probably means that it’s more of a
stadium expansion than a new stadium because I don’t want to take away from that.
“Players from the other 19 [Premier League] clubs, if they
are going to list the three worst places that they want to play on the road for
an away match, Elland Road is probably one, two or three for them. I don’t want
to take that away.”
Kinnear had already revealed that the West Stand would be
the first to be developed at the ground given its age with plans for the land
behind the stadium promised to be announced 'shortly'.
Rejuvenation of 20 acres surrounding Elland Road
Mail Sport also reports that Leeds United owner plans also
include rejuvenating the 20 acres surrounding Elland Road with Australian
businessman Peter Lowy recruited for crunch talks with Leeds city council about
the land.
What plans for that area might look like are for now under
wraps, but early discussions are believed to be including improving transport
links and making Elland Road a 'transport hub' to link the southern part of the
city with the city centre.
Similar projects for the land outside a stadium are also
underway at Newcastle United, with Saudi owners buying back land sold by Mike
Ashley with the intention of creating a fanzone - it wouldn't be surprising to
see a similar idea blossom in Yorkshire.
