'It was tough' Aaron Lennon on being in the midst of Leeds United’s financial crisis — Leeds Live 28/11/23

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The Leeds United academy graduate was sold to help ease the financial crisis at Elland Road

Leeds United academy graduate Aaron Lennon has lifted the lid on how tough it was coming through at Thorp Arch in the midst of the Whites financial crisis.

The now retired winger was sold to Tottenham Hotspur in 2005 where he'd spend the majority of his career after making 43 appearances at Elland Road. Lennon told Rio Ferdinand's Vibe with Five podcast: "We did then but it's a different situation when clubs go bust. There was players not getting paid.

"I was a YT then so I was still young but in the first-team. I was on £80 a week but you were just seeing members of staff gone. I turned up one morning and there was only two physios, where's the other one? Ah he's gone.

"It was cutthroat. Kitchen ladies gone, they'd been at the club for 50 years. Now there's one lady doing the drinks or whatever. Obviously it's a different situation but it was causing a lot of headache between the club and it did cause problems on the pitch.

"Every day you were having meetings, one player wants this way, another wants it this way. You've got the PFA trying to come in and sort it all out, it was just a mess and it was a shame because it ended up killing the club for a long period of time."

"I was so young I was coming through, I didn't [care about the financial mess] I just wanted to get on the pitch. I was sitting in these meetings and didn't know what was going on I just wanted to go and play.

"I had just signed a professional contract and that was pretty much done knowing I was on the way out. That was the difficult part for me knowing they're going to have to sell me."

When asked if he would have stayed at the club, Lennon added: "Yeah [would have stayed at Leeds], then I was devastated.

“I said ‘nah I’m staying,’ but it got to the stage where you have to go, the club was in administration. Anyone who they come for they was gone. It was tough and I was so young, it was a challenging time.”

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