Paraag Marathe explains top priority in Elland Road expansion to save Leeds United’s ‘magic’ — Leeds United News 26/2/25

Dan Owen

Paraag Marathe, chairman of Leeds United and president of the 49ers Enterprises, just seems to ‘get it’.

In an era where various owners up and down the land have often been accused to putting profit before success, sidelining the supporters and making baffling decisions which serve only to undermine the entire history of an institution – Cardiff City in red, anyone? – the man at the summit of Elland Road appears very much in tune with what Leeds United represents.

Paraag Marathe addressed fears of Leeds becoming ‘Red Bull Leeds’ in the wake of the energy drink giants taking a minority stake last year.

A year on, the Red Bull logo on the front of their shirts remains the only visible influence of those taurine-tipped tentacles in West Yorkshire.

And, five months after Leeds officially announced plans for an expansion of Elland Road, Marathe has opened up on what the 49ers will look to change. And, crucially, what the 49ers will look to keep.

It will be a bigger Elland Road, their capacity increasing by sixteen thousand.

But, Marathe insists, the most important factor underpinning a long-awaited expansion is that one of the most iconic and atmospheric arenas in the whole of English football does not lose what makes it special.

“Our goal is to expand Elland Road,” Marathe tells the Financial Times. “There will probably be a couple of phases that ultimately take us to 53,000 [seats]. The first phase will likely be 47,000 then up to 53,000.

“Of paramount importance is to keep the cauldron and electricity of the stadium the same as it is today. Elland Road is a stadium managers and players of other clubs don’t like playing at. It’s been called a cauldron and a hurricane of noise.”

A hurricane of noise, yes, but also one capable of reaching even higher decibels.

The Elland Road capacity is currently around 10,000 less than Sunderland’s Stadium of Light. The Championship’s third biggest stadium behind Hillsborough.

Yet this is a fanbase so passionate, so broad in numbers, that you could probably double the number of seats available and, come a matchday, every one of them would be occupied by a backside.

While fans of many other historic old institutions have bemoaned an increased capacity leading to a decreased sense of ‘fear factor’, Marathe is confident that more Leeds United fans equals more noise.

Marathe explains how stadium transformation will benefit Leeds

“It is really important for us to get more of our supporters into the stadium, and make it even more difficult for other clubs to come and play in,” Marathe adds. “But we want to preserve some of the magic of what Elland Road is.

“We have done a lot of the pre-development work, in picking architects and working with the local council. There are probably some announcements to come and I am really excited about that.”

Marathe was also asked again about Red Bull’s influence in West Yorkshire.

He insists that, even in the event of promotion, there is no deal in place for an ownership group who turned Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig into European regulars to seize full control at Elland Road.

The San Fransisco 49ers see Leeds and Rangers working together, meanwhile, as they look to secure a stake in the Scottish Premiership outfit.

Marathe was understandably keen to give little away when Rangers were brought up. He does admit, however, that the 49ers are ‘looking at other opportunities’ away from Elland Road.