Tag: money | The Square Ball

AFTER THE ACCOUNTS: THE FOG IN LUFC’S FINANCES

Posted on April 4, 2012 by The Square Ball • 16 Comments

The most interesting part of Leeds United’s 2010/11 financial returns, which have become available today, fall after the end of the accounting period. The filings take the assorted companies that make up Leeds City Holdings to the end of June 2011, but at the bottom of the very last page, is this:

‘Post Balance Sheet Events’: Leeds United Football Club Limited entered into an agreement whereby it sold season tickets for both the 2012/13 and 2013/14 season for a sum of £5,000,000 after the year end.

This, it seems, it the £5m facility that was referred to in the official sites reporting of the account headlines: “After the year end we entered into an agreement for a £5,000,000 facility to part fund the East Stand Development.”

Filed Under: Leeds United

What Ken Said – 19.10.11 – Ain’t No Sunshine

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Fax Man • 12 Comments

Taken from today’s interview on Yorkshire Radio with Leeds United owner Ken Bates…

Mr Chairman speaks to Ben Fry about last night’s draw with Coventry, what it means for our league position and the future of the goalkeeping position after Andy Lonergan was ruled out for six weeks and Paul Rachubka’s howler. He also has praise for the academy’s recent upturn in form before his weekly diatribe (just the 568 words; 3 minutes and 8 seconds), which is aimed at the Radio Leeds fans forum as he preaches to us on the art of football finances. Ken is obviously an expert in this area having saved Chelsea from insolvency (twice) leaving creditors massively out of pocket before piling on a further £100millon+ of debt by building the ill-fated Chelsea Village and then selling them to someone who actually puts money into a club. Let’s not forget he added around £15million to our debts before taking us into administration in 2007 too before ‘saving’ us for the second time. If you’re looking for someone to tell you about the ins and outs of financial mismanagement, there’s no one more qualified really, so it’s an honour for us morons to be offered this insight. How kind of him. How kind of him also to tell us about the recession and how hard it’s hitting the world… as he charges folk some of the most expensive season ticket and matchday ticket prices in the country… probably the world… while sitting on his Monte Carlo sun terrace overlooking the Med on one of the most expensive streets in the world before jetting in to Leeds for each match. It’s really hard for some isn’t it, Ken? Meanwhile, Ken offers the weather as a reason for attendances being down 4,100 per match on last season’s average. It never rains, but it pours…

Filed Under: What Ken Said

Revealed: The £10m That Could Have Saved Leeds From Administration

Posted on October 10, 2011 by The Square Ball • 66 Comments

A BBC documentary to be shown in Yorkshire tonight, Who Owns Leeds United?, attempts once again to unravel Leeds’ 2007 administration and establish just what went on as Leeds plunged into League One and almost out of business.

As part of their investigation, the BBC obtained copies of correspondence between the club and Leeds City Council through a Freedom of Information request that, while it does not form a central part of the programme, should be of interest to Leeds fans. The BBC have passed these letters and emails to The Square Ball so that we can present them to you.

The letters between Shaun Harvey and senior Council officers reveal that in March and April 2007 an ‘investment group’ was willing to invest £10m in Leeds United, a sum which would have secured LUFC as a going concern through the 2007/08 season, meaning administration and the subsequent twenty-five point penalty would have been avoided.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: Leeds United

What We Talk About When We Talk About Leeds

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Moscowhite • 21 Comments

The most disturbing aspect of Ken Bates’ impact at Leeds United has been his effect on us, the fans. We’ve changed; or rather, he has changed us. The most fundamental way this change expresses itself is in the way that we express ourselves – it’s right there, in the way we talk about Leeds United. Ken Bates has stolen our narrative of ourselves; he has blunted our desire to write our own history, to give vocal form to what we want from Leeds United Football Club.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: Leeds United, lwmyd

Ssssh! It’s a Secret Giggs…

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Oddy Marone • 0 Comments

So, it’s Ryan Giggs then… who knew? Well of course everyone knew thanks to the scallywags on Twitter but the legal profession continued to advise Giggs, wrongly, that his secret was safe.

For an estimated £70,000, they told him, his private and family life could be respected by way of a High Court ruling. It was a strange moral stance from someone who led a secret life with a bit on the side, to now demand the very same respect which he failed to give his own family.
… Continue Reading

Filed Under: What's Wrong With Football

‘Fortune, That Favours Fools’: TSB Analyses Leeds United’s Accounts

Posted on May 18, 2011 by The Square Ball • 7 Comments

We got the latest batch of Leeds United accounts from Companies House as soon as they were available, but didn’t understand a word, so we asked somebody who knows about these things what they mean. Our money-minded friend (who also happens to be a Leeds fan) made things as clear as possible for us, but all is still not quite crystal; the interconnections between Leeds United Football Club, Yorkshire Radio and Leeds City Holdings are difficult to unwind, especially as the information given in the publicly available accounts appears to be as minimal as is legally possible. Our man has had a good go at it though, and so here in bullet point form are the things you, as a supporter of Leeds United Football Club, probably ought to know about our finances:… Continue Reading

Filed Under: Leeds United

About Season Ticket Prices

Posted on January 11, 2011 by Moscowhite • 0 Comments

We talked about Leeds United’s season ticket [renewal prices]( http://i53.tinypic.com/1zbgejd.jpg) at some length on the most recent [Square Ball podcast]( http://www.thesquareball.net/podcast/2011/01/08/david-webb-is-a-cretin/), but time constraints meant we couldn’t cover every implication of the increases. One aspect that I would have liked to include is the way that football pricing has created a discord between what represents a fair deal for football fans, and ‘good business’ for the club.… Continue Reading

Filed Under: Leeds United, lwmyd

The Ken Bates School of Contract Negotiations

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Moscowhite • 1 Comment

Andy O’Brien has given us an insight into the Ken Bates school of contract negotiations: “I did all the dealings myself,” he said. “I spoke to Ken Bates by myself and did all the negotiations. “The meeting with Mr Bates is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. It was a bit like… Continue Reading

Filed Under: Leeds United, lwmyd

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