Leeds City Council confirms fresh Leeds United supporters group action over Elland Road

The listing of a building or land as an asset of community value [AoCV] ensures that it cannot be sold without community groups being informed and given a right to bid to purchase it themselves. An AoCV can be used as a reason to refuse planning permission for change of use or demolition and in extreme circumstances, if the asset is under threat of long-term loss to the community then an AoCV-registered building can be compulsory purchased by a local authority or council.

The council confirmed to the YEP on Thursday that the previous approval of AoCV status had expired on October 5 2022 and Elland Road had been automatically delisted, but the situation did not prevent a new application from being made for Elland Road.

A day later the council has revealed that the Trust has now lodged a fresh application. A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “The council can confirm that the Leeds United Supporters’ Trust submitted an application yesterday evening for Elland Road to be considered as an asset of community value. The application will now be assessed against the established criteria.”

The YEP understands that the Trust had been working on the renewal for a number of months before lodging the application on Thursday.

In a series of Tweets the Trust said: “On the AoCV status, it’s not automatically flagged that it expires from when we successfully submitted the application previously. So when we realised it had a few months back we immediately began the renewal process and started to gather the right documentation to the club. It's a time consuming process, but we’re pleased to say the application has now been submitted and we await a council decision. We will look at what we can put in place for the future to alert new board members of its expiry so they don’t end up not in the same situation.”

This news follows revelations in a report by The Athletic that the club’s majority owner Andrea Radrizzani had proposed putting up Elland Road as collateral in order to obtain a loan with which he could complete a takeover of Sampdoria. There is no charge against the ground listed on companies house and club chiefs, who were said to be unaware of the proposal until it was put to them by The Athletic on Wednesday evening, are confident the proposal went no further. Radrizzani’s boardroom partners, 49ers Enterprises, are also part-owners of the stadium.

Although AoCV status would help to protect the interests of supporters with regards to any potential sale of the ground, the YEP understands the legislation would not have come into play had Radrizzani’s proposal gone any further.

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “If a property or piece of land is registered as an asset of community value, then the owner is only required to notify the council – as the responsible authority – when a relevant disposal is taking place.”

49ers Enterprises are believed to remain keen on a full takeover of Leeds United, having previous agreed a deal with Radrizzani in the event of the club retaining Premier League status. A new deal has therefore to be negotiated for his shares and though there are suggestions that talks are ongoing, neither party has addressed the possibility of a transition of power this week. A statement published by Radrizzani on his personal Twitter account, one which was not shared by the club’s official accounts, held no hint of a goodbye from the Italian owner.

Instead he wrote: “We have invested heavily in Leeds United since 2017 and worked hard to back to where the club deserves to be. With the support of our partners, we can continue that journey to bounce back.”