Leeds United Elland Road expansion: ‘Tens of millions’ admission and 49ers’ promise

Despite Leeds United fighting to stay out of a relegation battle, the demand for home fixture tickets continues to rise. The club’s desire to expand Elland Road in order to increase capacity is now common knowledge, but due to the uncertainty surrounding the club’s ownership, progress has halted. As fans wait patiently for more news on a potential takeover and the planned stadium expansion, we have gathered the latest news surrounding the latter.

Leeds looking at ‘tens of millions’ to expand

The proposed Elland Road redevelopment could cost Leeds United ‘tens of millions’ of pounds. That’s according to football finance expert Daniel Plumley, who spoke with MOT Leeds News about the club’s stadium expansion plans.

“Look at the amount of money it is taking Everton to do a full new stadium, obviously the Spurs one was the most expensive in history. So, you’re talking hundreds of millions to do a full stadium, then you work off from there, so if it’s full stand reconstruction, you come down from those numbers but it is still significant amounts of money, certainly in the tens of millions for sure.”

Expansion on hold until takeover

Phil Hay of The Athletic recently held a Q&A with Leeds fans and took the opportunity to stress that the demand for a bigger ground is very much there. However, he believes the wheels will not be put into motion until a takeover is finalised.

“It’s a frustration on two fronts. First, because a lot of would-be match-going fans cannot get tickets. And second, because the commercial advantages of a larger, more modern stadium would make a big difference to the club’s accounts.

“To answer this succinctly, stadium development will not start or move any further forward until a takeover goes through. It would be an expensive project. But a major upgrade is very much at the centre of 49ers Enterprises’ plans. It wants an improved ground and it wants to gradually push annual revenue much closer to the £400m mark.”

Marathe committed to ‘protecting the magic’

Leeds United vice-chairman and 49ers Enterprises president Paraag Marathe is keen to preserve the personality and history of the Elland Road culture.

In an interview with the BBC, Marathe 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.”