Consortium 'want what's best for Leeds'

The Yorkshire-based consortium seeking to buy Leeds United have responded to fears that they may be asset strippers by insisting they have the club’s best interests at heart.

A second Yorkshire-based consortium, headed by former Huddersfield chairman Terry Fisher, dropped out of the running yesterday when they revealed they would not be making an offer for the club.

And that prompted Dr Bill Gerrard, of the Leeds Business School, to claim Leeds fans had huge reservations about the consortium represented by insolvency expert Gerald Krasner and urge them to come clean over their plans for the club should they take it over.

In response the consortium issued a statement this afternoon in which they claim the consortium members are “passsionate about the club” and have “the credentials and the finances to save Leeds from administration” regardless of whether they stay up or are relegated.

The statement continues: “Any suggestion that the consortium are looking at this acquisition as an asset stripping exercise is completely untrue, so much so we can make a commitment now that, if we are successful in buying the club, Leeds United’s future is and always will be at Elland Road.

Anyone suggesting otherwise is simply scaremongering.

“We have nothing to hide and, despite wishing to keep the members of the consortium anonymous for the moment, our intentions have been clear for everyone to see.

“Our one and only motivation is to ensure the survival of Leeds United.”

Leeds have a gross debt in excess of £100m (€149m) after `living the dream' under the Peter Ridsdale regime.

And if the Yorkshire-based consortium is successful in taking over the club they will have to deal with the reality of recovering from those crippling debts.

The statement continued: “For several years, there has been a culture of waste at the club and any new regime we bring to Elland Road will be charged with rebuilding the club from its roots.

“We will not be living the dream but living the reality and that needs the support of the fans. It won’t be easy but it is the only way the club can survive with a viable future ahead of it.”

“We have already proven we have the resources and backing to satisfy the club and we are all committing personal finances to the deal – that makes it a personal as well as a business investment.”