Local businessman was close to Leeds takeover

Yorkshire businessman Steve Parkin has revealed he was “within days” of clinching a deal to take over at Elland Road.

The Leeds-born multi-millionaire chief executive of Brighouse-based logistics company Clipper Group – even interviewed then Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie to take control of team affairs.

Lifelong fan Parkin, 45, says the deal fell through after his consortium discovered the cost of taking control from Gerald Krasner could have been £50million – but he has not ruled out buying the club sometime in the future.

“I put together a consortium and we had a fair amount of wealth within that to do a deal,” he said. “We were willing to take it on and be the guarantor for the debt, but we needed to look at the books.

“They weren’t releasing the information to us. What they were saying was show us your funds and we’ll show you the books, but I was saying if you don’t show me the books, how do I know how much money I need. Until you see the books, how do you know?”

Parkin added in the Yorkshire Evening Post: “I would love to be able one day to put something into Leeds United, whether that’s to own it or be a director or just a beneficiary. You can never say never. I would like to think I could put something in to enable it to thrive again.”