– Leeds spiral debt in 2003 raised fears the club might go out of business.
– but new owner who bought the remaining 50 percent of the club stake in May has been able to show light at the end of the tunnel.
– The team is also hailed by all those that have associated with it in the past.
Leeds’ debts had spiralled to over £100million in 2003 under former chairman Peter Ridsdale and there were fears the club could go out of business.
They were forced to sell all their players and other assets, including Elland Road Stadium and their Thorp Arch academy, and have since stumbled from crisis to crisis under a succession of different owners.
Leeds went into administration in 2007 under Ken Bates and fared little better under subsequent owners GFH Capital before the arrival of controversial Italian Massimo Cellino.
During Cellino’s chaotic three-year ownership Leeds had seven different managers, but current owner Andrea Radrizzani bought a 50 per cent stake in Leeds in January 2017 to signal the dawning of a new era.
Radrizzani purchased the remaining 50 per cent from Cellino the following May and Leeds made a bold statement of intent by appointing Bielsa in the summer of 2018.
It was an expensive gamble, but Bielsa proved an instant hit, transforming the same squad he inherited into genuine promotion challengers in his first season.
That ended in disappointment when Leeds fell short in the play-offs, but Bielsa and his players have bounced back.
Leeds have continued to light up the Championship with Bielsa’s exciting brand of football and few could begrudge them their place back among the elite.
Former manager Kevin Blackwell, who guided Leeds to the Championship play-off final in 2006, said promotion was “massive” for the club.
“Knowing the club, the fans and the expectation, this is massive for them and all credit to Bielsa and his team for getting them over the line. I know how tough it is.
“Leeds United is one of the clubs that every team wants to beat and that’s what makes it harder to get out of the Championship, so all credit to the owner, Bielsa and his players.
“Believe me, to win the Championship it is a tough, tough slog and the pressure was really on Leeds this time.”
Leeds promotion was also greeted with joy by a host of their former players.
Former goalkeeper Paul Robinson told Sky Sports: “It’s been long-awaited and very long overdue. When I played that last game in 2004, 16 years ago, you never envisaged that Leeds United would be out of the top flight for so long, and even dropping to the third tier of English football.
“From what Marcelo Bielsa inherited two-and-a-half-years ago – a team that finished 14th in the Championship – to now automatic promotion to the Premiership, it’s absolutely fantastic.
“The biggest thing Leeds did at the end of last season was keep the manager.
“We’ve heard plaudits from many managers, Pep Guardiola to name one, that name him as a mentor or guru.
“He’s an oddball, he’s a scientist, he’s a professor of the game.
“We’ve seen that with spygate and everything else that comes with him, but it just all adds to the Leeds United history. Love them or loathe them, they’re back in the Premiership.”
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