Leeds turn to fans for £10m

Leeds United's new board is to turn to the club's supporters in an attempt to raise more than £10m of fresh capital to help refinance the ailing club.

In the first major initiative by the consortium that took control last week, the new chairman Gerald Krasner told a supporters' forum last night that Leeds were launching a discounted debenture scheme as a "thank you" to fans for sticking by the club.

Under the scheme around 2,000 seats will be made available on 20-year debentures for as little as £3,300, the equivalent price, said Krasner, of a 10-year debenture.

Discounts will be available to supporters based on the length of time they have had a season ticket, with a long-term holder in the Revie Stand paying the lowest rate. A new season-ticket holder in the Kop will pay over £4,000. The debenture seats will be available in all areas of the ground except the Family Stand.

"We are going to offer them a limited number of 20-year debentures on their seats for 10 years' payment," Krasner said before addressing the forum, the first time he has faced supporters since he took control at Elland Road.

"We are trying to give something back to the fans as a thank you and will also effectively assist with the ongoing funding that is required.

"This forum is not a one-off meeting; this will be repeated. The supporters are the people who pay all the wages and all the bills, and I'm a great believer in keeping them informed as far as we can."

The debenture scheme, which received a lukewarm reception from the Leeds United Supporters' Trust, echoes an offer made to Bradford City supporters during the tenure of their former chairman Geoffrey Richmond.

Richmond piloted a similar scheme almost four years ago, when 25-year Bradford season tickets were put up for sale at £2,250, with the club virtually selling out of the 1,000 allocation and so raising more than £2m. But, unlike the all-in-one fee at Bradford, prices at Elland Road will vary depending on the stand concerned.

At Leeds, Richmond's involvement in the Krasner-led consortium has disturbed the club's fans because of his connections with Bradford, who rose from the Second Division to the Premiership when he was in charge, but are now in administration.

Richmond, who is occupying an office at Elland Road and whose son David is part of the consortium, has acted as a consultant to the takeover group. Krasner said Richmond Snr will continue to offer advice on football-related matters to the new board free of charge until at least the end of the season.

David Richmond, the club's new operations director, said of the debenture scheme: "It could raise an awful lot of money, plus it is a way to say thank you and to help the club move forward."

But John Boocock, chair of the trust, said the scheme was not the right means of raising money, and condemned Richmond's involvement.

"These schemes are not an appropriate way to raise money. Looking at the evidence from a number of clubs including Bradford City, I'm not sure how well this will be received and how well they will sell," he said.

"I've said all along that Geoffrey Richmond is not an appropriate person to be involved in football and I'm saying that in solidarity with our counterparts at Bradford, who will draw your attention to the mistakes and mismanagement that have left them in administration."

Boocock said that the trust had entered into preliminary negotiations with David Richmond over a £15m supporters' buy-out of Elland Road and the training ground at Thorp Arch, under which the trust would lease the facilities back to the club indefinitely.

York City Supporters Trust has recently completed a similar buy-out, but it would be the first deal of its kind at a Premiership club.

"There is a proposal to buy the ground and Thorp Arch but it is only at the very early stages," Boocock said.

"We think it would cost £15m but there are ways and means of doing it. This sort of thing has worked at York City and we are looking at the possibility of emulating them."

Boocock welcomed the forum as a "positive step" in terms of dialogue between Leeds fans and directors.