49ers Enterprises loan makes sense for Leeds United and Elland Road works – Finance Expert
We’re delighted to welcome football finance expert Dr Daniel Plumley as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United...
Dan Plumley has insisted it makes business sense for the 49ers Enterprises to take out loans to fund eventual Leeds United work on Elland Road.
The 49ers completed their takeover of the club at the end of last week, with tens of millions needed for work on the West Stand as their visions were laid out, mainly through loans.
The finance expert admitted that is not unusual as any stadium project can be expensive and it can be repaid over numerous years in the future.
“I think it is common,” he exclusively told MOT Leeds News.
“We’ve seen it with other stadiums and redevelopment, even though you are talking about organisations that have an awful amount of money, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to throw all of that money in one hit.
“If you’ve got here a situation where the takeover goes through and you have a lot of money that you need to put into that club anyway, day-to-day with revenue reduction and the wages and contracts, actually trying to get Leeds back into the Premier League is the number one objective, that does cost a lot of money itself.
“When you look at financing a stadium redevelopment or infrastructure build, it’s not unusual that you go down the loan route and look to pay that back in the future.
“When you factor all the things around the takeover, it would be common practise to look to use some of that loan facility to do the stadium and any redevelopment there.”
Paraag Marathe is now officially the chairman of the club, and it is no secret that the 49ers want to improve and expand Elland Road in the future.
Relegation from the Championship will have put those plans on hold, but an immediate return to the Premier League could see this work immediately green-lighted.
In other Leeds United news, the club may now face a losing battle to keep their star player at Elland Road beyond the summer transfer window.