49ers commit £10m to Leeds United after brand new developments
Leeds United owners 49ers Enterprises are already committing £10million in their Elland Road redevelopment plans, according to The Athletic.
Nancy Froston reported in the Athletic on 25 September that as part of their plan to turn Elland Road into a 53,000-seater stadium – England’s seventh-largest club ground – the 49ers are already taking strides.
The 49ers’ £10m commitment will cover consultations and planning, up to the point of the approval of planning permission in LS11, as the West and North stands at Elland Road are fully rebuild.
It’s yet to be revealed how much the project as a whole is expected to cost in total, but The Athletic’s report states that the 49ers’ investment in securing the future of Elland Road will be “significant”.
Leeds United take first steps towards transforming Elland Road
The expansion of Elland Road is long overdue by some distance, with the stadium’s current, outdated nature coinciding with United’s many years in the doldrums outside the richest of the Premier League.
The last significant expansion works in LS11 came all the way back in 1994, when the largest stand in the ground, the East, was completed in the wake of the Whites’ 1992 First Division title win.
Promotion to the Premier League under Andrea Radrizzani’s ownership brought the redevelopment dream back into people’s minds, but relegation three years later saw a those long-term ambitions halted.
That is, it seems, until now, with the 49ers drawing up their plans to significant expand Elland Road showing that there is an ambition to start work as soon as the Whites are back in the Premier League.
Promotion is no sure thing though, and with the dream of a brand-new Elland Road looming on the horizon, the pressure to secure United’s return to the top flight will only increase.
In other Leeds United news, a promotion-winning Whites manager has told Daniel Farke what changes he needs to make this season.
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