‘They’ve got planning permission’ – Journo says Elland Rd may be transformed when fans are back
Leeds United fans could walk into a different-looking Elland Road by the time they’re allowed to attend matches again, according to magazine journalist Daniel Chapman.
The Whites’ bid to win promotion to the Premier League could resume at some point in the coming months but it is very much expected that the club’s remaining nine matches will take place behind closed doors to help prevent a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Championship leaders Leeds are likely to be a Premier League club by the time fans are allowed back to Elland Road and writer of The Square Ball magazine Chapman – who also goes by Moscow White – claims that several changes could be made at the stadium.
He says that the gantry is likely to be completely upgraded to meet Premier League requirements while the floodlights will also be changed after the club acquired planning permission from Leeds City Council.
“One thought I had was that you (Phil Hay) mentioned the gantry will never be the same without Norman Hunter up there but if the season ends and Leeds are promoted then the gantry will probably never be the same because it all has to be ripped out, upgraded and transformed for the Premier League,” Chapman said on the Phil Hay Show podcast.
“Those famous floodlights that were supposed to be put behind the West Stand that they’ve got planning permission for. They have to go up if we’re a Premier League club.
“When we do finally get back to Elland Road – if the club is in the Premier League when crowds are allowed back in – the stadium could look completely different.”
It could be a long time before fans are allowed to gather in their masses at Elland Road again so there might be even more changes made to the stadium than what Chapman has eluded to.
But one thing that will happen if Leeds win promotion is that there will be new floodlights installed.
LeedsLive reported last year that due to “Premier League regulations”, the club applied to the council to construct two 44-metre-high floodlights behind the West Stand.
As for the gantry, it remains to be seen what will happen there but there will no doubt be more journalists, television cameras, commentators and pundits pouring into Elland Road if the Whites win promotion.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has shared what he’s been told by EFL doctors about a return date.