Unnamed player speaks out about ‘chaos’ at Leeds United pre-season
An unnamed former Leeds United player has told the Athletic about the “chaos” experienced on the Whites’ pre-season tour of Santa Cristina in Northern Italy in the summer of 2014.
Featured in the publications article discussing a variety of occasions in which pre-season tours have ‘gone wrong’ the anonymous player opened up about the struggles experienced during a period of off-the-field difficulty for Leeds.
Not only were the players locked out of training grounds when payments weren’t completed, but they were also forced to face off against one another when an opposition team failed to turn up to their showdown instead leaving them to complete an inter-club match.
Reflecting on the tour, the Athletic’s Stuart James said: “This was the Massimo Cellino era at Leeds, where it got so bad that the players had to wash their own kit and bring their own packed lunches. In the absence of an ice bath in Italy, Leeds used a nearby river to recover after training sessions.
Leeds won their first game, against FC Gherdeina, 16-0. In the second fixture, Viitorul Constanta from Romania failed to turn up because Leeds had failed to finalise the contracts properly.
“It was the supporters I felt sorry for,” a Leeds player, who asked not to be named, told The Athletic. “It must have felt like a complete waste of money.
“The training ground thing (the non-payment of money) got sorted in a couple of hours but that morning was typical of what was going on at the time. The club was so unstable that being told the training ground was closed was the least surprising thing ever. You came to expect chaos. But it was a pretty weird experience.”
Reminder things could be worse
For Leeds fans the last year probably feels like an almighty low, having waited so long to return to the Premier League, after only three seasons they are back in the Championship. But articles like this are a reminder it could be a lot worse.
While in the Summer of 2023, the new owners of the Whites are sitting ready to invest and completing deals to sign international defenders from the likes of Chelsea, that is a far cry from the dire straits that Leeds found themselves in less than a decade ago.
Rightfully, the business deals that occurred as United were relegated last season have been criticised, but the steps taken under the ownership of Andrea Radrizzani have been positive, even if not as much as they could’ve been.
The preparations for their latest Championship campaign see them face the likes of Manchester United and Monaco, a concept that couldn’t be much further away than your local opposition not turning up because the club have been unable to pay them.
In other Leeds United news: two eight-figure sales could help navigate FFP rules for the 49ers