Thorp Arch could be gone very soon as 49ers have £100m+ Leeds United plans ready
Leeds United players could be waving goodbye to their Thorp Arch training base before they know it if they manage to stave off the threat of Premier League relegation this season.
The training ground, which is located near Wetherby and just 30 minutes drive from Elland Road, is set to be scrapped and replaced with a new facility if the 49ers Enterprises complete their full takeover of the club this summer.
The 49ers currently have a 44% stake in the club, but this is expected to become a full buy-out if Leeds United maintain their Premier League status.
And Daily Mail journalist Ian Ladyman reported on Sunday (14 May) that the arrival of the new ownership would bring with it a £100million plan to revamp both Elland Road and the Thorp Arch training base.
He wrote: “With that would come investment in the squad and acceleration of £100 million plans to upgrade Elland Road into a 60,000-capacity stadium and move the club’s training facility from Wetherby into the city.”
The Whites have been dying for an injection of cash into its facilities for far too long, with Elland Road severely outdated when compared to other Premier League stadiums, such as the London Stadium and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Chief Executive Angus Kinnear even admitted in a Supporter Advisory Board meeting that Elland Road was “not fit for purpose”, so the promise of change from the 49ers is a welcome relief for all those involved in the club.
It has never made much sense for the Thorp Arch facility to be just over 30 minutes drive from Elland Road itself, and a new training centre within Leeds city centre would make far more sense for all parties involved.
A change of magnitude would certainly spell the 49ers’ lofty ambitions at Leeds United and could represent the turning over of a new leaf.
The last two seasons have been largely doom and gloom in West Yorkshire, but this £100million project will add a cherry on top of the cake if Sam Allardyce manages to conjure up a miraculous escapology act and avoid relegation to the Championship.
In other Leeds United news, one Whites ace was “furious”, and a coach had told a Sky Sports pundit he had been “sulking”.