Leeds United

[scousemouse]

I do hope Leeds manage to get through this for the real Leeds fans out there , what your going through must be a nightmare .

Debt-ridden Leeds put up for sale Ken Bates has already warned that the club's future is in jeopardyThe future of Leeds United is again in doubt after the club was put up for sale by its administrator.

KPMG said that it had made the decision because of a challenge by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over the £7.7m it is owed by the Yorkshire club.

Former chairman Ken Bates had proposed to take Leeds out of administration, repaying creditors eight pence in every pound that it owed.

A deadline for offers has been set of 1700 BST on Monday.

"We are interested in talking to other parties," confirmed a KPMG spokesman.

The administrator had earlier warned that there was now a danger the club would be unable to start the new season.

Unpaid taxes

Leeds United has debts of £35m, including the money owed to HMRC in unpaid taxes.

Those who have previously declared an interest in buying the club include Duncan Revie, son of former Leeds manager Don, and property entrepreneur Simon Morris.

Earlier this week, businessman Simon Franks said he was ready to buy Leeds United, through his Redbus investment vehicle.

HMRC has been challenging Mr Bates's plans to exit administration at a High Court hearing in Leeds.

KPMG said that unless the club was able to leave administration, the Football League may not let it start the season.

League officials are due to meet next week to discuss the situation.

The court case has been adjourned until 3 September, while Leeds are due to play their first game of next season away to Tranmere on Saturday, 11 August.

Former Leeds chairman Gerald Krasner expects the ownership question to be sorted out before the start of the season.

However, a spokesman said that as the club was in administration he could not comment on KPMG's decision. And Mr Bates has already warned that the cost of defending the HMRC's court action could cost the club its future.

[EastSaxCol]

Yeah sure they will

LUAFC

[bendix]

As desperate as the situation seems for us whites, I can't see us not starting the new season but what shape we will be in I have no idea. Irrespective of whether KPMG find a buyer in the next week or so, I can't see the Football League ruling that we shouldn't be allowed to play. The backlash would be enormous.

Having said that, I can't imagine any club being in a situation worse than the one we are in now. We have just left for a pre-season match in Ireland with a team full of kids, trialists and not one fit goalkeeper.

[scousemouse]

Dont get me wrong , I do love seeing certain football teams lose and certain fans crying ( bluenoses and mancs ) but I still have a certain respect for their fans as were all fans of the same thing ..... FOOTIE !!!!!! .

And we would miss beating certain teams aswell . I do hope Leeds sort their shit out .

[keddy]

Dont get me wrong , I do love seeing certain football teams lose and certain fans crying ( bluenoses and mancs ) but I still have a certain respect for their fans as were all fans of the same thing ..... FOOTIE !!!!!! .

And we would miss beating certain teams aswell . I do hope Leeds sort their shit out .

Shall we have a whip round? as Santa Claus doesn't seem to be helping the cause too much

[twentythreemc]

Leeds United will survive if only by the skin of their teeth we are in the hands of KPMG now, not KEN BATES. The difficulty arises in the fact that by law KPMG cannot incur any debt therefore the day to day costs must be met by someone. Ken Bates threat of liquidation is a matter for concern but I believe that KPMG have acted quickly to resolve this situation by requesting that bids for the acquisition of the club be accepted by 5 pm Monday. I will not be disheartened if Mr Bates makes a few quid for himself but it's now time for him to get the <deleted> out of dodge. We have been the brunt of many a joke and jibe on various web sites but you ask your self as true football fans how would you feel if you thought your club would be extinct tomorrow ?

[mrtoad]

Whilst it is always sad to see any famous football club suffer, Leeds United have pretty much bought this on upon themselves. They will also find little sympathy from supporters of other clubs who remember the cynical team of the seventies (Yes, they were bloody good, but they had a pretty spiteful side to them as well) and of course some of their particularly unpleasant fans, who I can remember chasing us across central park in Plymouth some years back after the game.

I certainly don't think it is good for Football to lose a club of Leeds' standing, but maybe a spot in League Two or the Blue Square Premier might just remind people, that although you want your team to win, you shouldn't just throw all your money at it.

Hopefully, after next season I will see my local team Torquay United playing them in League Two.

[bendix]

Well, the deadline for bids passed at 5pm UK time and there were several placed so it's not all gloom and doom. Bates definitely issued a new bid, as did Redbus Group in association with a property developer and former Leeds director, Simon Morris. There are also signs that Adam Pearson (ex Hull Chairman) put in a bid, backed by a local internet tycoon.

KPMG are assessing the bids and an announcement is expected today.

As i understand it, the CVA is now off the table. KPMG exercised their right to buy the club for one pound last week, and the best offer submitted yesterday (not necessarily the highest) wins. My understanding is that the bulk of any offer is immediately diverted to paying off (in part but in full-settlement) the primary non-football creditors.

The football creditors are actually not that huge and comprise largely not of debts as such, but future obligations on existing player contracts. Calling it a debt is misleading.

So what happens next? Well, the winning bid owns a debt free club (a rare thing these days) and basically a fresh start.

Hopefully, the Football League will endorse any such bid and allow us to re-engage in the transfer market.

And, from the ashes, hopefully we'll rise again.

[Prakanong]

Well Leeds are not exactly my favourite club but I do hope they cme through this with a new owner who is not Mr Ken Bates and they can get on with the new season.

7 million to the revenue is it? - not that much in footie club terms is it?

They did contribute to my greatest day in football so I can not be too harsh - 5th May 1973 when I stood in Wembley West

[mrtoad]

News just come in that it is indeed Mr Bates who now has control of the club.

Just a quick question to the Leeds fans. What's your opinion of Ken Bates?

[bendix]

Divided opinions. On the one hand, he took the club over 3 years ago when it was similarly doomed. It's hard to make of what has happened this week, but the reports seem to imply that his was the ONLY unconditional offer and so - in that respect - all the other knights in shining armour favoured by many other fans, maybe weren't as committed as they could be.

In the end, we are now in a much better place financially. We're debt free and have already sold 10,000 season tickets, more than we sold last year. I just hope the fans now get behind the team again and fill Elland Road and get us back to the Championship first time of asking.

[eddie11]

Not a fan of Bates by any means.

If he had lost the bid I am sure he would of caused enough trouble to make sure we went under.

Let us wait see what the future holds

MOT

[Prakanong]

Just listening on 5 Live

There is a Football League Meeting today looking at all items relating to Leeds.

They have still not handed over the "Golden Share" that allows Leeds to play.

Personally I can not see them not giving it.

There was one of the other biddrs on saying he could not beleive they were outbid and it must not have been on money alone the decision was made.

[bendix]

It's all speculation. Of course money alone didnt come into it Prakanong. It's widely known that other bids were HIGHER in monetary terms than Bates'

BUT . . . and it's a big BUT . . KPMG had a duty to act in what they considered the best interests of both the creditors and the club. In that regard, Bates' offer was the only unconditional offer. All others, it seems, had conditions attached to them.

In that regards, KPMG had no choice but to accept Bates' offer. it was deemed to be the most beneficial of all the offers. Creditors might not be happy, but those are the insolvency laws.

Frankly, all these rival bids are a load of PR nonsense. Anyone - even me - could have paraded myself as a Leeds supporters hero and made a 500m pound offer and looking like the good guy. All i had to do was add 'conditions' to the offer and I know it would not and cannot be accepted by the administrators.

That's exactly what Redbus, Morris, Pearson et al have done. Meaningless gestures.

[mrtoad]

It's all speculation. Of course money alone didnt come into it Prakanong. It's widely known that other bids were HIGHER in monetary terms than Bates'

BUT . . . and it's a big BUT . . KPMG had a duty to act in what they considered the best interests of both the creditors and the club. In that regard, Bates' offer was the only unconditional offer. All others, it seems, had conditions attached to them.

In that regards, KPMG had no choice but to accept Bates' offer. it was deemed to be the most beneficial of all the offers. Creditors might not be happy, but those are the insolvency laws.

Frankly, all these rival bids are a load of PR nonsense. Anyone - even me - could have paraded myself as a Leeds supporters hero and made a 500m pound offer and looking like the good guy. All i had to do was add 'conditions' to the offer and I know it would not and cannot be accepted by the administrators.

That's exactly what Redbus, Morris, Pearson et al have done. Meaningless gestures.

Leeds were lucky that they didn't get taken over by one of these fame seekers.

My local Club, Torquay United had a bloke tae over last year. Had all these big dreams of builsing a 20,000 seater stadium, yeah and they only get 2,500 for home matches anyway. He put himself on a nice big salary, sold all the best players, bought in a Mangager who couldn't speak English and almost bankrupted what was a financially stable club in the space of 6 months. Thankfully he eventually had to step down, because he couldn't fufill the conditions of his buy out, i.e. not enough money, but it was to late to save the club from relegation to the conference.

So much for the fit persons test there, wasn't it?

At least with Bates he is a pretty shrewd operator and I think he will certainly try and revive Leeds' fortunes.

[scousemouse]

Looks like D-day is nigh for Leeds fans .

Leeds to discover League One fate Bates believes the club is now in a good positionLeeds will meet the Football League on Thursday to clarify whether the club will be able to take their place in League One next season.

The debt-ridden club is again under the control of chairman Ken Bates after administrators KPMG resold Leeds to him on Wednesday.

But the circumstances of the sale have prompted warnings that Leeds may not be able to compete in League One.

However Bates foresees no problems with the club playing in the division.

Bates' consortium won the race to buy back Leeds after KMPG said the deal provided the club with the "best chance of survival".

The Football League had warned the transfer of Leeds Football League share - effectvely their permission to play - would not be considered unless there was a Creditors Voluntart Agreement in place.

The CVA dictates that Leeds repay their creditors out of any profits they make.

More than 10,000 fans have already bought season tickets for the coming campaign.

It is not known how much of the club's £35m debt will be paid off but Bates is optimistic about Leeds' future.

"We will continue what we have been doing, which is clearing up the mess that other people left behind," he said.

"We are nearly out of that now, both on the field and off the field.

"We are ready to go, we asked the Football League to give us our share back then we can start buying and selling players."