Heartland

yes, this is about football...

shares in leeds united plc have been suspended pending an announcement this afternoon. which means either they've agreed a deal with the "yorkshire-based consortium" or they're about to go into administration. and you've got to admit that the latter option would be far more amusing....

How the mighty have fallen. I remember Ridsdale being hailed as a hero after the way he handled the Galatasaray situation. I can't claim to be much of a follower these days, but it would surely be a huge blow to the City if it lost its footbal team.

Thrash Harry wrote:... it would surely be a huge blow to the City if it lost its footbal team.

well it would be but i can't see it coming to that. if the likes of port vale and notts county can return from the brink i'm sure leeds will be bailed out eventually. what's more likely (imho) is a slide straight down to the second division and then who knows what....

RicheyJames wrote:

Thrash Harry wrote:... it would surely be a huge blow to the City if it lost its footbal team.

well it would be but i can't see it coming to that. if the likes of port vale and notts county can return from the brink i'm sure leeds will be bailed out eventually. what's more likely (imho) is a slide straight down to the second division and then who knows what....

Why would it be?

I can see it would be a blow for their supporters, but at most that might make up half the population of the city. I know it's hard to imagine, but staggering numbers of people really couldn't care about football, and a few actively dislike the game.

But for the city as a whole - how would it differ from the loss of any other leisure activity? It's not as if there is a shortage of other sport (including other football) widely available.

So aside from the staff of the company and the 30,000 who turn up at Elland Road each week, who suffers?

well i can't speak for thrash, but my feeling is that were leeds united to fold it would be a massive blow to the prestige of a city which ranks itself amongst the largest and most important in the country. football, love it or loathe it, is still very much the national game of dear old blighty and for a city the size of leeds to not have a league club to its name would be a little odd at least.

trivia time football fans - largest town/city in england without a league club to call its own?

Wakefield? Until Emley moved there they didn't even have significant non-league club.

And as for prestige - does the reputation of "dirty" Leeds United really enhance the city's image?

After the joys of the Lee Bowyer case, the Alan Smith case, the club's chronic mismanagement, an appalling season in the Premiership, not to mention an historic association with violent supporters dating back to the 70s, what is the upside of having that particular club representing the city?

Also, keep in mind that the original Leeds City FC also went bust, back in the 20s or 30s. The Football League was quick to fast-track LUFC into the fold to stave off the prospect of rugby league taking complete control in that area. They did the same thing in 1904, throwing money and a Division Two spot at a rugby club in Manningham, now known as Bradford City FC and also in administration (again).

Did you know that Huddersfield is the largest town in Europe ?

Paddy.

I told that Huddersfield thing to a friend & he laughed at me. Idiot.

On the subject of the mighty whites, I being one of them am pretty confused about what's going on. Its looking ok one minute then its a mess again. I'm almost losing track.

I for one would not be that upset if we did go into administration. Yeah we'd 99% definitely drop down to Div 1 as all the players would be sold but we can 'start again' then with the financial backing we would inevitably get if it did happen. If this carries on as it is at the moment then we are gonna just be bog standard for years & years.

I'd have been a complete wreck if we'd have gone down last season but after seeing the majority of the performances home & away this season I can say I'm more than prepared for it now so bring on administration !!! Mmm.

Oh & there should be a stipulation if we go into admin... Alan Smith stays !!!!!!

Andy, would you feel the same if it was Sunderland who were about to disappear down the plughole? Personally I'd laugh like buggery if they folded, but I do think a slide down the leagues is more likely. And teams can recover from that. city did, unfortunately. But if Leeds DID disappear, it would be ahuge blow to the citizens, plus they'd probably make my life that much harder too (like they don't already).

A few years back, weren't Huddersfield on the verge of promotion to the Premiership? That said, a few years ago Barnsley and Oldham were IN it.

RicheyJames wrote:well i can't speak for thrash, but my feeling is that were leeds united to fold it would be a massive blow to the prestige of a city which ranks itself amongst the largest and most important in the country.

Like the man said. Call it civic pride, but the power of a successful football team to unite a city such as Leeds is hard to overstate. Even I got up to queue outside Elland Road @ 7am to get tickets for the Slavia Prague and Galatasaray home legs during the heady days of 2000. There was a hell of a buzz about the city upto that fateful day.

Dave Whelan wrote:Andy, would you feel the same if it was Sunderland who were about to disappear down the plughole? Personally I'd laugh like buggery if they folded, but I do think a slide down the leagues is more likely. And teams can recover from that. city did, unfortunately. But if Leeds DID disappear, it would be ahuge blow to the citizens, plus they'd probably make my life that much harder too (like they don't already).

A few years back, weren't Huddersfield on the verge of promotion to the Premiership? That said, a few years ago Barnsley and Oldham were IN it.

Of course I'd be gutted if it were Sunderland threatened with extintion. My argument is not that supporters and people directly involved with the club would be unaffected - that is self-evidently not the case.

But the notion that it is a blow for the city as a whole - really? All half-a-million or so residents of Leeds would find a strange absence in their lives if United went under? I doubt it.

As for the civic pride thing, supporters take pride in a successful team. On a large enough scale it can be a boost to a city - the profiles of the likes of Manchester, Barcelona, Turin etc are probably helped by their prominent teams, as Liverpool was in the past.

But when a team is unsuccessful? When it has become a byword for poor financial management off the field? When, on the field, they are widely regarded as dirty? When an astonishing number of their players, past and present, have been involved in a number of unsavoury incidents?

If your city's principle ambassador carries that much baggage, would you be sorry to lose it?

I've no quibble with the footballing loss: even though I'm not a big Leeds fan I wouldn't want to see any team go out of business. But I say that as someone who loves football. I couldn't really give a monkeys if, say, a basketball team went out of business even though it undoubtedly has the same impact on the staff and fans. Football is a higher profile sport, but I'm not sure the argument is fundamentally different.

andymackem wrote:As for the civic pride thing, supporters take pride in a successful team. On a large enough scale it can be a boost to a city - the profiles of the likes of Manchester, Barcelona, Turin etc are probably helped by their prominent teams, as Liverpool was in the past.

But when a team is unsuccessful? When it has become a byword for poor financial management off the field? When, on the field, they are widely regarded as dirty? When an astonishing number of their players, past and present, have been involved in a number of unsavoury incidents?

If your city's principle ambassador carries that much baggage, would you be sorry to lose it?

Clearly, the reason we don't want to lose it is because we want it to be a team we can be proud of again.

the power of a successful football team to unite a city

i thought we were talking about Leeds ?

Ooh aah Cantona
Has to wear a girlie bra