On the 31st March 2003, Peter Ridsdale resigned from his position as Leeds United chairman, ending his six-year tenure at the club.
For the early part of Ridsdale’s time at the club, Leeds United were viewed as one of the clubs of the future, with a talented playing squad, aspirations to build a new stadium to replace Elland Road and a highly-rated young manager in David O’Leary.
However, by the time Ridsdale left, Leeds were heavily burdened by debt, having completed a fire sale of the club’s top talent, starting with the departure of Rio Ferdinand to arch-rivals Manchester United.
22 years on and Daniel Farke and his Leeds side are still trying to get back to the dizzying heights of the early 2000s, when the Whites rode high at the top of the Premier League table.
But after Ridsdale attempted to defend his legacy at the club in an interview with TalkSport, it is worth looking back on the state he left Leeds in when he departed all those years ago.
Ridsdale and Venables speak to the media
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Peter Ridsdale’s Leeds United legacy is indefensible
Speaking to Jim White and Simon Jordan on TalkSport on the 16th October, Ridsdale stated that he wished people would stop throwing his time at Leeds in his face, and that the club was in a sustainable position when he left his role.
Unfortunately for the former Leeds chairman, there is plenty of readily available evidence to contradict his attempts to absolve himself from the blame for the club’s implosion.
Speaking via the BBC on the day of his resignation, Ridsdale said, “This has been a very tough six months for the company, and our performance both on and off the pitch has been unsatisfactory.
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“This means that tough action has had to be taken to generate funds from player sales and to reduce costs both on and off the pitch.”
The player sales came thick and fast in 2002 and 2003, as Rio Ferdinand’s £30 million move was accompanied by the sale of Robbie Keane for £7 million, Robbie Fowler for £6 million and the hero of Leeds’ Champions League run, Lee Bowyer, for a paltry £100,000.
But the sale that caused the most rancour was the departure of Jonathan Woodgate, for £9 million. Speaking again via the BBC, Ridsdale has promised that Leeds’ “best player” would not be sold, stating, “
“We actually bought Rio in the first place because Jonathan Woodgate’s position was uncertain due to his involvement in what turned out to be two trials. People say we have sold our best player in Rio, but you have to take a view on whether that is actually the case or not.”
Leeds United fans show their feelings to the chairman Peter Ridsdale
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Leeds collapsed financially well before Premier League relegation
Elsewhere in the interview with TalkSport, Ridsdale claimed that Leeds’ financial collapse had only come about due to their relegation from the Premier League and the lack of parachute payments to support their transition.
Whilst it is technically correct that Leeds did not enter administration prior to their relegation, the storm clouds were already well established before Ridsdale’s departure.
In June 2003, three months after Ridsdale’s departure, Leeds posted a pre-tax loss of £49.5 million, which, according to the BBC, was a record annual loss for a British football club at the time.
By November 2003, another Guardian report with the headline “Leeds face financial collapse” stated that Leeds owed £81.3 million to their international investors, and the club faced administration if it could not raise an immediate injection of capital.
A subsequent report in The Guardian in 2004 stated that from the end of the 1998/99 season to the end of the 2001/02 season, Leeds’ debt rose from £9 million to £82 million, with the annual wage bill eventually rising to £53 million.
That leap in Leeds’ debt mainly accumulated during Ridsdale’s time as chairman at Elland Road. Although a failure to qualify for the Champions League hastened Leeds’ demise, Ridsdale had the ultimate responsibility for signing off on these deals as chairman.
Leeds United chairman Peter Ridsdale
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Transfer decisions cast a long shadow at Leeds United
If you open Wikipedia and search the term “Doing a Leeds”, there is an entire page dedicated to the dire consequences of financial management in football.
Whilst Leeds undoubtedly fell further after Ridsdale departed, slipping into administration and League One during Ken Bates’ time at the club, to suggest the club was in a sustainable position in March 2003 is at best misguided.
Another BBC report from 2006, which reported the departure of Kevin Blackwell, stated that Leeds had only finished paying a contribution towards the wages of Robbie Fowler and Nick Barmby following the conclusion of the 2005/06 season, with Fowler having left Leeds in January 2003.
The same report states that Leeds were still contributing towards Paul Okon and Danny Mills until the end of the 2006/07 season, in which Leeds were relegated to League One, and the club finally succumbed to administration.
When he took over as Leeds chairman in June 1997, the club had just finished 11th under George Graham, with big plans for the future. Ridsdale left Leeds in 16th place, four points above the relegation places and with a shadow of their former squad.
Ridsdale is not solely responsible for Leeds’ decline, with O’Leary, the playing squad and the vagaries of the global economy all playing a role. But Ridsdale should not be able to wash his hands of the entire situation.
Fans have long memories, and the consequences of Leeds’ financial decline had a long-term impact that started long before Ridsdale left Leeds in March 2003.