Speaking recently on the TIFO Football Podcast, The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent, Phil Hay, discussed the club’s plans to expand on the current capacity of Elland Road.
It was reported back in 2019 that Leeds were considering expanding the current capacity of their home stadium, and although it was said that ‘nothing formal has been put in motion’, there was talk of turning Elland Road into a stadium that can ‘compete with other stadiums in the Premier League and in Europe.’
Now, following a season in which Leeds romped home to not only secure promotion but also the Championship title, it would seem as if the club are now in a position to consider the expansion of Elland Road.
This is a subject which Phil Hay went into great detail on during a recent appearance on the TIFO Football Podcast.
He said: “There are grander plans at play at Leeds and Elland Road, and one of them is the plan to redevelop the West Stand, which has been there for years and years and is fairly decrepit, but crucially [it’s] keeping the capacity of the stadium down at 35,000.
“If they were to redevelop that to a comparable size to the East Stand at the other side of the pitch, you’d be talking about a capacity of closer to 50,000.
“Given that they’ve sold 23,000 season tickets and have a waiting list of 20,000 behind that, it’s evident that, in the Premier League, they could fill that sort of stadium.
“What they certainly realised is they cannot throw money at projects like that if they’re going to yo-yo, or if they’re going to be up for one season and then down again and stuck back in the EFL. It just isn’t prudent.
“So, I think what they need to see this season this is not only survival but also that feeling of competence in the Premier League, that feeling of comfort in those surroundings, and of essentially finding their feet and beginning to establish themselves in a way which suggests that they’re going to be a Premier League club.”
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TIF Thoughts…
From Hay’s comments, then, it would certainly appear as if Leeds do indeed have plans to increase the capacity at Elland Road, however, the journalist believes it is something that the club may decide to do when they have established themselves as a Premier League side.
In our opinion, this is a sensible approach, as it would certainly not be good for the club to invest a great deal of money into their stadium, only for the club to then suffer relegation back to the Championship, thus losing the windfall of cash that the Premier League brings.