The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent Phil Hay has recently discussed the Whites’ former owners GFH Capital and their time owning the club.
In December 2012, the Dubai-based private equity group took over the Yorkshire outfit (per BBC).
Lees than a year and a half on, in April 2014, GFH’s time at the club was brought to an end as Italian businessman, Massimo Cellino, completed a takeover of the Whites.
Cellino would then go on to endure ‘a checkered stint’ with Leeds as he ‘thrived on chaos’ during his time with the club (per Leeds Live).
Speaking on the latest episode of The Athletic’s The Phil Hay Show, the journalist discussed GFH’s time owning the Whites and slammed them.
He said: “Even allowing for Cellino, [GFH ran] the most inept regime I’ve ever seen, I still don’t understand how most of them got anywhere near a football club.
“There didn’t seem to be any effort on their part, okay they appointed [Brian] McDermott and the playing squad and everything else, but there didn’t seem to be any effort on their part to construct a board or a management team that had any football expertise or any acumen about the game at all.
“It would be hard to think of one positive thing that GFH did at Elland Road. I think the only thing that they could come up with was that they formed an official club Twitter account and that was pretty much about it.
“There were things that Cellino did that were very, very out of order and didn’t reflect well on the club at all, but I don’t think Leeds have ever been more of a shambles than they were at the point where GFH were trying to sell to Cellino, it was complete mayhem.”
TIF Thoughts on what Phil Hay said about GFH’s ownership…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he clearly has a very withering view of how the Dubai-based private equity group ran the Whites while they were the club’s owner.
Which of the two do you believe was a worse owner of Leeds United?
Cellino
GFH
Certainly, that showed on the pitch for Leeds as at the end of the 2012/13 season they finished 13th and a season later they ended the term 15th in the Championship (per Transfermarkt).
After Cellino then sold the club to Andrea Radrizzani in May 2017 following his three years at Elland Road, things steadily began to improve as, following a dip in finishing position during the 2017/18 term, they finished third and then first in the second tier over the following two years.
So, it is clear that the Whites are in better hands now than they have been in any recent season.