Leeds United: Angus Kinnear provides Elland Road expansion update | OneFootball

Angus Kinnear has discussed the plans to expand Leeds United's Elland Road stadium.

Leeds United CEO Angus Kinnear has revealed that positive steps are being taken as the owners look to expand Elland Road, with a 53,000 capacity potentially on the cards.

It’s no secret that the Whites have been hoping to develop their stadium, with talk of expanding the ground having been on the agenda for the past few years.

Elland Road expansion latest

However, relegation from the Premier League was always going to impact any decision, but Kinnear told The Square Ball that they still intend to make improvements to Elland Road, which includes increasing capacity by around 15,000, although no final calls have been made.

“The good news about the stadium is, for the first time in the six and a half years or seven years that I’ve been involved in the club, I think we’ve got some real traction behind the stadium. So the 49ers have committed a multimillion-pound sum on putting together a project team which has environmentalists, transport planners, the design team, the structural engineers, the mechanical engineers.

“That team is now meeting two or three times a week with a view to submitting the planning application. There’s going to be an announcement very shortly about that. And within that, you’ll get a degree of granularity in the plans around stadium capacity. I think at the moment it looks like it’s going to be 53,000. That’s the most economic number.

“Within that, you’ll also get a sense of the broad split, which hasn’t been decided yet, between GA (general admission) and hospitality seats. But there’ll be a significant GA increase, but there will also be an increase in premium seats on that side as well, because the West Stand doesn’t really have any workable hospitality as it stands.”

Increasing Elland Road’s capacity can help Leeds United grow

The importance of increasing revenues is very clear in the modern game, as it is relevant to PSR and what clubs can spend.

So, this would provide Leeds with additional income, which is why it’s no surprise there is talk of increasing the number of hospitality seats, and it will obviously benefit the club and the team if they can have more fans in the stadium.

Some will argue that the immediate focus should be on improving the team, and if Leeds win promotion, more financial backing will be required to enhance the squad to ensure they can establish themselves back among the elite.

But, the 49ers have made it clear that they have a long-term outlook for the Yorkshire outfit, which means the stadium is key, so the fans should be excited by this news, and it will be intriguing to see what fresh information comes out when they do release a proper update, which Kinnear mentions.

The defeat to Southampton was a real blow for Leeds, and there’s no doubt it did set them back significantly.

Nevertheless, there should be optimism about where the club are heading under the current ownership, as they have bold ambitions to take Leeds back to where they feel they belong.

The stadium is an example of that, but the main priority for Leeds is always going to be what happens on the pitch, and the chief concern for all connected to the club is to ensure Daniel Farke’s side win promotion to the Premier League this season.