OK, all you eternal optimists join me in a quick HURRAY! All you pessimists can you moan "Yeah right" quietly please? :-) Well, it's paper talk but it sounds promising and as has been said, makes sense! Buy Portsmoluth, global brand tiny, have to build a new ground and then buy players of the calibre to win something? Total cost around £250M. OR Buy Leeds, 5th biggest English football global brand, 40,000 stadium already there and build thed same team over 3 years? Total Cost around £100M ... no brainer!
> This actually sounds fairly serious: > > http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/sports/2007/May/sports_May523.xml§ion=sports&subsection=football > > Linx Group eye Leeds > By Jose N Franco Jr > > 17 May 2007 > > > DUBAI â A consortium headed by Shaikh Samir A S Mirdad, chairman of the > Linx Group of Companies which has been involved in various > multi-billion-dirham projects, is presently considering acquiring Leeds > United, an English football club that is now under voluntary receivership > and has debts of Dh145.7 million (£20 million). > "Leeds United is a very prestigious football club that has unfortunately > in the recent past suffered setbacks. My vision is to bring the club back > to its former glory," Shaikh Mirdad told Khaleej Times yesterday. "The > club has a huge fan base and because of the history of the club and desire > of the people of Leeds to see Leeds United back in top flight premiership > football, we think this may be the ideal challenge for us." > Legal experts at Allen & Overy, a leading international corporate law firm > that also has offices in Dubai, said the process of acquisition would take > not more than two months once the parties concerned had agreed on > commercial terms including the price, the management to lead the club, and > future development plans of the club. > Pervez Akhtar, partner at Allen & Overy, is the lead counsel for the > consortium that Shaikh Mirdad heads in negotiations with Leeds United > officials. Allen & Overy has advised on a number of acquisitions of > premiership clubs including the purchase by Malcolm Glazer and his family > when they acquired the British premiership title-holder Manchester United > in 2005. It was also involved in the sale of Liverpool Football Club more > recently. Glazer also owns the American football team Tampa Bay Buccaneers > based in Florida. > Shaikh Mirdad said he would be travelling to the city of Leeds, England > next week to meet with Ken Bates, chairman of Leeds United Football Club > Ltd, and other officials to begin formal talks on various issues such as > the price and management matters. "We're going to see it and, depending on > the outcome of our negotiations, we will seriously consider the proposal," > he added. > Should the deal push through, Shaikh Mirdad, would be the first Gulf > national to acquire a European football club through a business > consortium. > He said that he may also be meeting with the Lord Mayor of Leeds, > Councillor Mohammed Iqbal, to impress upon him and the people of Leeds > that the consortium Shaikh Mirdad heads shares their value and > aspirations. > "I am very passionate about football, and I want to help a lot of other > people who share this passion," said Mirdad, who revealed that he is > friends with a number of European football stars, officials, and football > legends. "My intentions should follow the blessing and vision that would > be shared between me, Chairman Bates and the people in Leeds." > He said it is important that the people of Leeds and the fans of Leeds > United would be happy about the planned acquisition, which could lead to > having a bigger stadium and drawing up a comprehensive five-year expansion > plan for the club. "There's a lot of potential for the club," he stressed. > Mirdad said Leeds United administrators-Richard Fleming, Mark Firmin and > Howard Smith, of KPMG Restructuring-would be meeting by the end of this > month on administration matters including the process in which the > acquisition would be done. He added that the club resorted to voluntary > receivership to assess their financial standing. > ________________________________________________________________________ > AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free > from AOL at AOL.com. > _______________________________________________ > the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators > accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. > Leedslist mailing list > [email protected] > http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > The Leeds List - "where never is heard a discouraging word..." _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist The Leeds List - "where never is heard a discouraging word..."
