Leeds in financial turmoil after record losses
Professor John McKenzie has become non-executive chairman of Leeds United after the troubled club announced record losses.
The Leeds chairman has stepped aside to allow former Chelsea man Trevor Birch to take over the reins as chief executive at the club, insisting that he has done his job of getting Elland Road finances back to some semblance of order.
McKenzie’s move is despite the fact that the club announced pre-tax losses of £49.5 million for the year ending June 30th to the Stock Exchange today, by far the worst figures a football club has ever revealed.
The bleak situation comes following a number of players leaving the club in recent months, but with turnover falling by 21 per cent to £64m Leeds’ finances are still in a crippling state of affairs.
But McKenzie remained confident over the future of the club, insisting that things have begun to be turned around.
“Rest assured I would not be taking the step of stepping back to be a non-executive chairman if I did not have the utmost confidence in Trevor Birch and the belief that Leeds United had not begun to turn the corner,” McKenzie told the club’s official website.
“We have taken £20m of costs out of the business and have rebuilt the management team and as such it is now possible to begin to look forward with some confidence.”
“I think we have gone much further than I had hoped we would have been able to do when I started on April 1, but there are still some odd rocks around which we have to get past before we hit clear water.”
