McKenzie slips into Leeds hot seat
Monday, March 31, 2003
Article summary
Professor John McKenzie has taken over as Leeds United AFC chairman after Peter Ridsdale resigned his post.
Article body
Peter Ridsdale has stepped down after five years as chairman of Leeds United AFC after the English Premiership club reported increased half-year losses it was announced on Monday.
Rise in losses
Professor John McKenzie has taken over as chairman, while Ridsdale will stay on at the club in a non-executive capacity. "The priority for the club is to focus on avoiding relegation," McKenzie said today. "I have been appointed as non-executive chairman and my task is to turn this business round and build a structure that can support a fine football team. It's going to be a difficult trick to pull off but if everyone stands together we can succeed."
Pre-tax losses
Ridsdale's departure came after Leeds unveiled a rise in first-half pre-tax losses to €25m for the six months to December 31 2002 from €20m in the comparative period last year, as turnover dropped ten per cent to €34.6m. The club's debts rose by €1.45m to €114.5m in the period.
'Very tough six months'
"This has been a very tough six months for the company and our performance both on and off the pitch has been unsatisfactory," said Ridsdale in a statement. "This means that tough action has had to be taken to generate funds from player sales and to reduce costs both on and off the pitch. Although difficult, it is necessary to balance our books to suit our current position. The outcome of this has been to subject me to significant comment and created pressures that are not right for me, my family or the club.
Players offloaded
"Therefore after five years as chairman I have decided to step down and hand over the reins as chairman to Professor John McKenzie who has my full support," he added. Ridsdale came under fire from fans after agreeing to offload six of the club's first team players in the past eight months in a bid to cut debts.
Venables sacked
Leeds have fallen to 16th in England's top flight and are only four points away from the relegation zone. The club sacked manager Terry Venables ten days ago following their poor run of form and replaced him with former Sunderland AFC boss Peter Reid until the end of the season.
