By Andrew Warshaw
December 2 – The turmoil that surrounds Leeds United, one of the most iconic clubs in English football, has deepened further after Italian entrepreneur Massimo Cellino was disqualified from owning the club – seven months after taking over.
Under Cellino’s tenure Leeds – not so long ago the proudest and most successful club in English football but now languishing in tier two despite last weekend’s win over Championship leaders Derby – have sacked three managers, two of them after just six games apiece.
Back in April, Cellino clinched his 75% takeover following a protracted saga during which the English Football League attempted to block his buyout based on his past business background including being found guilty in a Sicilian court of failing to pay import duty on a yacht. But an independent QC overturned that decision on appeal allowing the takeover to go through.
Leeds were losing around £1 million a month at the time of the takeover, but Cellino said that he had cleared the club’s debts. Cellino, who until recently owned Serie A club Cagliari, was quoted as saying at the time of walking into Leeds: “I want to be in the Premier League as soon as we can … if not by the end of the 2015‑16 season it is a failure. I want to transform the club. None of my companies have ever gone into administration.”
In his 22-year reign at Cagliari, which he sold in June, Cellino got rid of no fewer than 36 coaches and now the Football League has found another way of trying to remove him after obtaining documents from an Italian court which had found Cellino guilty of tax evasion. The League says Cellino has therefore breached its “fit and proper” ownership test.
Cellino hit straight back telling Sky: “I’m going to show them they are wrong. I’m sure the lawyers of the League have not done a proper job. I’m not dishonest. I’m not guilty yet, that’s it. If I’m going to have to buy a ticket to watch the game I will do it.
“I promised the Leeds fans I’d look after the club so I will go to any appeal. We are staying, we are financing the club and we submit to the rules but we think they have been unfair. I am never going to give up Leeds United.”
To add another layer of complexity to the saga, the Italian is entitled to return to the club and resume control from March 18 next year because his conviction will be deemed spent.
Leeds say they will be seeking immediate legal advice and make the point that removing Cellino, only to reappoint him in March, would be ‘destabilising for the club’.
Fans and past players have been split over Cellino’s brief time in charge but Paul Keats, chairman of the Leeds United Supporters Trust, insists he has more good than harm.
“It has maybe not been reflected in our league position, but the marvellous victory over top-of-the-table Derby County on Saturday shows that there has been investment on the pitch and also made in the club. He (Cellino) has done a fantastic job,” Keats said.
“We have suffered more than other fans at the hands of ruthless and difficult owners. Under Cellino, progress has been fantastic,” he told the BBC. “He has done more for Leeds United in seven or eight months than previous owners did in 12 years.
“Leeds need consistency, whether it is Mr Cellino or someone else putting money in the club. But he’s given us stability that we’ve not had the past few years. Success is derived from stability and it is something we’ve not had in 12 years. If we have it, success will return.”
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