Ridsdale to Radrizzani: the tale of Leeds United's fall and their rise again | David Conn

The descent from Champions League semi-final to third tier featured administration, Ken Bates and the sale of Elland RoadIt is testament to the reverence football people have for the game’s history that Leeds United have always maintained their status as a truly big club despite years of barely believable indignities, relieved finally now by promotion back to the Premier League. Andrea Radrizzani, the Italian TV rights mogul whose cash, knowhow and landmark appointment of Marcelo Bielsa have finally heaved Leeds back up, has said his interest was sparked by Kenny Dalglish mentioning to him during a lunch that Leeds were a “sleeping giant” with passionate support.Infamously, Leeds “lived the dream” when they over-borrowed after David O’Leary’s thrilling side reached the Champions League semi-final in 2001, and after their financial implosion and relegation three years later, their sleep was beset by nightmares. Briefly they had seemed to be reascending to their 1970s heights, becoming a modernised version of the club built by Don Revie and the team he assembled after becoming manager at Elland Road in 1961. It has been a moving marker of time that Revie’s fearsome centre-half partners, Norman Hunter and Jack Charlton, have died, just before the triumphant return of their former club to the top flight. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/18/leeds-fall-and-rise-premier-league-champions-league-elland-road #leeds_united #football #sport #championship