Member Article

Leeds United fans’ consortium in £10 million bid for GFH club shares

A fan consortium, Leeds Fans LLP are reportedly aiming to raise £10 million by inviting fans to buy £100 stakes, targeting Gulf Finance House’s stake in Leeds United.

According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, a movement to buy GFH shares has expanded; a meeting at Leeds Sports Centre attracted 200 supporters in person and drew 300 more to an online broadcast of the event.

GFH still controls a 25% stake in the club, (with 10% directly owned by the Bahraini bank) having previously sold the rest of their 75% share to embattled Italian businessman Massimo Cellino.

Previously named Together Leeds, rebranded as Leeds Fans LLP, a limited liability partnership which will invite supporters to become partners of the group by purchasing £100 stakes.

A total of 100,000 stakes are being created and individual fans will be able to buy a maximum of 1,000 at a cost of £100,000. Each stake carries one vote.

Dylan Thwaites, the businessman fronting the project said: “It’s a way of making sure the scheme is inclusive,”

“We don’t want a situation where one supporter puts in £5 million and effectively controls everything.

“That’s not the point of this. We want as many supporters involved as possible. It’s no good simply giving authority to the richest person in the room.”

“We’re targeting the non-Cellino stake because that seems to us to be the poisonous element,”

“What we don’t want to do is create is another faction.

“At the first meeting there were pro-Cellino fans, anti-Cellino fans and fans who were fairly ambivalent about him. It doesn’t help us to split the fanbase. What we all agree on is that it’s in the club’s best interest for GFH to go.

“GFH only seem to be creating hurdles and obstacles. They don’t seem to be contributing anything. By our calculations they’ve probably made a profit on their original takeover so selling to us would be a financial bonus.”

As an organisation, Leeds Fans LLP has not been in touch with GFH about the possibility. It has not spoken to Cellino to gauge his enthusiasm for supporter investment either.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .