Leeds United CEO Ben Mansford quits

Leeds United CEO Ben Mansford announced today that he will be leaving the post on 31 May, after coming over from Championship side Barnsley last season. The club’s official webstie, www.leedsunited.com posted a message from him, in which he thanked the club and the players for a successful season. He also thanked the fans saying:

Finally, I would like to say my biggest thank you to the supporters of Leeds United – you have left me in awe at times this season. You have travelled up and down the country in huge numbers and made Elland Road a fortress again. I sincerely believe the foundations have now been laid to allow this club to go back to where you belong and deserve to be, the very top.

All the very best,

Ben Mansford

The departure of Mansford is not totally unexpected, with new owner Andrea Radrizzani recently bringing in a couple new people to the board. The club brought in former Real Madrid director of strategy Ivan Bravo at the end of April and also brought in West Ham United’s managing director, and former Arsenal executive, Angus Kinnear earlier in May to be the new chief executive.

Many of the United faithful are slightly nervous at the appointment of Kinnear, as one of the main responsibilities of the former Hammer executive was the transition of the club to the new London Stadium, which has not been an overall positive experience for the East London club. Fans have complained about overzealous stewarding and poor atmosphere in the new Stadium and the results have often been underwhelming, giving most Hammer fans a feeling of bitterness surrounding the move from “home” to Stratford. While fans may have a overall negative feeling and feeling of broken promises from the club, the move has helped to vastly increase the income and evaluation of the club.

While it doesn’t necessarily look like Leeds United will be relocating anytime soon, thankfully, it does give hope that the club will have increased ambition under Radrizzani. While Mansford has done a fine job at the club, and is sure to be snapped up by another club, bringing in experienced people that have worked in the highest leagues in Europe is a positive step towards taking Leeds back into the Premier League.