Leeds United's historical League position; their fall from grace follows the 2000–01 Champions League semi-final.Another commonly cited example is that of Portsmouth, whose decline immediately follows their 2008 FA Cup victory.
"Doing a Leeds" is an English football phrase which is synonymous with the potentially dire consequences for domestic clubs in financial mismanagement. The phrase arose after the rapid decline of Premier League club Leeds United F.C., who invested heavily in the late 1990s and early 2000s to attain domestic and lucrative European success, which was capped by high profile appearances in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League. However, in the process, the club built up large debts, and suffered financial meltdown after failing to continue to qualify for the competition, subsequently dropping down two levels of the football pyramid, into the third tier, Football League One.
Since the creation of the Premier League, a total of 24 of its former clubs have been relegated to League One, of which seven fell down further into the fourth tier (Football League Two) and one of these further into the fifth tier (the National League). Because they had never previously experienced relegation to League One or its predecessors, Leeds were the object of careful observation by media and derision by rival fans.
As champions of the final First Division season, Leeds United were one of the inaugural 22 clubs of the Premier League, the breakaway top division league competition formed in 1992. Leeds had sustained success in the league in late 1990s, and ultimately reached the semi-finals of the 2000–01 Champions League. Their level of spending to do so however had exceeded all other clubs, and the club's debt level rose annually from £9m to £21m, £39m, £82m and peaked at around £119m, much of the money having been spent on transfer fees and players' wages. After the club failed to qualify for the 2002–03 Champions League by only finishing fifth in the Premier League, it had to make drastic savings by selling players as it could no longer sustain the debt repayments, which relied on the ticket sales and television income from the European competition.[1]
At the end of the 2003–04 FA Premier League season, Leeds United were relegated to the Football League Championship. The financial effects continued, and with one game to go in the 2006–07 season, the club voluntarily entered administration, incurring a 10-point league penalty, resulting in relegation to League One, the first time the club had ever been in the third tier of English football.[2] Subsequent breaches of financial rules in the summer nearly resulted in the club being expelled from the Football League altogether (a fate which coincidentally had befallen the club's predecessors, Leeds City), but they were ultimately re-admitted with a 15-point penalty to apply to the 2007–08 season. Despite further appeals, the penalty stood and ultimately cost the club promotion that season.
At the end of the 2009–10 season, the club was promoted back to the Championship after a final day victory. They would remain in the Championship for a decade until they finally earned a promotion back to the Premier League for the 2020–21 season, under the management of Marcelo Bielsa, having coming close to earning promotion in the 2018–19 season, where the club narrowly missed out on a play-off final spot. However, after finishing a respectable 9th in the first season back in the Premier League, the club's fortunes dipped again, narrowly avoiding relegation on the final day of the 2021–22 season, before suffering relegation back to the Championship on the final day of the 2022–23 season.
"Doing a Leeds"
The term "doing a Leeds" or to "do a Leeds" has since become synonymous with financial mismanagement of a football club with potential dire consequences. It can refer specifically to any club that fails to plan adequately for the financial impact of either failure to qualify for the Champions League, or of not adequately restructuring following relegation from the Premier League to avoid a further drop, or more generally, to the rapid demise in the relative standing of any club.[1][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Managers and chairmen, although sometimes obliged to "chase the dream"[10][11] (the inevitable precursor of "doing a Leeds"), are often forced to deny they are "doing a Leeds" in the wake of a large investment that some analysts predict cannot be afforded by their club and may overstretch their budget.[12] Similarly, fans may fear their club will "do a Leeds" if its expensively acquired and maintained team is unable to qualify for the Champions League[13] or is relegated from the Premier League, thereby failing to "live the dream".[14]
Conversely, the avoidance of "doing a Leeds" has been invoked by managers to justify selling their best players in order to raise funds to stave off going into administration, which might lead to a relegation-inducing penalty. Failure to invest at the expected "normal" rate in order to maintain a club's league position can be labelled as "doing a Leeds".[15]
The phrase was notably used during the relegation of Newcastle United in 2009, one of the largest clubs to be relegated from the Premier League. Having bought the club, new owner Mike Ashley stated that his investment had in fact saved the club from "doing a Leeds".[16] In spite of this Newcastle suffered relegation at the end of the 2008–09 season, sparking fears both before and after that the club could "do a Leeds" and drop further, into League One, without restructuring.[17] However, the club avoided this and bounced back the following season with automatic first place promotion.
The 2010 announcement of Manchester United's need to refinance their large debt as a bond issue following their purchase by Malcolm Glazer led to questions in the media whether even Manchester United, as the most successful Premier League-era club, could be in danger of "doing a Leeds".[18]
The term has been applied to Portsmouth. Despite of their winning in the 2007-08 FA Cup, the club amassed debts which eventually saw them become the first Premier League club to enter administration in the 2009–10 season, leading to relegation in the same season after the subsequent nine-point penalty. Portsmouth were relegated to League One after the 2011–12 season of the Football League Championship, due to a 10-point deduction for entering administration; a near-identical scenario to what occurred to Leeds five years previously. They were again relegated after a 10-point deduction due to failing to pay footballing creditors, this time to League Two, in the 2012–13 season.
Bolton Wanderers are another team guilty of "Doing a Leeds", after enjoying a successful stint in the Premier League under Sam Allardyce, which culminated in qualifying for the UEFA Cup, reaching the last 16 in the latter, which included a draw and a victory against Atlético Madrid, and draws against Bayern Munich and Sporting Lisbon. After Allardyce's departure, the club began a steady decline, with relegation battles being a regular feature. The club then began a rapid decline that ultimately led to relegation on the last day of the 2011–12 season, and after languishing in the second tier for a few seasons, the club announced debts of £172.9m in 2015[19] and then were relegated to League One in 2016.[20]
They would be relegated from the Championship (tier two) again in 2019 and the club was nearly expelled from the football league due to its financial woes: a new buyer was found but the club was nevertheless deducted 12 points for entering administration (because Bolton finished in the bottom three in the Championship in 2018-19, the points deduction was applied in the 2019–20 season in League One.) In 2019–20 Bolton was relegated to League Two (the fourth tier) for the first time since 1988, although the club achieved promotion back to League One at the first attempt in 2020–21.
A similar phrase, "Doing a Bradford", was coined by former Blackburn Rovers player Simon Garner in 2012, a scenario that he was worried could befall his former club, Bradford City, following their relegation from the Premier League in 2001. They then fell three divisions to League Two, and were not promoted back to League One until 2013. The only other former Premier League clubs to have fallen to League Two are Swindon Town (in 2006 and then 2011, though they immediately gained promotion to League One on both occasions), Portsmouth, Blackpool, Coventry City, Oldham Athletic and Bolton Wanderers.[21]
Ralf Rangnick, sporting director of German Bundesliga club RB Leipzig, compared the mismanagement of TSV 1860 Munich to that of Leeds United, drawing direct parallels between the ownership and resulting fan dissatisfaction at both clubs.[22] The two clubs in fact met in a Champions League fixture in 2000,[23] before both experiencing relegation from their respective top flight leagues in the following seasons.
"Cruzeirar"
In Brazilian football, "Cruzeirar"[24] (Doing a Cruzeiro) has the same meaning of "doing a Leeds", but refers to the Cruzeiro's dramatic decline, from being national champions in 2013 and 2014 to barely escaping relegation to Série C in 2020, due to serious financial mismanagement issues.[25]
^ ab"Road to ruin". The Herald. Newsquest. 17 February 2007. Archived from the original on 26 May 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2010. The first thing which comes to mind about Leeds United today is...their freefall, the collapse into the state they are in now because of Ridsdale's ruinous decision-making. They have become the biggest victim of all the money which has washed around English football in the Premiership era. Every other board of directors in the land is frightened of "doing a Leeds".
^Lovejoy, Joe (20 February 2005). "Everton 0 Manchester 2: Irresistible United march on". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2010. those erstwhile fans turning on him now should ponder the fact that his £28m transfer probably saved their club from "doing a Leeds", as financial meltdown has come to be known
^Robson, Leo (25 March 2009). "Damned to football". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2010. This is the fate to which Peter Ridsdale, the chairman from 1997 until 2003, consigned the club with his profligacy and risk-taking; the phrase "doing a Leeds" is now a recognized one to describe a major club that fades away
^Wilson, Paul (23 March 2003). "Catchy Toon could be a classic". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2010. ...'doing a Leeds' has entered the language of English football. There is now an understandable worry that any club trying to haul themselves up on the Champions League ladder will crash spectacularly to earth in a couple of seasons.
^"North East's elite outfits fear a fate as 'next Leeds'". The Journal. njcMedia. 24 March 2009. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2010. the "L" word sends them into a cold sweat. What they most fear is "doing a Leeds". Leeds United famously chased the dream and fell flat on their face, a monument to mismanagement lurking in League One as a warning
^"Birmingham City in danger of 'doing a Leeds'". Daily Mirror. 28 May 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2010. David Gold fears relegated Birmingham could end up dropping another division to League One - like Leeds - unless the club's mutinous mood changes
^"City Diary". London: The Telegraph. 29 April 2004. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2010. He's trying to raise £450,000 by selling a quarter of the company and as his spokesman put it: "We're doing a Leeds." What, selling all the players and going down? "No, I mean a Wimbledon."
^Dickinson, Matt (16 January 2007). "Bates still focused on grand vision". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2010. But were Chelsea not hugely in debt and on the brink of "doing a Leeds" when Roman Abramovich made Bates an offer he could not refuse?
^"Parry Vows To Keep Top Players". Daily Post. Trinity Mirror. 6 February 2003. Retrieved 23 January 2010. RICK PARRY has promised Liverpool will not be forced into `doing a Leeds' by selling off their best players - even if they fail to qualify for next season's Champions League.
^"No compensation for Robbie amid a rising tally of missed sitters". Irish Independent. 7 December 2008. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2010. Liverpool fans may think that if they had not lost Fernando Torres for much of the season they would now be 12 points clear. This would, however, increase the possibility of them "doing a Newcastle" something that cannot be countenanced while their American owners appear intent on "doing a Leeds".
^Stewart, Rob (15 September 2008). "Mike Ashley pledges to do 'what's best for Newcastle'". London: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2010. Ashley insisted that he had saved Newcastle from "doing a Leeds". "Unless I had come into the club then it might not have survived,"
^"Geordies need another messiah to justify immaculate deception". Irish Independent. 2 August 2009. Archived from the original on 5 August 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2010. People warn that Newcastle United are in danger of "doing a Leeds" but it can be argued that when it comes to hubris, Newcastle United make Leeds look as modest as Dario Gradi's Crewe Alexandra
^"Are Manchester United doing a Leeds?". The Guardian. London. 12 January 2010. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010. Scrutiny of the Premier League champions' financial results makes for eerily familiar reading. Will the weight of their debts drag them out of the Premier League in the next five seasons?
