Provisional Elland Road construction order and likely Leeds United stands affected first in expansion plans

Leeds United’s Elland Road reconstruction plans are still under wraps and in the planning stages, but chief executive Angus Kinnear has already provided insight into how work is anticipated to proceed once spades are in the ground.

Leeds City Council clearance is required before expanding Elland Road to its intended capacity of 53,000 seats. However, extensive planning is already underway, as detailed in an official club statement earlier this week.

While fans may want to see creative impressions and plans of what a new-look Elland Road would look like, those will not be made public until a later date, most likely after planning permission is given and the team returns to the Premier League.

In a 2021 interview with The Square Ball Podcast, Kinnear stated, “The West Stand would be the first stand that we develop because it is the oldest and has the most upside potential. These conversations are taking place with the council.”

In a more recent interview, Kinnear defined what he meant by “upside potential,” stating that the majority of the corporate product in a redeveloped Elland Road would be placed in the West Stand, which has extensive land on Fullerton Park to grow back upon.

The Norman Hunter South Stand, located on Elland Road, is a considerably more difficult stand to create due to its proximity to a main Leeds road and residential homes across the single-lane street.

“You can either do the West and North at the same time, or do them separately,” Kinnear told The Square Ball. “And you protect attendance for the whole of the season. The way it works is that you construct over the old stand, allowing supporters to remain in their seats, and then the next season they migrate upstairs, and you build the tier below it. So, ideally, you won’t lose much capacity during the construction phase. West and North can be done together or consecutively.

“Then it’s probably about connecting it to the East Stand, which is more of a refurbishment of the East Stand than demolishing it and beginning over. The South Stand is the most difficult because it is surrounded by Elland Road, which limits its ability to expand. “So that would probably limit the expansion on that side,” he explained.

Whatever sequence Leeds decides on, the West Stand is likely to be the first point of call for construction personnel. A 53,000-capacity Elland Road stadium would double the club’s matchday earnings and align it with England’s top clubs, even if ticket prices remained same.