Here is what I managed to got off BBC Sport
Leeds losses: facts and figures
All the key details from Leeds' 2003 results, as well as a rundown of the recent high-profile departures.
Mired in debt:
For the year ended 30 June 2003, Leeds United plc made pre-tax losses of £49.5m (compared to £33.9m in 2001/02) and an operating loss (excluding player transfers) of £25.4m .
What's gone DOWN
- Turnover fell 21% to £64 million, compared to £81.5m the previous year.
- Average Premiership attendances were 39,128 in the 12 months up to 30 June 30 this year, from 39,752.
- Season ticket sales dropped from 27,132 to 26,136.
- Gate receipts dropped to £10.7m, a fall of £300,000.
- Television and broadcasting income fell by 36% to £21.9m from £34.2m. TV revenue from cup games fell £4.6m.
- Merchandising fell by 9% to £7.4m from £8.1m.
- Losses as a result of transfers fell, from £20.3m to £17m.
- Leeds United plc's tangible assets fell to just over £60m, compared to £109m a year earlier.
What's gone UP
- The wage bill rose £3m to £56.6m representing 88% of turnover compared to 66%.
- Administrative expenses before transfers increased by £4.7m to £76.4m.
- Closing net debt rose £100,000 to £78m.
The Elland Road exodus:
PLAYERS
Rio Ferdinand
(Signed November 2000, £18m; sold July 2002, £30m)
The sale of England defender Ferdinand to Manchester United was on the cards before Terry Venables took over. Neither then manager Terry Venables nor then chairman Peter Ridsdale wanted to sell Ferdinand but debts forced their hand.
Robbie Keane
(Signed May 2001, £12m; sold August 2002, £7m)
Securing his services cost Leeds £12m, but just 15 months later they were prepared to cash in to ease the financial problems caused by failure to qualify for the Champions League. Tottenham snapped him up for just £7m.
Lee Bowyer
(Signed July 1996, £2.8m; sold January 2003, £100,000)
With just a season left on his contract and the player seemingly unwilling to sign a new one, Leeds did their best to sell Bowyer last summer. A £9m fee was agreed with Liverpool, but the move broke down after Reds boss Gerard Houllier expressed doubt about the players' commitment. They had to settle for a nominal fee soon after from West Ham - and Bowyer then moved to Newcastle on a free at the end of the season.
Olivier Dacourt
(Signed May 2000, £7.2m; sold June 2003, £3.5m)
The Frenchman's relationship with Terry Venables was less than harmonious with the player clearly keen to leave Elland Road. He joined Roma initially on loan before making the move permanent in the summer.
Robbie Fowler
(Signed November 2001, £11m, sold January 2003, £6m)
The former Liverpool striker was hampered by injury during his brief spell at Elland Road. When Manchester City came in for him the board felt they could not turn down the £6m on offer, especially considering the depressed state of the transfer market.
Jonathan Woodgate
(Trainee, sold January 2003, £9m)
Described as Leeds' crown jewel, Woodgate was seen as the pivotal figure around which the team would be built after Ferdinand's departure. However, his controversial sale to Newcastle proved too much for many fans, who began protesting for the resignation of the board and chairman Peter Ridsdale in particular.
Harry Kewell
(Signed December 1995, trainee; sold July 2003, £5m)
Kewell made it clear he wanted out after the end of the season, and the £2m pay-off he and his agent received meant the Elland Road club effectively only received £3m from Liverpool when he moved to Anfield.
OTHER STAFF
The one-off compensation costs involved in changing first-team management and implementing other redundancies totalled £7.2m for the 12 months to 30 June.
David O'Leary
Left in acrimonious circumstances in June 2002, eventually agreeing a hefty compensation settlement believed to be in the region of £4m, the final instalment of which was paid in this financial year.
Terry Venables
Venables was brought in as manager by Peter Ridsdale to replace O'Leary. But he struggled to get results on the pitch, and fell out with the board off it as more players were sold off. Eventually left on 21 March, although he too received a hefty pay-off.
Peter Ridsdale
The chairman who 'lived the dream', awarding himself a salary in the region of £600,000 in 2001, but left a nightmare in his wake when he eventually resigned on 17 April 2003.
Six months to save Leeds
By Stuart Roach
Trevor Birch may have six months to save Leeds United from ruin. The former Chelsea chief executive steps aboard amid turbulent waters, aiming to keep afloat the ship Professor John McKenzie has steadied in his six months in charge.
At first glance, with the club £78m in debt and having just posted record losses of nearly £50m, not even Noah could prevent Leeds plc from sinking without a trace. But McKenzie's initial actions have at least laid the foundations for Birch's survival plan to be put into place.
Birch takes over on 1 November and will be judged, at least initially, on the next set of accounts due for release in March. By then, Leeds fans will be closer to seeing whether McKenzie's new regime is having an affect on the mess left behind by Peter Ridsdale's disastrous stewardship.
And Leeds' on-the-pitch plight will also be clearer. Relegation would cost an estimated £12m in lost television rights and gate receipts - and that would be the bale of straw to break Leeds' financial back. Premiership survival, coupled with McKenzie and Birch's plans for the future, would give Leeds some hope.
Birch's first task will be to progress the three key survival elements put in place by McKenzie on his arrival on 1 April.
Trading at break-even levels:
The chairman claims to be close achieving the first aim and will be expecting Birch to finish the job he has started. On the face of it, selling players remains the most obvious way out. But complicated player purchases have tied Leeds in financial knots. The figures released on Tuesday showed that, despite the sales of players including Rio Ferdinand, Harry Kewell and Lee Bowyer in the accounting period, Leeds lost £17m in transfers and saw their wage bill rise by £3m.
Much of the reason for that financial quirk is that Leeds bought several players by securing loans to raise the money for their transfer fees. In the case of Robbie Fowler, that meant repaying an £11m loan when United only realised £5m in selling him to Manchester City. The club also continue to pay some of Fowler's wages and part of Danny Mills' salary during his loan spell at Middlesbrough, while McKenzie has revealed Mark Viduka was purchased on lease and that selling him would only realise a third of his £6m fee.
The wage bill was further increased by one-off redundancy payments of £7.2m, £5.7m of which was payable to former managers Terry Venables and David O'Leary and their coaching staff. The absence of those payments from the next balance sheet will be boosted by the £5m in wages those redundancies realise.
Further reducing that wage bill will be a major target for Birch, though selling more players will represent a major gamble against relegation. McKenzie insists further players will only be sold if they request a move - and if the price is right. Even then, a January transfer window sale would not show up in the next set of figures.
More realistic will be avoiding the long-term contracts thrown around like confetti by the previous regime, with O'Leary sitting
on a 10-year deal that cost £4m to break.
Restructure debt repayments:
Negotiating improved terms in respect of repaying their debts is crucial to the club's future. At present, Leeds need to pay close to £7m in interest on their debts every year. Servicing that debt pile is "slowly strangling" the club, according to football analyst Vinay Bedi at stockbrokers Brewn Dolphin.
Addressing the interest payments is the critical role of the new management team, with Birch working closely alongside finance director Neil Robson. That could mean renegotiating a longer period of repayment in order to make progress against their debt, rather than simply meeting it year on year.
Attract cash investors:
Possibly the tallest order for Birch will be attracting investors to throw their money into Leeds. Supporter Allan Leighton has pumped £4.4m into the club, a welcome contribution but a drop in the ocean of debt Leeds are currently floating on. McKenzie has hinted at more investment in the new year, though that would come too late to show in the annual financial report due for release in March.
Birch has worked as an accountant and a director at Chelsea, a club whose finances were in a mess similar to that of Leeds before the arrival of Roman Abramovich. But if McKenzie and financial consultants Ernst and Young have failed to attract major money in the last six months, then Birch may also struggle to do so.
While £4.4m is welcome, Leeds need more like £44m - or even £444m - to turn their finances around. Ironically, Leeds' best hope of a financial white knight would be another Abramovich. And, while McKenzie claims he is learning Japanese, Arabic and Russian just in case a suitor rides Leeds' way, Birch may be twitching at the thought of another sugar daddy arriving at his club. Birch was effectively demoted at Chelsea when Abramovich's arrival prompted a move for Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon.
At least this time Birch has the chance to prove his worth.