Leeds United bid to regain ground

The club sold the Elland Road stadium in November 2004

Leeds United has asked the city council to help it buy back its Elland Road stadium and Thorp Arch training ground.

The club, which sold both sites to Manchester businessman Jacob Adler, holds a buy-back option of about £13m on the stadium and £5m on Thorp Arch.

Adler later sold Elland Road to Teak Commercial Ltd, which is now charging the club £1.15m in rent each year.

Leeds United chairman Ken Bates has previously said he wanted to buy back the two sites.

'Financial stability'

The club sold the grounds in November 2004 to raise funds.

Club chief executive Shaun Harvey released a statement confirming he had approached the city council to help them with the purchases, which he said would give them "financial stability".

The statement said: "The council is able to borrow money and with the club repaying them there would be no cost to either the council or the taxpayers.

"If the club owned the stadium then there would no longer be any mystery as to who owns Elland Road and it would enable us to play a full part in the redevelopment of the Elland Road area and create income streams to support the club on days other than match days."

The club has previously been accused by fans of raising ticket prices to help their financial situation.