Ben Fry: First up, the FA Youth Cup. Defeat last night against Aston Villa but only two goals conceded in the last 10 minutes, a valiant display and you must be encouraged by the team’s progress this year?
Ken Bates: Well, I am rather pleased because you know, we had a situation where we weren’t very happy with the situation at the academy, we seemed to have faltered a bit and the conveyor-belt had slowed down and so on a so forth. Of course, at one time, we were bottom of the Under-18s league which was nothing short of a disgrace but things have turned around. To lose against a strong Aston Villa team was no disgrace particularly, as you say we only conceded in the last 10 minutes, but the team now are on a good run and it looks as though there are happy times again. We are very pleased about that because the academy is our tomorrow and we have to fight hard for that with the proposed changes coming from the Premier League.
BF: Now you mentioned that the results have been improved, so I suppose last night rather than being disappointed, do you think they should use it as a learning curve to kick on for the rest of the season?
KB: Oh, of course, whenever you play against a team which is better than you and Premiership quality, that’s how you do learn to improve because you see what your shortcomings are and you can see where your weaknesses are and what you have to concentrate on to improve. So it should be a very good lesson to our youngsters to see how much they have got to work on their game to be successful in their chosen profession.
BF: Now back to first team matters and back-to-back wins with a 2-0 win at Aston Gate. Back-to-back wins, back-to-back clean sheets – at this stage of the season, any time you can put that sequence together really does make a huge difference doesn’t it?
KB: Well, it’s looking very good. I must say, our weakness has been at the back all season. We have conceded far too many goals and now it seems we have stopped that rot. This time last year, after the Manchester United and Tottenham games, we collapsed a bit. It hasn’t happened this year, we’re doing well. Too many draws but we still have 15 games to go. Cardiff City dropped two points last night, which is good for us. We’re only three points behind promotion, although we have got to improve our goal difference but we’ll keep doing that if we keep clean sheets and I think we’re in for a good run. Of course, the manager is still authorised and encouraged to strengthen the team where he thinks it’s appropriate. But of course, at this time of the year, good players, exceptional players, are hard to find. As I’ve said many times before, there’s no point in signing more players just to make up the numbers.
BF: Now one player who is shining at the moment is Robert Snodgrass. He made his international debut for Scotland and then scores a wonder goal at the weekend. Since he has arrived from Livingston, you must be delighted with his progress.
KB: Very pleased indeed. In fact, we actually took him from under the noses of MK Dons who made public their interest in him so we had a quick look and took him from under their noses. The selling club was hard-up at the time and we did them a better cash deal. So that’s proved to be a very valuable purchase. It just goes to show to those fans who sometimes moan that we don’t splash the cash that we believe in value for money. Snoddy is a perfect example of that. He has matured so much in the last six or seven months. I can’t believe it. And he and Gradel, Mad Max as I call him affectionately, must be two of the most potent wingers in the league at the moment.
BF: As we approach next season, the club have announced a new package for the Bremner suite. What changes are you making for next season?
KB: We have always been short of hospitality packages and Bremner as you know, we’ve spent a lot of money upgrading it. We have improved the whole setup. It used to have a split level floor but we have raised it so it is on a level, which is far better and indeed at my age , far safer. But the real problem is, because of the antiquated layout of the West Stand there is always a difficulty getting people from Bremner from a meal to their seats. And of course, with the redevelopment of the East Stand next season we will have over 1,000 more hospitality capacity. So we decided to change Bremner somewhat into a almost a halfway house. It’s a enhanced ordinary season ticket. It’s not a full hospitality package. It’ll be basically a bar serving snack food but it means also that our fans can of course eat somewhere else, maybe Howard’s, come in and have a place to relax before they go to their seats. I think it’s a good idea. We’re trying it out and in fact we’ve already sold 75 since we put it on sale this week. So that’s very good… season tickets, that’s good, we’re very pleased about that.
BF: Whilst you mention tickets, can you give us an update on the crowd for Saturday. It does, it’s another cliche, but it’s a six-pointer.
KB: Of course, it is a six-pointer. This is the definitive six-pointer. If we beat Norwich we go above them. It’s as simple as that. As of last night, we had 29,386 tickets sold, including over 1,000 hospitality packages. So this is now Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday… I think we can look comfortably at 31,000 to 32,0000 which is great. Very welcome extra money which can pay the players’ bonuses.
BF: With Norwich coming up from League One with Leeds last season, why do you think both teams have managed to do so well in this division?
KB: Well basically because basically they have both got good teams and good managers. Lambert, if you remember, was at Colchester at the beginning of last season. He took them to Norwich and beat them 7-1 at Carrow Road. So they promptly nicked him from Colchester on a Sunday appointed him as manager on the Monday and he has never looked back since. They’re a good team. Good club, well run, even do good Steak and Kidney pie I’m told. Probably because Delia Smith is on the board. On the other hand, we are serving Steak and Kidney pie on Saturday. It’ll be the battle of the chefs. We of course have a good manager, a good team, good ground and again we are being run carefully and wisely. It will be great and of course, great supporters. It would be rather nice if we both got promotion this year. Us automatically, them through the play-offs.
BF: Now talking of winning, there was some success for Elland Road at the BAFTAs at the weekend. A part of The King’s Speech was filmed on location at Elland Road by the same director who made The Damned United. Were you cheering the film on to success at the weekend?
KB: No I wasn’t actually. I was cheering Leeds United on to win at the weekend. Seems that we now have overkill. There has been awards on twice a week for the last month, I think. Most people are getting sick of them. I thought it was rather bittersweet that the guy said he chose Elland Road because the West Stand was the nearest thing to the old Wembley he could find. Not quite sure what I made of that. I suggest we have to look at the West Stand even more, what we can do to improve it. We are, basically, a football club and all the awards are welcome but are peripheral to main drive – successful football club and Premiership football.
BF: Now one issue that the FA have brought up this week is revamping the FA Cup, as attendances drop 30% in the last four years. Some of the proposals include a 5.30pm kick off for the final, no replays, midweek games and seeding the teams. Would you like to see the competition restructured?
KB: There’s nothing wrong with the competition. And the trouble is, once again, you have got somebody at the FA coming up with these ideas who has no idea. I don’t think think he is football man, I’d be very surprised if he is, and if you look at the proposals how they are going to improve it? Let’s take the simple one, first of all, I challenge the fact that it’s a concern that the FA Cup attendances have dropped 30%. It’s very much the luck of the draw. You take this year, two teams have played at home who are Torquay and Crawley. I think Crawley had 4,000 and Torquay had 8,000. Now at the same time, a lot of big clubs seem to have played away. So, the whole thing about the FA Cup is it’s very dramatic and it’s very uncertain. The phrase ‘the luck of the draw’, I’m sure came from the FA Cup. That’s the first thing. Secondly, the FA are their own worst enemy because by bowing to TV you are going to get midday kick-offs, 5.20pm kick-offs, matches on Sunday, matches on Monday night, so the excitement of 32 matches happening all at the same time, that’s gone. The FA have done that. They have done it themselves. And a 5.30pm kick-off for the final – how is that going to improve the game? How is it going to make the FA Cup more exciting? It’s not. It’s another sell-out to TV. The TV companies have said ‘well we’d like a 5.20pm kick-off because we get more people than during the day’ but the reverse of it is, for the 90,000 people who are going to Wembley, you are destroying their Sunday. A 5.20pm kick-off means that by the time the game has finished and the presentations are done, it’s now 8 o’clock rather than 7 o’clock. So, if you’re planning to go out for the night, you can forget it. They are just trying to raise money. No replays – why not? The great thing about the replays is that it gives people a second chance. It gives the away club a chance to even up the advantage that the away club had in the first leg. No replays is nothing to do with ramping up the FA Cup, it’s as a sop to FIFA and UEFA because there is too many bloody international friendlies being played. Useless, pointless, friendlies being played so the domestic game is being squeezed and squeezed and squeezed far more. As for seeding the teams, oh… is it going to be the FA Cup or is it not going to be the FA Cup? If they seed the teams, then you may as well forget the thing. The results will be predictable until the fifth round. What’s the point? We might as well go and play tiddlywinks. The FA need their new main sponsor to see what they can offer but they have to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water.
BF: Finally, can you bring us up to date with the news on season ticket sales and memberships?
KB: Yeah, I’m delighted to say, that season tickets are now over 35% being renewed, taking advantage of the earlybird discount. Although we only put the corporate hospitality packages on sale this week, we have already done 20% of what it was last year. It’s quite fantastic. I’m just very pleased. Obviously, the support and encouragement the club is getting from the fans who are getting about the club. There’s a great buzz about Leeds and Elland Road around the city and long may it continue. Finally, our memberships for this year are now just over 39,000. So they’re very nice these figures. Well done everybody. Thank you everybody. Let’s make this last push to get us to where we want to be.
Courtesy of WACCOE and TSB's Fax Man @ TheSquareBall
Courtesy of WACCOE and TSB's Fax Man @ TheSquareBall
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