Elland Road is being expanded. What do Leeds fans think of the plans?

New York Times

26-05-2025

Last week, Leeds United opened up its Centenary Pavilion for the latest exhibition around its plans for Elland Road's redevelopment. Across two days, supporters had 15 hours to assess literature, displays, a video simulation and a 3D model of how the stadium will look.
Questions could be put to club representatives, and, crucially, there were dropboxes for feedback to be left about the proposals.
The Athletic went along on day one and asked several supporters for their views on the 53,000-capacity plans at the stadium.
Matt: 'I feel like we're in a safe pair of hands after so many years of charlatans. I feel like these are a safe pair of hands from the amount of detail, consideration and the fact that there's even the environmental aspect and the transport aspect. They're doing everything properly, there's no cutting corners, there's no trying to excite us just to win us over. This is a comprehensive plan.'
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Simon: 'It's encouraging to know, with this amount of detail, they're going to match that on the pitch because you can't go with one and not the other. That's what gets you really excited to know what the future's going to bring.'
Matt: 'I spend a lot of time at the London Stadium because my other half's a West Ham fan and it's awful. There's no soul, there's no identity, there's nothing. This just feels like it is Elland Road, but bigger. I know that sounds daft, but they could have gone for a Tottenham. Even Tottenham's stadium, it looks amazing, but we don't want that at all. It's exciting because it feels sensitive and in keeping, it looks like a proper stadium. The bars and concourses look a bit too posh for me. You've got to sacrifice something.'
Matt: 'It's partly that, and it's partly just the actual aesthetics. It looks like a football stadium. It sounds weird, but it doesn't look like an arena. It does feel like it will still be a bit enclosed, which is a weird thing to say with a stadium that big, especially the Kop. The Kop feels like it should be a monster. I'll still want to be in the South Stand, which is silly. All these three stands and I still want to be in the South.'
Matt: 'You can't accuse them of oversights, can you? I suppose the concourse areas, you don't want it to feel too much like you're at the cinema. You don't want it to feel too disconnected. It still wants to feel like a football ground. Whether that's heritage stuff on the walls or, I don't know, but I'd hate it to feel like you're in an airport or cinema. I'm sure it needs modernising, of course, but I'm hoping they do that in a way that still feels like you're at Elland Road.'
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Matt: 'I usually get an Uber. I live in Farsley and it would take me so long to get to the ground. I've got a kid, so I've got limited time out of the house. To make the most of a matchday, I get an Uber, which I don't really like doing. It costs me extra. Sometimes we meet up in town and get the shuttle bus, if we've got a bit of extra time, but even then you've got to buy a return ticket, even if you're only going one way. If there were more options like that, I'd love to. They can't help the fact there's no train station nearby.
Ian: 'It's impressive. The idea of expanding the stadium's something we've needed for ages. There's a lot of season ticket holders, and people wanting season tickets are in a waiting list. That's about 25,000 (people). I've got a season ticket in the West Stand at the moment, so my concern's about where my seat will be when it's redeveloped.
'I don't want to sit right at the back. I've sat right at the back in the East Stand and I don't like it. I like the height from the pitch in the West, and you get to know the people you sit near. I want to know how far I'm going to be away from where I currently sit. I like the Bremner Suite experience; it just works. There aren't too many people. You get a bit of a crowd atmosphere.'
Ian: 'Obviously, the capacity increase is the biggest plus. It looks like they're going to develop outside the stadium and it definitely needs that. In the West Stand downstairs, it's clearly an old place. It needs upgrading. I've been to Man City and I didn't like what they've got. It's like being in McDonald's. What they can do about that, I don't know. It's interesting because I went to Manchester Airport recently and it's just grown. It's big, wide open spaces. I get you've got to move people through, but I quite like being in the West Stand, going through these little corridors.'
Stephanie: 'I'm very much for it. The club needs it, the team needs it, the people need it, the area needs it. I have reservations because of the parking issues until we know what the actual transport plan is and what the parking arrangements are going to be. I'd love to be able to get on a train in Horsforth, get off in Leeds, change to another one that gets me to Cottingley and walk to the ground, instead of having to arrive three hours before kick-off, as I do now, park up and pay £8. That would be vital.
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'The other thing I've written down is I'm knocking on a bit now. I can't stand for as long as I could, or walk for as far as I used to be able to. By the time this is finished, I'll be 70. I've been a home season ticket holder since the 1970s. I used to go in the (Centenary) Pavilion here, meet my friends before the match and have something to eat, have a drink and then they took it off us to meet the corporate needs. They've asked about the space on the other side of the West Stand. If they could provide something for the ordinary fan, not the ones that can afford to pay £400 for a package, where we can get something to eat, have a sit down. That's gone since the pavilion was taken off us. We've really missed that. I've had a moan about that, but yes, I am in favour of the development. I just want them to crack on and get it done now.'
Stephanie: 'We also need the parking. You can't rob Peter to pay Paul. You've got to make sure, especially the older generations, who can't walk as far, they need to be able to get as near as they can to park their cars, if they've got to come by car, which a lot of people do these days.'
Stephanie: 'I like the way they have mirrored the exoskeleton from the East Stand around. The other key thing for me is leg room. I sit in the northeast corner. I have ridges under my knees at the end of matches, but the benefit of sitting there is that people in there tend to stay seated, not like the Kop, who stand throughout.
'I'd also be interested to find out how they're going to go about giving people access to the tickets in the new areas. I know an Everton fan who works with my son. Everton said people who've had season tickets for longer than 23 years or something have had first dibs to pick where they want to sit. I don't know if they've (Leeds) thought that far ahead. I certainly wouldn't want to move to an area where I've got to stand for the full 90 minutes.'
Stephanie: 'I don't like the Red Bull thing plastered everywhere, unless they change the colour of it, but they (49ers) seem positive. I like (board member) Pete Lowy's enthusiasm and the fact he was on the bus (for the parade). The people they've got involved, the other sportspeople and celebrities, are raising the profile as well.
'They've all got pots of money, haven't they? If they want to throw it at the club, by all means, we'll spend it. I just want to make sure they give (Daniel) Farke enough to give us a Premier League team next season.'