I think it's a double edged sword mate, staying away screws Bates, but also deprives the team of the all important 12th man.

Our first year in league 1 was unique and as we started in awesome form the crowds were large and remained pretty constant over the full season.

Then the 2nd season we were favourites to win the league and thanks to some big/clever signings from Macca (Becchio, Snoddy and Robbo) and the emergence of Delph we were a good team to watch. Then when Grayson took over and strengthened the defence we won every league game at Elland Road from Jan-May. Apparently Macca wanted to bring in defenders and also Rickie Lambert upfront, was this known to the fanbase at the time?

Then going into the 3rd season we lost Delph and that money effectively disappeared, but again we started in immense form so the feeling at the club was great.

4th season we brought in Championship experience to allow us to survive comfortably and had a season where in the majority we were in the playoff positions.

The 5th season was a disgrace and when i totally lost faith in Bates. Yet i still went to a large proportion of games, stopped going this season though, finally had enough.

when it comes down to it HW is right but also we're on a sound financial footing as opposed to some of our recent championship opponents and we have to accept thgat the money we give bates goes in to the running of the club but not into the aspect that many fans would wish for, stay away fans damage Bates pocket but the money in that pocket is effectively what is keeping Leeds united going

I think it's a double edged sword mate, staying away screws Bates, but also deprives the team of the all important 12th man.
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There's little or no evidence to suggest Bates has financed the playing side to any great extent. Quite the opposite in fact. Selling the little bit of quality we had and replacing them (for the most part) with dross hardly seems like a recipe for success. Forget about being the "twelfth man" until we can see the three or four quality players required to give us a reasonable chance of promotion.

jamie i would never be able to look at myself again if i turned my back on my beloved club, I can understand why people boycott, but what really gets my goat is when people claim they're the better fan by boycotting

I would not say that the loyal fans who go to every home game have lengthend bates stay, he is the chairman (for now) and some of the things he had to do when he took over he had no option due to the risdale era.
I myself go to the home games because I support leeds united and not bates and yes it gets me annoyed when we sell our best players but in some cases we have had no option but to do so to get money into the club

If all Leeds fans who hated Bates stayed away,the attendances at ER would be whatever the opposing team happened to bring,so how would that help the club?

Thanks for comments thought it might split opinions. i agree that bates did the rightbthing making leeds profitable but its just the last two seasons have shown his true colours and lack off funds. The championship has changed too i believe and is alot better now than it was 7 years ago. more teams with more money now.

Highland, I've never doubted you being anything less than a passionate Leeds fan.

Lancashire, it doesn't seem to matter how much money flows through the club, it never seems to find it's way into team building. I wouldn't dream of criticising those fans who are determined to watch their team no matter what. If the takeover happens, then hopefully our fortunes will see a swift revival. If it doesn't, I can see us drifting aimlessly, with success a vague hope or off the radar completely.

It's bad news when fans stay away because of one
individual...it's the team you support, not the chairman!

times are hard in yorkshire employment wise and a 5year recession to boot!...basically people are skint and cant afford to be paying 20 odd quid to attend

It's really bad news when our supporters even have to consider withdrawing their support.

barca, me and my 2 brothers went to birmingham the other day, £36 each ticket, with beers and food £50ea

total rip off

(we saw 2 brum attempts on goal, both rockets to be fair, and one diouf well saved header. The rest of the game was shiite)

East of...

Thats the point to this article would we have been better to stayaway earlier and get rid of him sooner. Have the loyal fans been shooting themselves in the foot the last few years??

"we sell our best players but in some cases we have had no option but to do so to get money into the club"

I wonder why that was necessary. Do you?

You should never put one individual in front of your
support for the team otherwise where does it stop...
the manager, the chairman, the captain...you're just
making a rod for your own back...the history of LUFC
is such that you could protest against many...what
about protesting about the buffoon who ran on the
pitch at Hillsborough...are we not to go over that?!

he wasn't a buffoon

buffoon excuses him and his ilk

low life , brainless, wannabe thug

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