Leeds are set to confirm today they will be leaving Elland Road in favour of a new multi-million pound, state-of-the-art stadium. Leeds shareholders and season-ticket holders have been voting during the last three weeks on whether the club should remain at their present ground, or move to the 50,000-plus capacity complex.
If given the green light, the stadium - which would be built on a 50-acre site on wasteland on the south-eastern outskirts of the city - would be ready in time for the start of the 2004-05 season.
Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale, who was the subject of a vicious hate-mail campaign after announcing proposals for the ground earlier this year, outlined in a letter to the shareholders and season-ticket holders the pros and cons behind staying and going.
Ridsdale is convinced leaving Elland Road represents the logical step forward for Leeds, particularly if they are to compete on an equal financial footing with Europe's top clubs, and is supported by manager David O'Leary. Supporters club chairman Ray Fell has also given his endorsement to the proposed move, while 87 per cent of Leeds fans in general - of more than 1,000 who voted in a poll on the club's website - are behind the plan.
Poignantly, two of the access roads to the new stadium would be named Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight. The men were stabbed to death in Istanbul on the eve of Leeds' UEFA Cup semi-final against Galatasaray last year.
