Dear Leeds United I am writing as an extremely disgruntled and unsatisfied fan. Not only do I not believe the way the club is being run is in the best interests of sustainable footballing success, but I am also finding myself more and more disgusted by the actions of the club. Blocking the LUST board of directors from making away ticket purchases will only achieve one thing - more unhappy fans. The club should be aware that, regardless of how much propaganda - and that's what it is - they throw at us, we are not stupid. We are paying attention to what is happening. I am not a member of the Trust, and according to the arbitrary figures we've had thrown at us by Mr Bates the majority of fans are not Trust members. By this logic, if the Trust's views are the "minority", then it would be hard to find someone who agrees with their views. On top of that, it is fairly typical and inevitable that some will agree with the views of the board and some will disagree. It's impossible to keep everyone happy. So why, when all this information is taken into consideration, have I never met a single Leeds United fan who believes the current board of directors are guiding the club in the right direction? Surely one of the dozens of people I've spoken to about the club over the course of this season (from all backgrounds) would agree that the current state of affairs is the right one. This is simply not the case. I find myself absolutely infuriated every time I hear or read another one of Mr Bates statements on the club, belittling protesters and labelling them as "the minority", when in fact it is quite clear to anyone that the overwhelming majority are entirely dissatisfied with the running of the club. Any statement made that does not conform entirely to what Mr Bates believes is ridiculed and mocked, usually with the argument that "they've made these statements with no backing or evidence" or some other tripe. As an added note, key points from such statements are often omitted from his ramblings. This brings me to my main point. I've never seen such a record breaking level of hypocrisy. We are constantly told "facts" about the clubs finances and other affairs and then mocked for believing it's anything other than spectacular and way above what anyone else is spending. The proof? We don't see any, because "Leeds United does it's business in private". We're lead to believe that £12 million transfer budget is meant to be amazing for Championship level as it matches that of Blackpool's Premier League campaign. Despite Blackpool spending £12 million on wages alone (NB - this doesn't include transfer fees), making £20 million profit and getting relegated. Also, since I don't trust him further than I can throw him, it wouldn't surprise me if the £12 million transfer budget figure is a load of rubbish. In fact, I'd expect that it probably is. It's entirely insulting to not only the fans in general, but my own intelligence. Week after week we are fed lies and twisted facts by Mr Bates. He didn't hesitate for a second to point out that LUSTs vote on whether a protest should take place saw 80% vote no, completely overlooking the fact that the reason a vote had taken place was because the Trust wanted to show Neil Warnock their full support in his first home game. Disillusionment with the board of directors does not mean the manager shouldn't get the backing of the fans. Disillusionment with the board of the directors also does not mean fans wish to stop doing something that they enjoy doing - going to watch football. The number of fans still attending games despite not agreeing with Mr Bates "regime" is overwhelming. They do it not because they want to back the club and believe their money is being spent well, they do it because they enjoy watching football and are mature enough to not let one ignorant man ruin their own leisure activities. The shameless sales pitch in this weeks programme notes was almost enough to make me vomit. After mocking statements made by unofficial publications, I was encouraged to only pay attention to official club media, because that's where all the facts come from, apparently. Absolutely fantastic, I have the privilege of paying extortionate amounts of money to get insignificant news played up to sound amazing and spectacular, and as an added bonus I also get "facts" that have been filtered through the lie machine. Brilliant. I will sum up what I am trying to say with this - I cannot trust the Chairman of Leeds United, Mr Ken Bates, as far as I can throw him. What's he expecting when he makes these statements, we're all going to turn around and say "Damn straight, Kenny boy! Those guys don't know what they're talking about!"? No. Not a chance. The worryingly low season ticket renewal figures say everything. It's something stupid like 30% down on the same stage last season, despite the amazing price freeze! Wow! Thanks Ken, thanks for not hiking the prices up, we're so grateful that you kept the season ticket prices the same. That's what you call value for money, paying the 5th highest ticket prices in the country to watch players who aren't good enough struggle to compete in the second tier! Amazing. Yours Mark Extremely unhappy Leeds United fan
Ye well I'm going to continue sending such emails until I get some sort of response. At the very least it will irritate those involved.
And for the record I don't give a **** if I get banned from buying tickets. I am only a member, there are ways around the system if I decide I do want to start going to matches again, and I have no intention of renewing the membership until I see some sort of change for the good of the team. That said, having a valid membership allows me to go to away matches which as it stands I'd much prefer to go to.
