Leeds United are back in the Premier League after winning the Championship under Daniel Farke.
Leeds are set for their second Premier League spell in 20 years, and this time, the Whites are more geared for success than ever before.
Indeed, while Leeds’ last Premier League spell ended in disaster, the finances accrued during that time did allow the club to invest in the facilities, the squad, and, eventually, the stadium.
Elland Road is set to be expanded, while Thorp Arch is looking better than ever before.
Speaking to One Leeds Fan Channel on YouTube, Stuart Dallas has been discussing Leeds’ growth in recent years in terms of infrastructure, and he shared just how bad of a situation the club were in when he first arrived back in 2015.
Stuart Dallas says Leeds’ facilities were terrible
Dallas spoke about his initial arrival at Leeds.
The former midfielder says that Leeds had a decent group of players around this time, but the facilities at the club and the way things were run was a ‘shambles’.
“Back in Northern Ireland, clubs that are followed, Liverpool, Man Utd, Rangers, Celtic, Leeds was up there. I’ve always known how big the club is, but until you get inside it you realise,” Dallas said.
“When I came, the club had a decent group of players, but looking back, the club was a complete mess, a complete shambles in terms of where it needed to be.
“I was at Brentford, and Brentford were four, five, six steps ahead of Leeds at that time in terms of the facilities within the training ground, how they coached players, gym work, the standards they set, when I came to Leeds it was messy, and when I came it was actually starting to improve, believe it or not.”
Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds training ground upgrades
Leeds United were a shambles in the mid-2010s, but that all changed upon the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa.
Indeed, the Argentine changed the standards at the club, and he quickly made a few changes to the training ground to bring it into the modern era.
| Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds training ground upgrades |
| Installed beds so players could wind down between sessions |
| Installed Playstation consoles and pool tables to allow downtime |
| Installed a new running track to improve fitness |
| Installed a log-burning fireplace to make the facility feel more homely |
| Recommissioned use of the swimming pool at the facility |
Of course, the club’s owners deserve credit for putting the money in to make these renovations happen, but, make no mistake about it, Bielsa was a driving force here.
Bielsa is one of the hardest-working men in football, and while he was ultimately sacked by Leeds, the Whites wouldn’t be where they are today without the foundations that were laid by the Argentine all those years ago.
