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發表於 2007-11-3 11:27:33
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前主席利斯杜爾終道歉
Ridsdale Apologises To Leeds Fans
Peter Ridsdale, still public enemy number one for many fans of Leeds United after his reign as chairman was widely perceived to have precipitated the club's financial meltdown, has apologised to the supporters four years after quitting Elland Road.
Peter Ridsdale famously tried to "live the dream" during his tenure as chairman of Leeds United. The Yorkshire Whites, now in League One (the third division of English football) were Champions League semi-finalists in 2001 and topped the Premier League at the start of 2002.
But the club's excessive spending was based on projections of Champions League football season after season, and when then manager David O'Leary and his successors failed to deliver it, the club spiralled into economic free-fall, lost all their best players for giveaway prices, tumbled out of the Premier League and then the Championship, went into administration and started the curent campaign with a 15-point deduction as a result.
The Leeds experiencve is generally viewed as an object-lesson in how to mis-manage a football club. And most Leeds fans hold Ridsdale directly responsible for the whirlwind of woe that has engulfed their club over the last five years.
Those fans have also fumed that Ridsdale did not, in their opinion, accept the blame and apologise.
However, in a new book entitled "United We Fall," which has been serialised in The Sun this week, Ridsdale finally says sorry.
He has apologised for the club falling apart under his leadership.
He is now prepared to take the blame while revealing the catalogue of "treachery, lies and deceit" that pushed Leeds United into bankruptcy.
Ridsdale admitted: “In many eyes, I’m the man responsible for the ‘meltdown of Leeds United’, and a financial implosion that ultimately attracted the interest of the Department of Trade & Industry.
“I don’t intend to launch a defence because many fans have already reached their damning verdict: I will be guilty forever more for the club’s demise.
“I knew, of course, why they all hated me. But I will say this: We messed up. We gambled. We won. Then we lost. Big-time.
“For that nightmare, I hold up my hands and say sorry. I can’t wind the clock back and handle things differently. If I could, I’d be more stringent and cautious.
“There is no escaping the reality that, despite an exciting journey, we failed. For that, I’m sorry.
“In future, I would not place so much faith in one manager’s ability and I would build the possibility of under-performance into the budgeting equation.
“Of course, the board and myself must carry the can — and we allowed David O’Leary to spend way too much money.
“We made the mistake of putting our money where his mouth was. The more we sniffed the Champions League, the more intoxicated we became.
“Should we have signed all the players we did? No. Did we build too big a squad? Yes.
“And we should never have signed Robbie Fowler or Seth Johnson. We gorged on football talent — and made ourselves ill.
“But every decision I took — in conjunction with the board — was made in good faith, with the interests of Leeds at heart.
“More than anything, I want Leeds to prosper and climb back to their rightful position as a top club. Nothing would make me happier. The baton has now passed to Ken Bates. It’s down to him and the next manager. I wish them good luck.”
Ridsdale left Leeds when abuse and threats against him and his family became intolerable. He reveals in his book:
“From being the fans’ hero, I struggled to hold my head high after we buckled under £78.9million debts.
“It’s hard enough when you are jostled, reviled, spat at and threatened but I was angry my wife and two daughters should feel intimidated and fearful.
“Charlotte and Olivia, seven and six at the time, cried themselves to sleep because fans had pinned a note to my front gate saying ‘We know where you live’.
“As a family we fled to my sister-in-law’s house in Suffolk a world away from Leeds, a refuge for only a few days.
“There was no real escape. I went out and was looking at a shop display when suddenly I noticed the reflection of someone coming up behind me.
“I didn’t see the hand that darted for my throat, spun me around and pushed me against the window with a thud.
“I was eyeball to eyeball with a scruffy young man, hair all over the place, his mouth and nose all twisted and snarling.
“With his grip clamped around my throat, he spat: ‘You’re that f***ing Ridsdale. You f***ed up MY team’. This was anything but random. He phlegmed up, spat at my feet and ran off.
“My legs went to jelly. I should have known there was no hiding place.
“I received menacing death threats in the post. Security guards had to patrol my own home.
“I was Peter Ridsdale: Traitor, Judas, disgrace, club wrecker. The enemy within.
“Leeds United is my history now and I’m not going to be forgiven in the city.”
Ridsdale's book, "United We Fall," is published by Macmillan on November 2, priced at £18.99, with all book royalties being donated to St Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds.
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