2004-07 Blackwell and Wise: Play-Off Final Heartbreak and Relegation To League One
Runners Up: Championship Play Off Final (2005/06)
On 21 January 2005, Krasner announced the sale of a 50% stake to Ken Bates for £10m and Bates became the club's new Chairman, replacing Krasner. This investment effectively saved Leeds United from going into administration. Bates had previously headed three other league football clubs, most famously Leeds' old rivals Chelsea.
Blackwell was forced to sell most of the remaining players, including Aaron Lennon; somehow he managed to build a team using loan players and experienced professionals nearing the end of their careers. Despite a promising opening day win against Derby County, Leeds's form at the start of the 2004-05 Coca-Cola Championship was little better than in the previous season, and they spent the first half of the campaign looking in serious danger of a second successive relegation. Their form gradually picked up after the club was taken over by Bates and Leeds finished in a relatively safe 14th place.
With new players brought in over the summer, the club's goal during the 2005-06 season was promotion. Blackwell's shrewd tactics away from Elland Road and attacking style at home proved highly effective, and by the end of February he had guided Leeds to 3rd place in the Championship. However from that point onwards Leeds slumped, gaining just 4 points from a possible 18, and eventually had to settle for a play-off place. In the first round of the playoffs against Preston North End, Leeds drew 1-1 at Elland Road, but then won the return leg 2-0 to advance to the Play-Off final. The playoff final was played on 21 May 2006 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. However in a dismal performance Leeds crashed to a 3-0 final defeat to Watford. While some fans predicted that Leeds would go one better and finally return to the Premier League the following year, others were concerned by the fact that with the exception of the bottom four teams, Leeds's form going into the play-offs was the worst of any team in the Championship, their only two wins in the final months of the campaign being the play-off victory against Preston and a narrow 1-0 victory against relegated Crewe Alexandra.
On 10 September 2006, Kevin Blackwell announced that within a year the club would be debt free. Just over 2 years before, Leeds United had been £121 million pounds in debt.
On 20 September 2006, after a poor start to the season, Kevin Blackwell's contract was terminated. John Carver was appointed Caretaker Manager, but after winning his first match against Birmingham City, the club went on a run of five straight defeats with 17 goals conceded before Carver was dismissed after just three weeks in charge that saw Leeds crash to the foot of the Championship table. From this point, despite occasional improvements in form, Leeds would never escape the relegation zone. David Geddis took over the responsibilities for the League Cup match against Southend United. Dennis Wise eventually took charge on 25 October 2006. It was announced on 20 November 2006 that Kevin Blackwell was suing the club for wrongful dismissal after it was confirmed he was sacked for gross misconduct, on the grounds of "negative comments made in the press about the club's finances".
Wise started by improving the fitness of the side, and by bringing in a number of loan players, notably Alan Thompson. Unfortunately, he was unable to bring any consistency to the side (not helped by injuries to Thompson and fellow new signing Tore André Flo after playing just 3 and 2 games respectively; Flo did not play again that season), and by May 2007 Leeds were relegated from the Championship after entering voluntary administration.
Read more about this topic: History Of Leeds United A.F.C.
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