Leeds United are closing in on securing automatic promotion to the Premier League but a massive overhaul is on the cards in the club’s management. Leeds CEO Angus Kinnear will leave Elland Road to join Everton at the end of the season. The Whites have already gone to work to bring in a replacement and there are expected to be several changes behind the scenes at Elland Road. The 49ers have had time to plan Kinnear’s departure and it seems they are already prepared to bring in someone to handle the transition.
Daniel Farke and his Leeds United players focused on securing automatic promotion to the Premier League with eleven games remaining in the Championship season.
Leeds are preparing for a trip to Fratton Park on Sunday when they will take on Portsmouth who played out a 3-3 draw at Elland Road on the opening day of the campaign.
However, changes are afoot at Elland Road ahead of the end of the season and there is going to be an overhaul behind the scenes at Leeds ahead of the summer.
Kinnear is set to leave Leeds as the club CEO and the Whites will look to bring in a long-term chief executive in due course of time, but they seem to be set to appoint someone in the interim.
The 49ers are set to bring in an experienced operator who has been working in football for a long time and was at Leeds previously.
An ex-FA and Premier League chairman set to arrive at Leeds United
The 49ers seem well prepared to carry out the transition and have already finalised the arrival of a key man at Elland Road in the coming days.
According to The Athletic, the Yorkshire giants will appoint Peter McCormick as a new non-executive director as part of their plan to replace Kinnear.
The Leeds CEO won’t be leaving before the end of the season and Leeds have moved to bring in McCormick immediately to carry forward the transition.
He is a vastly experienced lawyer who has worked in football for years, including holding key positions in the Football Association and the Premier League.
McCormick was appointed as the interim FA chairman to replace Greg Clarke in November 2020 and held the position until January 2022. In the same month he was unanimously appointed as the interim chairman of the Premier League, until January 2023.
He is still part of three FA committees, is the chairman of the Premier League Stadium Fund and a trustee of the Football Foundation.
The experienced operator also held a directorial position at Leeds in the 1990s and has been brought back to Elland Road to transition from Kinnear until Leeds bring in a long-term appointment.
However, McCormick’s appointment is not expected to be temporary and he will take on a major role behind the scenes moving forward.
He has a history with Leeds
McCormick’s imminent arrival shows that the 49ers had a plan in place as soon as it became clear that Kinnear would be moving on at the end of the season.
He served as a director at Leeds in the 1990s and was also chairman at the FA as well as the Premier League, which shows how vastly experienced he is.
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He is a brilliant lawyer and his law firm has a prior relationship with Leeds when they represented Lee Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate in 2001.
The experienced football operator will look to transition the club from Kinnear’s reign until Leeds bring in a new long-term appointment to replace the CEO.
Leeds will continue the search for a new CEO in the coming weeks and months and will hope to bring in someone soon as the long-term replacement of Kinnear, who will be the next Everton chief executive.
