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Liam Wood

Ken Bates explains big Leeds United regret and delivers verdict on the current season

In guiding Leeds United to the Premier League last summer, Marcelo Bielsa ended 16 years of pain at Elland Road.

On a day when the hugely-popular Argentine celebrates 1,000 days in charge of the club, you can forgive supporters from making the most of every single thing that comes with being back in the big time.

The only shame is that, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Whites have yet to share it with their ever-passionate fans.

An undeniable high last July followed a testing decade and a half away from the top-flight, with former chairman Ken Bates at the helm for just over half of their time in the Football League.

What did Bielsa learn last time out against Chelsea?

After taking charge at Leeds amid Premier League relegation and financial troubles in West Yorkshire, the London businessman did what he could to spark life back into a sleeping giant.

However, those eight years in charge instead brought about five permanent managers and, for the only time in the club's history, an unthinkable relegation into the third tier of English football.

But as the former Chelsea owner looks back on his time at Elland Road - which has enjoyed much happier times under their Italian chairman Andrea Radrizzani - what is his biggest regret?

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Bates said: "They were too great a club to go bust.

"When I took over Elland Road was falling apart. It was falling down. I was surprised we got a safety certificate. When we left it had been totally refurbished. The East Stand had been properly rebuilt.

"The Centenary Pavilion we rebuilt. We had a 38,000-capacity stadium and it was a Premier League ground ready for a Premier League team, and we got it last year."

Upon returning to the Championship, Bates sold Leeds to Bahraini businessman Salah Nooruddin in 2013, and that decision remains his biggest regret as Leeds continue to establish themselves back in the Premier League.

Bates added: "They are the unofficial capital of Yorkshire when you think about it and like Manchester have a lot of competition in Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.

"Anyway, they are back where they belong and I'm very pleased that they are holding their own."

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