Paraag Marathe says there’s one ‘rare’ thing about Leeds that gives them ‘tremendous potential’

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Speaking on the Ornstein & Chapman Podcast, new Leeds United vice-chairman Paraag Marathe has spoken about the club’s tremendous potential.

Marathe was asked about his goals at the club, saying that he wants Leeds to slowly grow into a Champions League side, claiming that the club have massive potential to grow due to the size of their fanbase and the fact they’re the only club in the city.

“I think it’s incremental, we need to show that we belong, the day that we get to the beginning of the year and not worry that we’re going to get relegated, that’s the first step,” Marathe said.

“We just got in, so we’ll see what happens. What’s the stat? Over 50 per cent of clubs who get promoted get relegated within three years, so we want to not be that.

“Then it’s being able to move up the table, and be competing in Europa or be competing in the Champions League.

“We have great bones, we have great bones in Leeds with the clubs history, with the clubs history, the global fanbase in terms of the supporters we have and the fact that we are one of the rare one club towns, and our town happens to be the third or fourth biggest metropolitan area in the UK, so there’s just tremendous potential.”

Marathe is right, Leeds being a one club city gives the Whites a massive advantage when it comes to cultivating a fanbase.

Look at every other big club in England, aside from Newcastle United, they all have a rival within the same city.

There are two Manchester clubs, two teams in Liverpool, dozens of Football League outfits in London and Birmingham also has two teams.

It’s not just within Leeds where the Whites have an advantage geographically either. Leeds is just down the road from Wakefield, which is the biggest city in the UK to have never had a team in the Football League.

That’s before considering the fact that they draw supporters from across West Yorkshire, and as Marathe says, across the world.

Leeds’ history and location has established them as one of the biggest clubs in the country, and even if they haven’t been in the Premier League for the majority of the past two decades, they’ve got a huge fanbase, and that does equate to massive potential.