Any Leeds fans about ?

Just the majority of them really. Just remember, there are Man U fans out there who think they are going through a tough time of it right now, merely being in contention for the top 4, being in the Europa SF's & winning the Rumbelows cup. Tis all relative. 

Leaving those lads aside, would ye Leeds lads swop places with Leyton Orient this evening ?? 

Indeed, the beauty of football is that nearly every club you form an emotional attachment will break your heart and do so in a way usually reserved for romantic affairs. There were probably fans at the Camp Nou wailing and gnashing of teeth as journalists wrote about the end of an era, Barcelona might not win a trophy! Arsenal fans have been fighting amongst themselves at games, so brokenhearted are they about a top 6 finish and a cup final. I recently saw a clip of one of the goons(see what I did there) on Arsenal fan tv, a youtube channel that epitomises all that is wrong with the modern football in an entertaining manner that makes it feel like the work of Chris Morris, refer to the problems of Leyton Orient as "that sh*tty little club". Fans of all clubs suffer and have different barometers of failure but there is a stark contrast between losing a few matches or a relegation and the void that comes from losing the club you love completely. Fans of Leeds should know the feeling well and may well know it again.

Funnily enough, I was only recently saying how awful their attendances are for a 'big club' with a city of 750,000 to themselves, always averaging well below 30k. I think Elland Road has only been full once this season, despite having one of the biggest away followings the home support is comparatively poor.

I wouldn't cry about it anyway but I wouldn't have them in that 'tier' I think I saw before that Leeds are about 16th in the all time trophy table, some of those above them will be very historical but I would have them, in my mind at least,  a long way short of Everton and Villa, based on the factors given.

None of them buy football clubs to make money, they but football clubs to launder reputations. Worldwide Abrahamovich is now associated with Chelsea first, rather than his very dodgy past.

The rest are a ragtag bunch of people that don't want it but like the transfer money(Southampton), international playboys who wanted a plaything(Leicester), a secretive Russian living locally(Bournemouth),. Nobody knows about the Iranian at Everton but I suspect the new stadium move might make a few bob somehow, the Allems at Hull just want money and Ellis Short just appears to have a vendetta against the people of Sunderland. The rest are all local owners and dildo salesman.

It was when you drop into the championship and League 1 where you have a right motley crew of dodgy lads from all over the place, everybody from Dublin's own Darragh MacAnthony and whatever he is up to with Bazza, to the Saudis at Sheffield United, Sisu at Coventry, Pilley at Fleetwood and your own Cellino I wouldn't trust any of them.

They are all in it for the quick buck if these cubs go up, when they don't you have a Charlton/Coventry/Orient situation. Thankfully, the FA have a fit and proper persons check in place which means that if they are fit and proper they would probably fail. I expect to see a lot, lot more clubs go to the wall over the years. The chairman of the local league side to me has repeatedly said there are only 16 of the 92 league clubs that are being run as self-sustaining businesses  and he isn't one for hyperbole.

It is better abroad, to an extent. The German style of fan-ownership and having stricter rules means there are less head the ball owners, it hasn't stopped teams like Hoffenheim or Red Bull adding Leipzig to their portfolio. Funnily enough Leeds are supposed to be one of the Englsih teams they were looking at, along with Swindon and Orient. PSG are owned by Qatar, Monaco by a dodgy Russian who had to loan Falcao out and sell others because of his divorce a few years back. Chinese consortia  own both Milan clubs now and Fenway are involved at Roma in some way. Spain has had disasters with the current set up at Granada, Chinese consortium, and the Qataris at Malaga. Valencia have a guy clearly in it for the cash too!

The first question of anybody getting involved with football ownership should by why!