Leeds United have requested permission from former manager Marcelo Bielsa to name the club’s Thorp Arch training complex after him, according to Phil Hay – but are still awaiting a response from the Argentine.
Bielsa, 67, became a Leeds United legend during his time in Yorkshire after having taken the club out of the Championship and guided Leeds to 81 wins in 170 games in the Premier League from the Elland Road dugout. The erstwhile Argentine revered as an elder manager by even the likes of Pep Guardiola had served the club in more games than he had with any other job in his long and colorful CV.
Bielsa took a side that finished mid-table in the Championship to a most creditable ninth in the Premier League in 2020-21, an achievement that will surely be cherished in Leeds’ history. That aside, he will also be fondly remembered for his involvement with Spygate, high pressing, man-for-man, murderball, translators and the like as he is known for doing things his way, and was much loved for his idiosyncrasies.
However things came to a head in February and Leeds decided to sack the Argentine – a decision which eventually rea[ed dividends when new manager Jesse Marsch guided the club to Premier League safety. Regardless, Leeds still want to honor Bielsa from obscurity to prominence and for giving them a sense of belonging and a foothold in English football history.
Talk has been rife of the club naming the Thorp Arch training ground after Bielsa, a place which bears Bielsa’s thumbprint as he was the one who completely redesigned it during his four years in Yorkshire. Leeds have sought his permission, but Bielsa is yet to reply.
“As for the training ground, Leeds have written to him to ask for his permission to rename it after him. They’re waiting for a reply,” Hay wrote on The Athletic’s website.
Undeniably it would be a fitting tribute to commemorate the highly-revered Argentine’s legacy at Elland Road as it was him who ended Leeds’ 16-year exile outside the Premier League and is most certainly deserving of his niche up there with the likes of Don Revie and Howard Wilkinson in terms of the club’s best-ever managers.
Leeds and Bielsa were two sides of a coin whee he would often be seen in the local supermarket or sipping his fave cuppa at a Costa Coffee branch. And he would be walking to work, instead of driving.
The Argentine maestro and gentleman embodied what Leeds were all about – the Yorkshire connection.
The merits of his work at Thorp Arch alone would more than justify the renaming of the training ground after him, let alone his colossal impact on life and the people in that locality, having given them the faith to believe in themselves.
Such a move still hinges on acquiescence from Bielsa and it would certainly be awkward to see why the man would reject the honor – although, this is Marcelo Bielsa we’re talking about.