Harvey to resign as he swaps Leeds for League

It is understood that former chief executive Harvey and Leeds have agreed to terminate his directorship on the final day of this month, officially ending his nine-year association with the Elland Road club.

Harvey, 43, was removed from the post of chief executive on July 1 amid a raft of boardroom changes at Leeds, but he remained as a director and a “senior adviser” to United’s Dubai-based owner, GFH Capital. His influence in the past two months had been minimal, however, and he is effectively on gardening leave from Elland Road. His departure from United’s board was hastened by the announcement on July 29 that he would replace Greg Clarke as the Football League’s new chief executive on October 1.

Harvey was until recently a member of the Football League’s board in his capacity as a senior executive at Leeds, but his new role is independent and prevents him from holding a position with any of the governing body’s 72 clubs. The end of his employment at Elland Road will remove all traces of the senior management team which ran United during Ken Bates’s eight and a half years as chairman.

Bates relinquished the chairman’s post on June 30, making way for present incumbent Salah Nooruddin, and the 81-year-old was later sacked as club president in a dispute over the cost of private jets hired to fly him to Yorkshire from his home in Monaco.

GFH Capital, which bought United from Bates last December, had previously removed Yvonne Allen and ex-Leeds striker Peter Lorimer from the Elland Road board, leaving Harvey as the only surviving member of the previous group of directors.

The one-time Bradford City managing director first became Leeds’s chief executive in 2004, agreeing to work under the board led by Gerald Krasner.

Nooruddin said of Harvey: “We extend our thanks to Shaun for his services to the club over the past nine years. He has always given strong leadership to the club in what have often been challenging times.”

United left-back Sam Byram’s pending return to first-team action will equate to a major new signing, according to manager Brian McDermott.

Byram, sidelined since April with a hip injury, played his first full 90 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Sunderland at Thorp Arch on Monday.

“We haven’t put time frames on his return yet, but he must be getting close, which is great news,” McDermott said. “When you talk about transfer deadline days, how much would it have cost to buy Sam Byram?”