MD bankrolls Leeds Utd loan from second Dubai company

The Elland Road club secured money from Berrydale Seventh Sport Holdings last week, four months after receiving cash from Dubai-based Brendale Holdings.

United’s owner, GFH Capital, declined to comment but Haigh – one of the three board members at Leeds – is understood to have financed the loan paid on October 15.

Haigh controls Berrydale Seventh Sport Holdings and a debenture lodged with Companies House reveals that he was responsible for sanctioning the payment on the firm’s behalf.

His decision to invest personal funds comes on the back of a previous loan from Brendale Holdings, another Dubai-based company which lent money to United in June. Haigh is also a director of Brendale Holdings.

GFH Capital is almost a year on from its takeover of Leeds and remains the majority shareholder at Elland Road, despite the sale of sizeable stakes to club chairman Salah Nooruddin and Bahrain’s International Investment Bank (IIB).

United’s financial position is less than clear but Nooruddin painted a positive outlook during an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post on October 1.

“What we’ve done in a short period of time is significant,” Nooruddin said. “Our first objective was to stabilise the club financially. We did that.”

• Keep abreast of news from your club, plus complete live match data and stats, with our new FREE apps. Versions for iPhone and Android.