Leeds United chief Victor Orta has admitted he is ‘proud’ of finally helping the club return to the Premier League after a 16-year-absence.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side finally returned to the top flight of English football this week, with results elsewhere ensuring they finished top of the table as champions.
Their return brought about an end to a tumultuous spell outside of the elite for the Whites, who have endured several years in League One, a brush with bankruptcy and numerous other issues since being relegated in 2004.
It is only since the arrival of current owner Andrea Radrizzani, and the subsequent hiring of Orta as Director of Football that things started to turn around.
Their hiring of Marcelo Bielsa last season proved to be the turning point, and Orta says it is the ‘excellent’ teams they’ve assembled that has taken Leeds back to the top.
“It has been 16 years in which 90% was bad news,” he told Yahoo News Spain.
“The club was close to bankruptcy, constant talent sales, loss of club identity, detachment …
“Now, with an excellent president, an excellent coach, excellent players, an excellent CEO, excellent scouting teams and some excellent workers, we have been able to change it. You have to be proud of it.
“Especially thinking of a generation under the age of 30, who were tired of their grandparents and parents telling them good things about the past, while they had never seen a Leeds Premier League game in their lives.
“Now they are going to be able to enjoy it and have a feeling of closeness and permanence that was being lost.”
Leeds’ return to the Premier League has been met with joy from most corners in the wider footballing community, with many pleased to see them back.
Indeed, most believe the club, who once dominated the top flight of English football under Don Revie and were a Premier League challenger in the 90s, belong in the division.
That is something Orta certainly agrees with, saying that everyone wins with Leeds back in the Premier League.
“I think they were looking forward to it,” he said.
“In the Championship, we were playing on a Tuesday, and we had an audience of 1.1 million viewers on Sky.
“Manchester City played at the same time in the Champions League and had 300,000 spectators.
“We are the team that we have the most fans away from home. In the field occupancy rate at home, we have been in the top 5 in England in the last two years.
“I think everyone wins with our presence in the Premier.”
Key to Leeds turnaround has been the work that Bielsa has put in off the pitch to turn a once toxic atmosphere at the club into something else.
The Argentine has worked tirelessly to turn the club into a more together unit, with fans and players united in their aim to get back to the Premier League.
Key to that has been getting the wrong attitudes out of the dressing room, something they have achieved this season.
And while Orta is pleased with their success, he says their ability to do that means they’ve achieved something far more significant in the process.
“I have seen many people cry, that is true, but I have been to other celebrations, and it was different,” he added.
“It was like the players received all the gratitude for making us happy.
“Here I have seen a group of players of a human level so huge that they have thanked every element of the club. From the lowest to the highest.
“I have seen some players who have thanked every member of the club. That makes me proud. We have created something above success.”
