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Russell Crowe Says He Came Close to Buying Leeds United

Russell Crowe says he seriously pursued buying Leeds United and came close, but reconsidered after weighing the commitment against family and other responsibilities.
From TheFinanceBase Team2 min to read
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Russell Crowe says he seriously pursued buying Leeds United and came close, but stepped back after weighing the time commitment against family life and other responsibilities. His description of being “a phone call or two away” is a retrospective account of an unrealized possibility—not evidence that he made a completed bid or owned the club.

What Russell Crowe said about buying Leeds United

In a Yorkshire Evening Post interview transcript hosted on Dailymotion, Crowe recalled becoming a Leeds supporter after watching the club on Match of the Day in the early 1970s. He said he had seriously pursued the possibility of buying the club and described it as “like a phone call or two away from me doing it.” The quote reflects Crowe’s later recollection, not a documented completed transaction.

Crowe also explained why he reconsidered. He was already involved with the South Sydney Rabbitohs and said he calculated that running Leeds might require him to spend six or seven months a year in the city for four years. He weighed that prospect against his children, family life and other responsibilities, while saying he still thought the idea was a good one. The time estimate is Crowe’s own recollection, not an independently established requirement.

How his account fits the 2015 discussion

BBC Sport reported on 25 February 2015 that Crowe would consider buying Leeds if approached and if fans backed the move. In a separate report that day, chairman Andrew Umbers said the club was not for sale, that there had been no approaches, and that the Cellino family did not wish to sell. Those contemporaneous statements show that the public discussion did not establish an open sale process or a completed offer.

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Crowe’s later description of how close he felt to buying Leeds should therefore be understood as his account of a serious possibility, alongside the club’s stated position at the time. Neither establishes that a takeover happened.

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Who owns Leeds United now?

Leeds United’s corporate page, accessed 8 October 2026, identifies Leeds United Football Club Limited as 100 percent owned by 49ers Enterprises Global Football Group LLC. The page says Paraag Marathe is chairman and exercises the owner’s voting rights as a director on the Leeds United board. This is the ownership structure the club currently reports; ownership can change.

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The club’s ownership changed after the Crowe discussion. Leeds announced that Andrea Radrizzani completed a takeover on 23 May 2017, acquiring the remaining 50 percent stake from Massimo Cellino and taking full control. On 17 July 2023, Leeds said the EFL had approved the sale to 49ers Enterprises and that the group had assumed full ownership.

Leeds separately announced in July 2024 that ownership of Elland Road had transferred back to the club, with the transfer completed on 27 March 2024. That stadium transaction is distinct from Crowe’s unrealized interest in buying the football club.

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