Ridsdale had to go to keep Leeds Utd investors onside

Peter Ridsdale, who resigned as chairman of Leeds United a month ago and then suddenly quit as a non-executive two weeks later, was forced out so the football club can go to the City for more money.

On the day Mr Ridsdale stood down as chairman, Leeds revealed it still had £79m of debts despite having sold five internationals to rival clubs in the last year. To add insult to injury, the new chairman, John McKenzie, had to sell French midfielder Olivier Dacourt for a cut-price £2m because of the financial difficulties.

Professor McKenzie is now working on a deal with shareholders, bankers and bondholders to cut the debt burden.

After initial meetings in the City, he was told that Mr Ridsdale would have to leave the board before talks could start. "He was told to resign or he would be voted off by the City," said a Leeds insider.

Professor McKenzie is expected to announce plans to bring down Leeds' debts within a month. The football club, which had hoped to qualify for Europe this season, is not yet safe from relegation from the Premier League.

Leeds' shares have collapsed from over 20p to just 4.25p on Friday, though this is above their all-time low of 3.1p earlier this month.