Cash-strapped Leeds install accountants to manage finances

Debt-ridden English Premiership side Leeds United have shed their finance director and temporarily installed accounts Ernst and Young to manage the club's books in an attempt to cut costs.

Finance director and chief operating officer Stephen Harrison had resigned, with his place taken temporarily by Neil Robson, a director of Ernst and Young, Leeds said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange, where they are listed.

Additionally Ernst and Young "has been appointed to advise on alternatives for restructuring and refinancing the company," the statement added.

Leeds revealed at the end of last month that they were struggling with crippling debts of almost 80 million pounds (127 million dollars), the result of a stalled attempt to spend their way into the English Premiership elite.

Tuesday's club statement also said that John McKenzie, brought in to replace discredited chief executive Peter Ridsdale at the end of March, would be taking over permanently.

Ridsdale was the chief architect of Leeds' ambitious gamble which saw them spend heavily and reach the semi-finals of the lucrative Champions League before a severe slump in form sparked a debt crisis as revenues slid.

The club -- who remain in danger of relegation from the Premiership with just two matches left to play this season -- have sold off a slew of top players in recent months to reduce debts.

The Leeds board of directors had now identified annual savings of around 5 million pounds, the statement said, seemingly hinting at a summer clear-out of yet more players.

"These will be implemented as soon as practicable and will be significant for the next financial year," it said.