Survival, stability and moving up - Leeds' strategy for success

Leeds United sporting director Adam UnderwoodImage source, Leeds United FC
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Last week, Leeds United sporting director Adam Underwood sat alongside Brentford counterpart Lee Dykes at Old Trafford explaining to a captivated audience what his job entailed and what the targets are.

The two-day Training Ground Guru conference is an established part of the football calendar.

In theory, Underwood should be the senior man as on key metrics, history, fanbase, stadium size, Leeds dwarf Brentford.

The reality is very different.

Underwood knows through their extensive use of data and smart recruitment that Brentford have become an established member of England's elite.

The Bees are now into their fifth consecutive Premier League campaign. Leeds are in their fourth in 21 years. Their aim this season is to halt the current sequence of relegations for the past six teams coming up out of the Championship.

"There are a number of clubs like Brentford - Brighton are in that bracket too – who have an excellent base from which they run their football operation," Underwood told BBC Sport.

"Everyone is aware how they use data to get a competitive advantage and recruit really well. The evidence of that from those clubs is everywhere.

"I am sure it has helped to sustain them in the Premier League and helped them grow and continue to be successful.

"We know that as a Championship club promoted to the Premier League the task is huge to buck the trend of the six clubs over the past two years who have come up and gone straight back down.

"We look at clubs across the Premier League and ask: 'What did they do well?', 'How did they manage to achieve what they have achieved in staying up?'."

Manager Daniel Farke will be judged on how successful – or otherwise – he is in keeping Leeds in the top flight.

Underwood's role is to support that. But his brief goes wider.

Arriving at Leeds as academy manager in 2014, Underwood was promoted to head of football operations in July 2023 and took up his present role in April.

He knows his day-to-day work must never lose sight of the overall vision of the 49ers Enterprises Global Football Group that own Leeds.

"Having competitive success is always going to be the immediate focus, for the sporting director, manager and the ownership group," he said.

"But around that, as a foundation for sporting success, there has to be a long-term view for how you develop the club, build the infrastructure and create the conditions for that success to happen and increase the chances of it happening over a period of time.

"We want to be an established Premier League club and believe we can push back to the top half of the table and realise our potential.

"The sporting director's responsibility is to feed both of those work streams and both of those projects.

"Every weekend, you are at games hoping all the work you are doing in recruitment to support the manager and the staff, pays off and you get a result.

"But ultimately, you know as long as you are on track over the long term from a performance perspective, you are making steps towards your vision and realising the ambition of the ownership."

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