The Premier League club have issued a statement after club facilities were closed following police advice, while the authorities have confirmed an arrest has been made
Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium has been evacuated and closed on police advice after reports of a “security threat”.
A 42-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident, which was reported on Thursday night. The Premier League club confirmed various parts of the stadium, including the club shop and ticket office, have remained closed following advice from the authoriites.
“Leeds United’s offices, ticket office, Foundation offices and club shop at Elland Road will be closed until further notice on the advice of the police,” a club statement read. “We apologise for any inconvenience and we will inform the public when normal service resumes.”
“Police were called to attend Elland Road football stadium following reports of a security threat to the premises,” West Yorkshire Police told The Athletic. “Investigations are currently ongoing to establish the credibility of that threat. The report was received at 9:49pm last night (March 23).”
The force later released a statement confirming the arrest. “Officers have arrested a 42-year-old man in connection with the incident and enquiries remain ongoing,” it read.
Reports claim the threat in question was made via social media. Further details have not been provided at the time of writing, though Leeds do not have another home game scheduled until April 4.
On the pitch, Leeds pulled themselves out of immediate relegation danger with a win at Wolves before the international break. The 4-2 victory at Molineux leaves Javi Gracia’s side in 14th place in the table, but just two points clear of the drop.
Gracia addressed the international break in his post-match press conference. “We’ll see because our next training session we’ll have maybe 10 players, 10 players with us and the rest of the players are with different national teams,” the Spaniard said.
“Then we try to work and prepare well for the game but for sure I think my players deserve as well some days to recover. We have many players with some different pains and they have to recover to as best as possible for the next game against Arsenal.”
Leeds’ next game in the league sees them travel to Arsenal on April 1, with the Premier League leaders coming off six successive victories in the competition. After that come back-to-back home meetings against fellow relegation battlers Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace.
“Now we have time to enjoy the win and at the same time we can prepare with more confidence with a good atmosphere for the next game and to be honest, the good atmosphere we have we have with good or not-so-good results,” Gracia said. “But it’s true with a good result it helps you to work with more confidence.
“My players now, some of them are going with the national teams and before the game we spoke about it. We want to enjoy the next week and to enjoy this week and the next as well.”
