A new company, enticingly named Leeds United Vision Ltd., was registered yesterday fuelling speculation that Leeds United’s takeover is finally nearing completion.

The company has only one director listed, a Mr. Keith Allen. Keith Allen is not the father of Lily Allen and singer of irritating England anthem Vindaloo, but the husband of current Leeds United director Yvonne.

The purpose of the new company he’s registered is open to debate. Some think it’s connected to LUTV but It seems strange that the current owners would be restructuring the company at a time when they’re trying to sell it.

If this is takeover-related, it’s also strange that they’ve used ‘Leeds United’ in the name of the company after so much secrecy. Anyone with the ability to use a computer can search records of listed companies, so it was an absolute certainty that someone would spot this.

The most popular theory is that the new company has been registered to facilitate the takeover. The confusing ownership of Leeds United currently spans several listed companies, so it could be that Ken Bates et al. are merging these companies to make the sale easier. This theory isn’t without it’s holes however, the most obvious of which is that Ken Bates isn’t named in the registration.

Another popular theory is that the company has been set-up by our new owners. This could make sense as Nottingham Forest’s new owners also registered a new company before they were taken over, but in their case, Al-Hasawi – the man who eventually took over – was listed as the director.

No offence to Mr. Keith Allen, but as far as Leeds United goes, he seems to be a complete nobody. Just a retired man who happens to be married to our director. Maybe his name was used simply because it maintains privacy? If that is the case, then the only party who would benefit from that privacy is the new owners. After all, we already know who Ken Bates is. Unfortunately.

You can download the company registration document by clicking here (PDF).