LEEDS UTD SENSATION PLOT 1: DUBERRY We'll sprinkle cocaine on his

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Feb 27, 2005 | by PAUL SMITH Chief Football Reporter

A SENSATIONAL plot to spike a soccer star's food with drugs can be revealed today by the Sunday Mirror.

Leeds United's pounds 5million defender Michael Duberry was the intended victim of a plan to deliberately wreck his career.

A former Leeds executive has revealed a plan to dope the 29-year- old with cocaine, ecstasy and banned steroids so he would fail a drugs test.

The aim was to engineer the one-time England international's sacking because the Championship club could no longer afford to pay his pounds 24,000-a-week salary.

Another plan was to end the career of his fellow top wage earner, Gary Kelly, 30, by hiring hitmen to break his legs.

And a bizarre plot was hatched to drug opponents Coventry City and their high-profile manager, former Leeds boss Peter Reid, by lacing a pre-match banquet with ecstasy.

The plots followed the pounds 22million takeover of Leeds by a Yorkshire-based consortium in March last year. To re-finance the debt-ridden club, the new owners wanted to sell the ground and slash the pounds 15million wage bill.

Former Leeds executive Chris Middleton claims the plot was hatched between him and senior director Simon Morris - part of the consortium that had taken over the club. Morris denies being involved in any plan to nobble Duberry and Kelly claiming Middleton was a "rogue employee" who was sacked for gross misconduct.

Three witnesses to the extraordinary plan have given testimonies to the Sunday Mirror corroborating the events. And yesterday operations manager Middleton - now ashamed of his part in the plot - admitted his role in an exclusive interview.

Middleton claimed they planned to sprinkle powdered drugs disguised as Parmesan cheese on Duberry's pasta dish. He says that he and Morris - a 27-year-old property millionaire and life-long Leeds fan - also considered dissolving banned steroids in a sports protein drink aimed at the former Chelsea defender.

Middleton claims the idea arose from a chat the men had about reducing the wage bill at the crisis-hit club in March last year.

He says they originally discussed trying to arrange for defender Kelly to fail an alcohol breath test. But then Middleton claims the conversation, held at Morris's property business office in Leeds last summer, turned to Duberry. Middleton said: "I was there with another businessman who would later form part of a consortium to buy the club. Morris and I planned to spike Duberry. Morris made out there were four major liabilities - Erik Bakke, Michael Duberry, Gary Kelly and Seth Johnson. He wanted to cut costs by getting players off the wage bill. He made it clear that their wages were in excess of pounds 10million a year. Johnson and Bakke were untouchable because they were injured. The basis was Gary Kelly to start with. The boss (Morris) knew Kelly went to the Bingley Arms every night. He said, 'Can we breath test him'. Morris then moved on to Duberry. There was talk about drugging his meal at a restaurant in Leeds called Bibi's during a team meal, putting something in his drink, all sorts of stuff. Me and Morris planned to do it."

Middleton - a streetwise 25-year-old - says he phoned contacts to find out which drugs stayed in the bloodstream long enough to fail a dope test. He claims he played along with the plan to please Morris but had no intention of carrying it out.

He said: "Morris would get annoyed and asked what was happening. I was always making excuses. The plan changed to trying to lace sports drinks with steroids because he came to the conclusion that it wasn't safe to do it at a restaurant. A call went into the Leeds manager Kevin Blackwell suggesting they look at giving the players protein drinks to improve their conditioning." Blackwell knew nothing about any plan with steroids.

Middleton researched how to source 50mg capsules of banned steroids to put in Duberry's and Kelly's protein drinks after training. He said: "But then Blackwell opposed the idea of getting protein drinks and that and it went out of the window." Morris confirmed there had been a plan to introduce protein drinks for the players. But he said it was to reduce the weight of unfit players and denied knowledge of a drug plot. A Leeds businessman has confirmed he witnessed the first meeting between Morris and Middleton where the Duberry drug plot was hatched. The businessman said: "They said, 'We'll go somewhere in Leeds where we can get hold of the chef, put something in Michael Duberry's food and then hopefully we can get him off the payroll'."

Sports investment broker Paul Garland, who was being paid pounds 2,000 a week to help re-finance the club, says Morris revealed his plans to dope Duberry to him at meeting on September 18. He said: "I explained one of the concerns of the investors Nova was about some of the higher paid players, including Michael Duberry, Gary Kelly, Seth Johnson and Eric Bakke.

"Their wages were substantially greater than most of the Leeds players - they made up 45 per cent of the total LUFC wage bill.

"Morris said that there were 'ways of dealing with this'. He said he had friends who 'might tip the wink that he had taken something' and the Club would get him tested the next day and terminate his contract. Morris said if that didn't work 'we will spike the drinks he has after training'. I protested that this was disgraceful and that young players' careers ought not to be sabotaged in this way. Morris just laughed and said they were costing the club too much and 'they are f***ing crap!'"