THE new chairman of Premiership football giants Leeds United is a former head of Bolton Institute.

Professor John McKenzie, aged 65, has taken over from businessman Peter Ridsdale, who has left with the Yorkshire side £78.9m in debt.

Professor McKenzie, an economics expert, spent three years as principal at the institute in the 1980s.

He has divided his career between the commercial and academic worlds, but one of the greatest passions of his life has always been football -- and particularly Leeds United.

He first became a season ticket holder of the club in the 1970s, although he was born in Ilford, Essex.

He is married with two children and divides his time between Yorkshire and London.

He is currently the largest individual shareholder at Leeds, with around four million shares, and was elected to the board only six weeks ago.

Professor McKenzie became a lecturer after graduating from the London School of Economics and took of over as principal at the Bolton Institute in 1981.

He left in 1984 and graduated to appointments at Liverpool Polytechnic, London Institute and Leeds University.

He has also worked for a number of leading companies including Cadbury, Schweppes, Unilever and Beechams.

After his appointment, he said: "I'm not going to put anything in tablets of stone but I would like the team to be back in Europe next year."