"It's got all the ingredients of the plot for a tragic novel, Leeds going from rags to riches and back to rags again," he said. "A good youth development system and facilities gives the club some heart and soul. It's a home and with that goes a tradition of developing a culture and identity for the club. It's something which is part of the process to having professional pride and a sense of responsibility, and that's hard to do in rented accommodation.
"If you have aspirations to be a big club, it demands excellent training facilities. Excellence is about maintaining quality in all areas. I'm no expert but if you had to start that facility from scratch again, the land, the planning permission and to develop the facilities would cost possibly more than £30m.
"It is not good news but what the club have in their favour is a terrific potential fan base," added Wilkinson. "If they can pull in the numbers, it increases the optimism and the attraction to the investors. It is harder to be successful if you are Crewe than it is if you are Leeds."