P Riddy back on song at Barnsley

"QPR wanted the investment but not my day-to-day involvement and I wasn't happy with that. They were very honest and I respect that. (Chairman) Nick Blackburn has done a very good job but if I was going to invest I wanted to be heavily involved."

As well as his love for the game Ridsdale is motivated by a determination to prove his critics wrong.

After Leeds' free-spending adventure turned sour, with debts of £80million forcing the sale of several key players, he was lampooned as a feckless fool who spent money he didn't have and dubbed 'Publicity Pete' because of his love of the limelight. Ridsdale rejects such accusations and feels he was made a scapegoat for decisions taken by the entire board.

"I was stunned by the speed with which people turned from friend to foe. For the first five years everyone was saying nice things but as soon as we had a difficult period everyone turned on me," he said. "In a public company you have a board of very able people, but you'd think I was the only director.

"I didn't choose to be high-profile and was forced into that position. During my time as chairman, George Graham left for Tottenham, there was the plane crash at Stansted, two supporters were murdered in Istanbul and we had two very high-profile players in court.

"I felt those issues required leadership from the board, not the manager, and took a leadership position. I was complimented by the press but as soon as it started going wrong I was accused of seeking publicity."

Ridsdale's reputation was hardly helped over the summer when new chairman Professor John McKenzie released details of the club's lavish spending, including £600,000-a-year on 76 company cars, £70,000 on private jets and £20-a-month on goldfish for the boardroom.

Ridsdale resists the temptation to criticise his successor, or indeed any aspect of the club's new regime, but is clearly unhappy such figures were made public.

He said: "I'd question the number of company cars and the jets were used on a small number of occasions, usually for the manager, and on one occasion to sort out the Rio Ferdinand money quickly.

"If you're about to sell a player for £30m then £10,000 seems a reasonable expense. I didn't have a company car and drove myself to work everyday.

"The boardroom is where we entertain visiting teams and £200-a-year for a fish tank is not that much for a club with a turnover of £80m. Mind you, I'll concentrate on sorting out the football club before I bring some fish to Oakwell."

After life in the goldfish bowl at Leeds, Ridsdale is happy in the quieter ponds of the Nationwide League. Barnsley may have spent the last 10 months in administration and have only 14 fit outfield players for tonight's game, but have at least one advantage over their Yorkshire rivals.

Ridsdale said: "At the moment our cash-flow is good and we have money in the bank, which makes a pleasant change."

Leeds fans may not like the joke, but it's good to see P Riddy laughing again.