How Leeds United Keeps Matchday Operations Running Smoothly with Atera
Behind every thrilling football match is a complex digital operation working relentlessly to ensure everything runs seamlessly. For Leeds United, that responsibility falls on a dedicated IT team tasked with supporting thousands of users, devices, and systems—often under extreme time pressure.
By adopting Atera, Leeds United transformed its IT operations, boosting productivity, strengthening security, and delivering uninterrupted performance on matchdays and beyond.
More Than Football: A Business That Never Stops
When fans look at a football club, they see the players on the pitch. But behind the scenes is a massive, fast-paced enterprise.
My name is Graham Peck, I’m the Information Security Manager at Leeds United Football Club. People often fail to realize that there are actually two parts to a football club. There’s the football out on the pitch—and then there’s the SME side, which is like any other business.
Leeds United employs around 350 full-time staff. On matchdays, however, that number surges to over 1,000 people, all relying on flawless IT systems to do their jobs. From desktops and laptops to mobile phones, point-of-sale terminals, payment devices, turnstiles, stadium Wi-Fi, and broadcast systems, the club’s infrastructure is vast and mission-critical.
According to Graham, the mandate for IT is simple: “Atera keeps us secure, reliable, and—most importantly—always on.”
The Challenge: Manual Processes and Constant Disruption
Before Atera, Leeds United’s IT operations were heavily manual, making it difficult to scale support during critical moments.
“We used a lot of spreadsheets. We relied mainly on email, and people would just walk in the door. You were constantly disrupted,” Graham explains.
This outdated approach created several bottlenecks for the club:
- Slower response times to critical issues
- Reduced overall team productivity
- A lack of visibility into system health
- Increased pressure and burnout for technicians
The IT team needed a modern solution that could centralize workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and scale effortlessly to meet the demands of a modern stadium.
The Solution: Atera’s All-in-One IT Management Platform
Atera delivered exactly what Leeds United was looking for: a unified platform combining remote monitoring, ticketing, automation, reporting, and AI-driven support.
For Richard, who helps lead the IT team, the impact on customer satisfaction was immediate:
“The important thing for me is keeping our customers happy. Atera really helps us increase productivity. We can see tickets coming in and assign them to the right technician for a faster response.” – Richard, Head of IT
AI-Powered Efficiency: Like Adding Another Engineer
One of the most powerful advantages for Leeds United has been Atera’s AI Copilot. For IT team member Zach, the AI tools have fundamentally changed how support is delivered.
“Using Atera’s AI is like having another team member,” says Zach. “Tickets have been reduced by 25–35% because users can now resolve many issues themselves.”
Key benefits the team has experienced with Atera AI include:
- Faster ticket resolution: AI assists technicians in diagnosing and fixing issues rapidly.
- Automated knowledge base: “We love using the generate article feature—it helps not just one user, but everyone who has similar issues,” Zach notes.
- Reduced technician workload: Deflecting common requests frees up the team for complex projects.
- Improved end-user experience: Staff get back to work faster.
Automation That Saves Hours Every Week
Automation quickly became a cornerstone of Leeds United’s IT strategy, transforming how the team handles routine maintenance.
“We use automation for software installations and new device setups," the team shares. "Before, this was all manual and took a huge amount of time.” Now, processes that once took hours are completed in minutes.
Automated patch management has also had a massive impact on daily operations. Because machines are kept up to date quietly in the background, there are far fewer tickets about slow machines, allowing users to work more efficiently.
Data-Driven Decisions with Smart Reporting
Using Atera’s advanced reporting tools, the IT team has moved from a reactive to a proactive state. They now track:
- Recurring hardware and software issues
- Staff training needs based on ticket trends
- Engineer workloads and resource allocation
- Overall network performance trends
“We use reporting to streamline the whole process and improve how the team operates,” the team explains. This data-driven approach allows Leeds United to continuously optimize operations and prevent issues before they impact a matchday.
Built for the Future of the Club
The transition to Atera was seamless. The onboarding experience was simple, and within weeks, the team was fully operational—feeling as though they had gained an extra engineer who could automate processes and add AI-driven functionality.
As Leeds United continues to grow and evolve, Atera remains a strategic partner in that journey.
“As the club progresses, I see Atera joining us as an essential solution to helping us achieve our goals.”
Results at a Glance
With Atera, Leeds United achieved:
- ⚡ 25–35% reduction in overall ticket volume
- 🤖 AI-driven self-service empowering end-users
- 🔄 Automated software deployment and patching
- 📊 Smarter reporting and performance insights
- 🏟️ Seamless matchday IT operations with zero downtime
Want to Transform Your IT Operations Like Leeds United? Whether you're managing a major football stadium, an enterprise IT environment, or a growing business, Atera delivers the automation, intelligence, and control your team needs to perform at its best.
