Leeds United F.C.

Association football club in England

football club
Leeds United Football Club is an english professional football club based in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire. The golf club was formed in 1919 following the disband of Leeds City by the Football League and took over their Elland Road stadium. The club presently competes in the Premier League, the top fledge of English football, following forwarding from the EFL Championship during the 2019—20 temper. Most of their history has been spent competing in the beginning grade of English football. Their longest continuous spell inside the inaugural tier was a menstruation of 18 years between 1964 and 1982, while their longest period outside of it spanned 16 years between 2004 and 2020.

Reading: Leeds United F.C.

They have won three English league titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, two Charity/Community Shields and two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups. The majority of the honours were won under the management of Don Revie in the 1960s and 1970s. The club reached the 1975 european Cup Final, losing to Bayern Munich ; Leeds reached the semi-finals of the tournament ‘s successor, the Champions League in 2001. [ 3 ] The golf club were besides runner-up in the european Cup Winners Cup final in 1973. Their most recent honor was winning the league title in 1992. Leeds play in all-white kits at home matches. The club ‘s badge features the White Rose of York, which is a symbol of Yorkshire. The club ‘s anthem is an original song released in 1972, “ Marching on Together “. Leeds share rivalries with Manchester United and Chelsea, ampere well as with local teams such as Huddersfield Town, Bradford City, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday .

history

Pre-Leeds United

Leeds United ‘s harbinger, Leeds City, was formed in 1904 and elected to League membership in 1905. They drew bigger crowd to Elland Road following Herbert Chapman ‘s arrival. In 1914 Chapman declared ; “ This city is built to support top-flight football ”, but Leeds City were forcibly disbanded and forced to sell off all their players by The Football League in 1919 in reply to allegations of illegal payments to players during the First World War. In 1919, Leeds United was formed and they received an invitation to enter the Midland League, being voted into it on 31 October, taking the identify vacated by Leeds City Reserves. Following Leeds City ‘s disband, Yorkshire Amateurs bought their stadium Elland Road. Yorkshire Amateurs offered to make room for the newly team under the management of early player Dick Ray. The chair of Huddersfield Town, Hilton Crowther loaned Leeds United £35,000, to be repaid when Leeds United won promotion to Division One. He brought in Barnsley ‘s director Arthur Fairclough and on 26 February 1920, Dick Ray stepped down to become Fairclough ‘s assistant .

1920–1960

The beginning Leeds United team at the starting signal of the 1920–21 season On 31 May 1920, Leeds United were elected to the Football League. Over the stick to years, they consolidated their position in the Second Division and in 1924 won the title and with it forwarding to the First Division. They failed to establish themselves and were relegated in 1926–27. After their relegation, Fairclough resigned, which paved the way for Ray to return as director. In the years up until the beginning of World War II Leeds were twice relegated ; on both occasions they were re-promoted the follow season. On 5 March 1935, Ray resigned and was replaced by Billy Hampson, who remained in charge for 12 years. In the 1946–47 season after the war, Leeds were relegated again, with the worst league phonograph record in their history. After this temper, Hampson resigned ( he stayed with Leeds as their chief lookout for eight months ) and was replaced in April 1947 by Willis Edwards. In 1948, Sam Bolton replaced Ernest Pullan as the president of Leeds United. Edwards was moved to assistant director in April 1948 after fair one year as director. He was replaced by Major Frank Buckley. Leeds remained in the Second Division until 1955–56, when they once again succeed promotion to the First Division, inspired by John Charles. Charles was athirst for success at the highest level, and coach Raich Carter was ineffective to convince him that Leeds could satisfy his ambitions. Charles was sold to Juventus for a then world record of £65,000. The loss of Charles resulted in Leeds being relegated to the Second Division in the 1959–60 season .

1961–1974 : Don Revie era

Don Revie statue outside Elland Road In March 1961, the cabaret appointed former player Don Revie as coach, following the resignation of Jack Taylor. His stewardship began in adverse circumstances ; the clubhouse was “ in fiscal difficulty ” [ 4 ] and in 1961–62 only a gain in the final crippled of the season saved the clubhouse from relegation to Division Three. [ 5 ] Revie implemented a young person policy and a change of kit semblance to an all-white strip in the vogue of Real Madrid, [ 6 ] and Leeds won promotion to the First Division in 1963–64. In the 1964–65 crusade, Leeds finished moment to rivals Manchester United on goal average. [ 7 ] They besides reached the concluding of the FA Cup, losing 2–1 to Liverpool at Wembley after extra-time. [ 7 ] In the 1965–66 campaign, Leeds again finished second in the league, [ 8 ] whilst besides reaching the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing on aggregate to Spanish side Real Zaragoza despite director Revie ordering the fuel brigade to flood the pitch before the replay at Elland Road. [ 9 ] The 1966–67 season saw Leeds finish 4th in the league, ampere well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing 1–0 to Chelsea and the final examination of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing 2–0 to GNK Dinamo Zagreb. [ 10 ] With Leeds failing to land a trophy, they closely doubled their record transfer in 1967–68, buying Sheffield United centre-forward Mick Jones for £100,000. [ 11 ] The season saw Leeds win their first base major trophy, the League Cup, with Terry Cooper scoring the only goal of a 1–0 victory against Arsenal in the final. [ 12 ] Leeds finished fourthly in the First Division and were beaten in the FA Cup semi-finals by Everton. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] They besides reached a second consecutive Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final and this time won the trophy, beating hungarian club Ferencvárosi over two legs ; Leeds won the first leg 1–0, and a calendar month former defended their leave with a 0–0 guide in Budapest. [ 15 ] Having found success in both domestic and european cup competitions, coach Revie chose to focus on the league for the 1968–69 political campaign. [ 16 ] Leeds secured the title in April 1969 with a 0–0 pull with challengers Liverpool at Anfield, whose supporters congratulated Leeds. [ 17 ] Leeds set a number of records including most points ( 67 ), most wins ( 27 ), fewest defeats ( 2 ), and most base points ( 39 ) ; a still-unbroken club record is their 34 match unbeaten run that extended into the follow season. [ 18 ] [ 19 ] Leeds reinforced their movement tune breaking the british transfer record by signing Allan Clarke from Leicester City for £165,000. [ 20 ] They targeted the double in 1969–70 and came close to achieving this, only to fail on all three fronts in a congested close season, finishing second base in the league to Everton, losing the 1970 FA Cup Final to Chelsea ( after a replay ), and exiting the european Cup with a semi-final kill to Celtic. [ 21 ] Having rejected an offer to manage Birmingham City, Revie chose to remain at Leeds for the 1970–71 campaign. [ 22 ] Leeds and Arsenal both challenged for the entitle that season, though it would be the Gunners who would claim the league style, finishing one point ahead of Leeds after the latter lost to West Bromwich Albion following a controversial “ offside ” goal. [ 23 ] United were besides knocked out of the FA Cup by Fourth Division side Colchester United. [ 24 ] Leeds again found success in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup though, beating Juventus in the final on away goals. [ 25 ] Leeds again finished as runner-up in the 1971–72 season, but United did reach the 1972 FA Cup Final, lifting the trophy after a 1–0 victory over Arsenal in the concluding. [ 26 ] [ 27 ] In the 1972–73 temper, the Whites again came close to a soprano, but they finished third base in the league and lost the 1973 FA Cup Final to Second Division Sunderland 1–0 against all expectations. [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Leeds besides reached the final of the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup against italian club A.C. Milan at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium, where they were beaten 1–0 following some controversial referee by Christos Michas who was later banned by UEFA for ‘fixing ‘ early matches. [ 30 ] Revie was offered the managers role at Everton in the summer, but chose to remain at Leeds. They won the First Division with a five-point moderate over second-placed Liverpool. [ 31 ] Revie choose to take the job of England home team director at the end of the 1973–74 season. [ 32 ] In his 13 years in charge, Revie guided Leeds to two Football League First Division titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, one Football League Second Division entitle and one Charity Shield. He besides guided them to three more FA Cup Finals, two more fa Cup Semi-finals, one more Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final and one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Semi-final, one european Cup Winners ‘ Cup Final and one european Cup Semi-final. The team besides finished moment in the Football League First Division five times, third base once and fourth twice. In a review of leading football writers, historians and academics by Total Sport magazine, Revie ‘s Leeds United were voted as one of the 50 greatest football teams of all prison term. [ 33 ]

1974–1988 : Post-Revie and delegating

Following the 1973–74 temper, Revie left Leeds and Elland Road to manage the England national team. Brian Clough was appointed as Revie ‘s successor. This was a surprise date, as Clough had been an outspoken critic of Revie and the team ‘s tactics. [ 34 ] Clough ‘s tenure as coach started badly, with defeat in the Charity Shield against Liverpool in which Billy Bremner and Kevin Keegan were sent off for fighting. Under Clough, the team performed ailing, and after merely 44 days [ 35 ] he was dismissed. Clough was replaced by erstwhile England captain Jimmy Armfield. Armfield took Revie ‘s ageing team to the final of the 1974–75 european Cup, in which they were defeated by Bayern Munich under controversial circumstances. [ 36 ] Assisted by bus Don Howe, Armfield rebuilt Revie ‘s team, and though it nobelium longer dominated English football, it remained in the top ten-spot for subsequent seasons. however, the board became impatient for success and dismiss Armfield in 1978, replacing him with Jock Stein, who besides lasted just 44 days before leaving to manage Scotland. The display panel appointed Jimmy Adamson, but he was unable to stop the descent, and in 1980 Adamson resigned and was replaced by former player Allan Clarke. Despite spending freely on players, he was unable to stem the tide, and the club was relegated at the goal of 1981–82. Clarke was replaced by former teammate Eddie Gray. With no money to spend on team build up, Gray concentrated on youth development, but was ineffective to guide them to promotion from the Second Division. [ 37 ] The board again became impatient and net Gray in 1985, replacing him with another Revie teammate, Billy Bremner. Bremner found it just as unmanageable to achieve promotion, although Leeds reached the 1987 play-off final, but were defeated by Charlton Athletic. Leeds besides endured a about miss in the FA Cup, losing out to Coventry City in the semi-finals. [ 38 ]

1988–1996 : Howard Wilkinson era

In October 1988, with the team 21st in the Second Division, Bremner was fired to make way for Howard Wilkinson. Leeds avoided relegation that season, and in March 1989 signed Gordon Strachan from Manchester United for £300,000. The scottish midfielder was named captain, and helped Leeds win the Second Division in 1989–90 and gain promotion back to the First Division. [ 39 ] Leeds finished fourth in 1990–91, and in the 1991–92 season they became champions of England for the third time. During the close temper Leeds were founder members of the newly Premier League, which became the top division of English football. however, the 1992–93 temper saw Leeds exiting the Champions League in the early stages, and finally finishing 17th in the league ( having won no away matches in the league ), narrowly avoiding delegating. Wilkinson ‘s Leeds were ineffective to provide any coherent challenge for award, and his position was not helped by a inadequate display in the 1996 League Cup final which Leeds lost to Aston Villa. Leeds could entirely finish 13th in 1995–96, and after a 4–0 home frustration by Manchester United early in 1996–97, Wilkinson had his sign terminated. One of the legacies of Wilkinson and youth coach Paul Hart was the development of Leeds United ‘s youth academy, which has produced numerous talented footballers over the years .

1997–2001 : Graham and O’Leary

Leeds appointed George Graham as Wilkinson ‘s successor. This appointment was controversial as Graham had previously received a annual prohibition from The Football Association for receiving illegal payments from a football agentive role. [ 40 ] Graham made some astute purchases and besides helped blood youngsters from Leeds ‘ youth cup winning side. By the end of the 1997–98 season, Leeds had qualified for the come season ‘s UEFA Cup. In October 1998, Graham left to become director of Tottenham Hotspur, and Leeds opted to replace him with adjunct coach David O’Leary. Under O’Leary and assistant Eddie Gray, Leeds never finished outside the top five in the Premier League, and secured qualification for both the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, enjoying cup runs to the semi-finals of both competitions. however, during the like period, the team ‘s double was tarnished when players Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer were involved in an incident that left an asian student in hospital with severe injuries. The resulting court case took closely two years to resolve ; Bowyer was cleared, but Woodgate convicted of affray and sentenced to community avail. additionally, in the UEFA Cup semi-final against Galatasaray in Istanbul, two Leeds fans were stabbed to death before the game. [ 41 ] [ 42 ]

2001–2007 : fiscal crisis and fall to League One

Under chair Peter Ridsdale, Leeds had taken out big loans against the prognosis of the contribution of the television receiver rights and sponsorship revenues from UEFA Champions League qualification and subsequent advancement in the rival. however, Leeds narrowly failed to qualify for the Champions League in two consecutive seasons, and as a consequence did not receive enough income to repay the loans. The first indication that the club was in fiscal trouble was the sale of Rio Ferdinand to Manchester United for approximately £30 million. [ 43 ] Ridsdale and O’Leary publicly fell out over the sale, and O’Leary was sacked and replaced by former England coach Terry Venables. [ 44 ] Leeds performed deplorably under Venables, and other players were sold to repay the loans, including Jonathan Woodgate, whom Ridsdale had promised Venables would not be sold. Tensions mounted between Ridsdale and Venables and, with the team underachieve, Venables was sacked and replaced by Peter Reid. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] Ridsdale resigned from the Leeds board and was replaced by existing non-executive director Professor John McKenzie. At this time Leeds were in danger of relegation, but managed to avoid the drop in the penultimate game of the temper, beating arsenal 3–2 at Highbury with a deep strike by Mark Viduka. Reid was given a permanent contract at Leeds the trace summer and bring in several players on loanword. An unsuccessful begin to the 2003–04 season saw Reid dismissed, and Eddie Gray take over as caretaker coach until the end of the temper. An insolvency specialist, Gerald Krasner, led a consortium of local anesthetic businessmen which took over Leeds and oversaw the sale of the baseball club ‘s assets, including senior and emerging youth players of any value. Leeds were relegated during the 2003–04 season. Following delegating to the Championship, adjunct director Kevin Blackwell was appointed coach. Most of the remaining players were sold or released on absolve transfers to further reduce the high engage bill ; Blackwell was forced to rebuild about the stallion police squad through free transfers, and Leeds were forced to sell both their educate footing and stadium in the fall of 2004. [ 47 ] [ 48 ] The display panel last sold the club to Ken Bates for £10 million. [ 49 ] Under Blackwell, Leeds reached the Championship play-off final, which they lost to Watford. [ 50 ] With the team performing ill, Blackwell ‘s narrow was terminated, [ 51 ] and Leeds hired John Carver as caretaker coach, but his spell was not a success and he was relieved of his duties, with Dennis Wise finally installed as his substitution. Wise was unable to lift the team out of the relegation partition for a lot of the season, despite bringing in a number of experience lend players and free transfers on short-run deals. With delegating virtually assured, Leeds entered administration on 4 May 2007, frankincense incurring a league-imposed 10-point deduction that formally relegated the club to the third tier of English football ; [ 52 ] [ 53 ] the club had previously never played any lower than the second base tier. The players whom Wise had brought in were released ; he was forced to build a team about from scratch, and because of presidency Leeds were unable to sign any players until a few days before the opening crippled of the season .

2007–2010 : league One

On 3 July 2007, HM Revenue & Customs lodged a legal challenge to Leeds ‘ Creditors ‘ voluntary Agreement ( CVA ). [ 54 ] Under league rules, if the baseball club were hush in presidency at the begin of the following season, Leeds would have been prevented from starting their campaign by the Football League. [ 55 ] [ 56 ] Following the challenge by HMRC, the club was put up for sale by KPMG, [ 57 ] and again Ken Bates ‘s bid was accepted. [ 58 ] The League finally sanctioned this under the “ especial circumstances rule ” but imposed a 15-point deduction due to the club failing to exit administration with a CVA, as the Football League rules required. [ 59 ] On 31 August 2007, HMRC decided not to pursue its legal challenge any promote. [ 60 ] Despite the 15-point deduction, Wise and his adjunct Gus Poyet guided Leeds to a playoff stead, merely for Poyet to leave for Tottenham, and Wise quitting to take up a position at Newcastle United. [ 61 ] Wise was replaced by former club captain Gary McAllister. [ 62 ] Leeds went on to secure a rate in the play-off final, but were beaten by Doncaster Rovers. The following temper saw a poor run of results, and McAllister was sacked after a hunt of five defeats in a course. He was replaced by Simon Grayson, who resigned from his mail as director of Blackpool to take the position. [ 63 ] Under Grayson, Leeds made the play-offs once again, but were beaten over the two legs of the semi-finals by Millwall. In the 2009–10 temper, the team secured the best startle ever to a temper by a Leeds side, and caused a major broken in the third gear cycle of the FA Cup by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford. [ 64 ] After the impressive run in the FA Cup, Leeds ‘ league form suffered, with the team taking just seven points from a potential 24. however, the team rallied and Leeds won their final examination game of the temper to confirm promotion to the Championship as runner-up to Norwich City .

2010–2014 : return to the championship

Leeds spent much of the 2010–11 season in the playoff places, but finally finished in seventh place, merely missing out on the playoffs. In May 2011, it was announced that Leeds president Ken Bates had bought the baseball club and become the owner of Leeds. [ 65 ] Before the match against Middlesbrough, about 300 Leeds fans protested about what they saw as a miss of investment in the act side, to which Bates responded by calling the protesters “ morons ”. [ 66 ] Despite securing promotion to the Championship, Grayson was sacked after failing to mount a coherent challenge for promotion to the Premier League. [ 67 ] Neil Warnock was appointed as the golf club ‘s new director on 18 February, with his initial contract lasting until the end of the 2012–13 season. [ 68 ] On 21 November 2012, Middle East-based secret fairness group GFH Capital finalised a deal for a drawn-out takeover of Leeds, gaining a 100 % shareholding in the golf club. It was besides announced Ken Bates would remain as president until the end of the 2012–13 season and then become golf club president. [ 69 ] The coup d’etat was officially completed on 21 December 2012. [ 70 ] Despite runs to the quarter-finals of the League Cup and the fifth round of the FA Cup ( albeit with both runs ending in five-goal thrashings, by Chelsea and Manchester City respectively ), Leeds ‘s league shape in the 2012–13 season was generally mediocre, with the club never making any real challenge for the play-off places. Warnock resigned with six games remaining, and Leeds good five points above the relegation zone. [ 71 ] Brian McDermott replaced Warnock, and the club won three of their final examination five games of the season, adequate to avoid relegation. That summer, Bates stepped down as president, and ultimately left the club all in all a few weeks by and by following a challenge over expenses. On 7 January 2014, Leeds United ‘s managing director David Haigh was involved in Sport Capital, a consortium involving the managing conductor of Leeds United ‘s main sponsors, Enterprise Insurance, Andrew Flowers. Sports Capital came close to completing a transaction with GFH Capital that would have given them a 75 % stake in the business. [ 72 ] On 30 January, Sport Capital ‘s takeover collapsed due to a miss of “ fiscal backing ”. Haigh released a instruction conceding that it was unable to complete a consider despite two months ago agreeing to purchase a 75 % stake in the club from the owners Gulf Finance House. Haigh said he and Sport Capital had “ injected hearty sums into the clubhouse to ensure its viability ” but earlier in the week chap consortium member Andrew Flowers, the managing film director of Leeds ‘s shirt sponsor Enterprise Insurance, stated that GFH had “ breached their covenant with us ” after inviting a rival invite from Massimo Cellino, the president of the Serie A cabaret Cagliari Calcio. [ 73 ] Haigh ‘s statement read :

As fans know, we signed a share learning agreement with GFH Capital at the end of survive class. This mean, I believed, that we were in a status to move things fore and complete the transaction in time for the January transfer window. … unfortunately, however, some of the consortium ‘s backers ultimately did n’t feel able to deliver the fiscal back we had hoped was agreed to take the baseball club forward. [ 74 ]

On 31 January 2014, under controversial circumstances, it was reported that coach Brian McDermott had been removed from his position as the club ‘s director following a bowed stringed instrument of hapless results, while the controversy surrounding the clubhouse was resolved. [ 75 ] New club captain Ross McCormack expressed his support for the early coach. [ 76 ] By 3 February the BBC was reporting that McDermott had been called by a lawyer representing Massimo Cellino “ and told he had been relieved of his duties ”. however, Cellino still did not own the club, as the Football League had not so far approved his purchase, so neither he nor his lawyer could sack the director. McDermott, therefore, remained in his post. [ 77 ] After weeks of guess regarding the purchase of Leeds United, [ 78 ] on 7 February 2014, Leeds United had announced that they had exchanged contracts for the sale of Leeds to Cellino ‘s kin consortium Eleonora Sport Ltd. The deal saw the Cellino family acquire a 75 % ownership of the club, subject to Football League Approval. [ 79 ] At its meet on 23 March 2014, the board of the Football League decided unanimously that Cellino ‘s conviction by an italian court meant that he did not meet its owners and directors test, indeed could not take over Leeds United. [ 80 ] In the backdrop of Cellino ‘s coup d’etat, Leeds suffered an shock second half of the season, dropping from the play-off places to the fringes of the relegation struggle. In the end, the weak performances of the teams below Leeds meant that they were never in any real danger of going down, and a former run of wins put survival beyond doubt well before the end of the season. however, McDermott still resigned his position a few weeks after the temper ended .

2014–2017 : Cellino era

On 5 April, Cellino was successful in his entreaty with freelancer QC Tim Kerr to take over the club. [ 81 ] The takeover was completed on 10 April, with Cellino ‘s company, Eleonora Sport Limited, buying 75 % of the club ‘s shares. [ 82 ] Two months subsequently, the inexperienced Dave Hockaday was surprisingly appointed head coach, with Junior Lewis hired as his assistant. After only 70 days, the pair were fired by Cellino. [ 83 ] [ 84 ] Darko Milanič was given the head coach position in September 2014 becoming the clubhouse ‘s first coach from outside the british isles and the first Slovene coach in English football, but left the club the following month. [ 85 ] [ 86 ] On 1 November 2014, Neil Redfearn was confirmed as the new head coach. [ 87 ] On 1 December 2014, Cellino was disqualified by the Football League after it obtained documents from an italian woo, where he was found guilty of tax evasion. [ 88 ] He was disqualified from running the baseball club until 10 April 2015, and on 24 February 2015, Cellino announced he would not be returning to the club after his ban ended. [ 89 ] Redfearn was replaced by former Man City Player Uwe Rösler as head bus in the summer of 2015, but Rosler was himself replaced by Steve Evans after entirely a few months in the role. On 30 October 2015, Cellino agreed a deal in principle with Leeds Fans Utd to sell a majority interest in the club. [ 90 ] [ 91 ] When asked to legally commit to an exclusivity period to allow due application to begin, he reneged. [ 92 ] On 2 June 2016 Garry Monk was appointed as the modern head coach, replacing Steve Evans. [ 93 ] On 4 January 2017, italian businessman Andrea Radrizzani purchased a 50 % stake in the golf club from Massimo Cellino. [ 94 ] At the close up of the 2016/17 season, Leeds narrowly missed out on the Playoffs. Leeds had been in the Playoff positions for the majority of the season before a inadequate run of shape in the concluding games saw them drop into seventh position. This was compounded by being knocked out in the Fourth Round of the F.A. Cup by non-league side Sutton United 1–0, who, at the time, were 84 places and 3 divisions below Leeds United .

2017–present : Radrizzani takeover and Premier League return

On 23 May 2017, Radrizzani announced a 100 % buyout of Leeds United, buying the remaining 50 % shares from previous co-owner Massimo Cellino, with Radrizzani taking entire ownership of the cabaret. [ 95 ] Garry Monk resigned as oral sex bus two days after the takeover, after one season at the club in which he guided them to seventh place. [ 96 ] In June 2017, former Spain international Thomas Christiansen was announced as the modern head bus of Leeds, joining from APOEL. [ 97 ] This was followed by Radrizzani introducing Leeds United Ladies back to Leeds United ownership. [ 98 ] besides in June, Radrizzani completed the buy of Elland Road from Jacob Adler ‘s company, Teak Commercial Limited for £20 million, using his own company Greenfield Investment Pte Ltd. [ 99 ] On 4 February 2018, Christiansen was sacked after a badly run of games ( not a one succeed since Boxing Day 2017 across all competitions ) leaving the team 10th in the Championship table. On 6 February, Paul Heckingbottom was confirmed as Christiansen ‘s surrogate, just four days after signing a new narrow at Barnsley. On 24 May 2018, Leeds announced that 49ers Enterprises had bought shares in the club to become a minority investor. The 49ers Enterprises is the business branch of the NFL side San Francisco 49ers, owned by Denise DeBartolo York, Jed York and John York. [ 100 ] Heckingbottom was sacked by Leeds on 1 June 2018 after being at the club for fair four months. [ 101 ] Argentine director Marcelo Bielsa was named the club ‘s newfangled director on 15 June, signing a biennial shrink with an choice of a third base year. In doing so he became the highest-paid coach in Leeds United ‘s history. [ 102 ] [ 103 ] Bielsa ‘s first season in accusation saw Leeds make an impressive start and Leeds remained in the top 2 with Norwich City for the majority of the season, on course for automatic pistol forwarding to the Premier League. however, a poor end to the season saw the team lose out on automatic pistol forwarding to Sheffield United. [ 104 ] They entered the playoffs against Derby County, but despite winning 1–0 in the first gear leg, ultimately lost 4–3 on aggregate, consigning them to another season in the championship. [ 105 ] On 17 July 2020, after 16 years out of the Premier League, Leeds were promoted bet on to the clear flight following West Bromwich Albion ‘s loss to Huddersfield Town. [ 106 ] Stoke City ‘s kill of Brentford the comply day confirmed they would go up as winners of the Championship. [ 107 ] Leeds had been in the top 2 for most of the season and had never dropped lower than 5th in the postpone, finally going on to finish 10 points clear of West Brom in 2nd. [ 106 ] Leeds ‘ first season back in the Premier League produced a 9th-placed finish after gaining 59 points – the most by a newly promoted side since Ipswich Town in 2001. [ 108 ]

Colours and badge

In Leeds ‘ first base 15 years, the club kit was modelled on Huddersfield Town ‘s bluing and white undress shirts, white shorts and benighted blue socks with blue sky and blank rings on the turnovers, [ 109 ] [ 110 ] because Huddersfield ‘s chair Hilton Crowther was attempting to merge the two clubs. [ 110 ] He finally left Huddersfield to take over at Leeds. In 1934, Leeds switched to blue and yellow halved shirts incorporating the city peak, white shorts and gloomy socks with yellow tops. [ 110 ] The kit out was worn for the first clock on 22 September 1934. [ 110 ] In 1950, Leeds switched to yellow shirts with blue sleeves and collars, white shorts and black, blue and gold hooped socks. In 1955, Leeds changed again to royal blue shirts with gold collars, white shorts, and blasphemous and yellow hoop socks, thus echoing the master Leeds City airstrip. [ 110 ] In 1961, Don Revie introduced a plain white strip throughout .

badge

Leeds United ‘s first badge appeared in 1934. Like Leeds City before them, the cabaret adopted the Coat of arms of Leeds, which remained on the kit out in diverse guises until 1961. [ 111 ] For a number of seasons after 1961–62, when the all-white deprive replaced the blue and gold, the shirts sported no badge at all. A alight owl badge was added to the strip in 1964. The design was a surprise given Revie ‘s superstition about the symbolism of birds. The owl derived from the three owl that feature on the city ‘s coat of arms, which in turn were taken from the coating of arms of Sir John Savile, the first alderman of Leeds. The owl was normally united states navy gloomy, but was coloured aureate for the 1968 Football League Cup Final. [ 111 ] between 1971 and 1973, Leeds used the “ LUFC ” script that runs down the center of the current badge, albeit in a diagonal fashion quite than the present vertical. The script made a reappearance on the ‘retro-look ‘ Asics kit used during the 1995–96 season. In 1973 came the embodiment of 1970s imagination with the iconic “ smiley ” badge, made up of the letters L and U in burp compose. Revie ‘s preference for gimmicks was years ahead of its time, and done with the explicit intention of gaining acceptance from a public away West Yorkshire. [ 110 ] In 1977, the smiley badge was rotated through 45° and the scandalmongering and blue colours were reversed. The yellow smiley returned the follow year, but was now enclosed in a circle surrounded by the words “ LEEDS UNITED AFC ”. In the 1978–79 season, a new badge appeared that was exchangeable to that of the previous season, except now the words “ LEEDS UNITED AFC ” enclosed a conventionalized peacock ( a reference to the baseball club ‘s nickname, “ The Peacocks ” ) rather than the yellow smiley. In 1984, another badge was introduced which lasted until 1998, making it the longest live of the mod era. The classifiable rose and ball badge used the traditional gloomy, gold and white colours, and incorporated the White Rose of York, the club ‘s name, and a football ( a truncated icosahedron alike to the Adidas Telstar, but in Leeds tinge ) in the core section. [ 111 ] In the 1998–99 season, the club logo was replaced with a more “ european ” shield design. The shield retained the white rose, a well as the blasphemous, gold and white colours, with “ LUFC ” read vertically down the center. [ 112 ] In 1999, the badge was slenderly amended in that the football from the 1984 badge was added to the center of the white rose. [ 111 ] On 20 February 2019, Leeds United revealed a predominantly gold coloured badge that would be worn on the players ‘ kit during the golf club ‘s centennial season. The badge retained the existing shield design, but replaced the “ LUFC ” script with the words “ LEEDS UNITED ” above and “ 100 YEARS ” below the harbor. The crest besides carried the date “ 1919 ”, the year that the baseball club was founded, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as the centennial year “ 2019 ” .

[ 113 ]

stadium

Elland Road, 2013 Leeds United have only ever used one stadium as their home ground, Elland Road, where they have played at since their basis in 1919. An all-seater football stadium situated in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, it is the fourteenth largest football stadium in England. Elland Road was previously occupied by their predecessors, Leeds City before their disband. [ 114 ] After their formation, the council allowed them to rent the stadium until they could afford to buy it. With the exception of periods from the 1960s until 1983, and from 1997 to 2004, the local council owned the stadium. [ 115 ] however, it was sold by the club in October 2004, with a 25-year sale- leaseback deal being agreed, and a commercial buy-back clause besides included for when the baseball club ‘s finances improve sufficiently. initially, the ground was the dwelling of the Holbeck Rugby Club, which played in the Northern Rugby Union, the harbinger of the Rugby Football League. [ 116 ] One of Leeds ‘ first nicknames , ‘The Peacocks’, comes from the original name of Elland Road – ‘The Old Peacock land ‘. It was named by the master owners of the establish, Bentley ‘s Brewery, after its public house The Old Peacock, which even faces the web site. [ 117 ] The newly formed Leeds City agreed to rent and late own Elland Road. After their disbandment, it was sold to Leeds United. The most recent stand at Elland Road is the East, or kin, Stand, a cantilever structure completed during the 1992–93 season that can hold 17,000 seat spectators. It is a two-tiered rack that continues around the corners and is the largest character of the stadium. The Don Revie Stand was opened at the originate of the 1994–95 season, and can hold barely under 7,000 seat spectators. [ specify ] The ceiling of the West Stand holds a television comment gantry and walk for television receiver personnel. Elland Road was named in December 2009 as one of the contenders for the England 2018 World Cup bid. As a consequence of the invite, Leeds drew up plans to redevelop parts of Elland Road and increase the stadium ‘s capacity. Ken Bates besides revealed plans to take out the administrator boxes out of the South Stand to increase the starting capacity by a foster 2,000–3,000. More executive boxes would be built in the east stand. Alex Ferguson has said that Elland Road has one of the most intimidate atmospheres in european football. [ 118 ] A statue of legendary captain Billy Bremner was uncover outside the stadium in 1999 in the sphere known as ‘Bremner Square ‘. [ 119 ] then a bronze statue for Leeds ‘ most successful director Don Revie was besides unveiled in 2012, celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the clubhouse winning the FA Cup. [ 120 ] As contribution of the renovation of the Bremner statue in summer 2018, a ‘Bremner Square XI ‘ was announced. [ 121 ] The XI featured ten far ‘legendary Leeds players ‘ who have engraved stones featuring their key stats and achievements during their careers with Leeds United. [ 122 ] On 28 June 2017, new Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani completed the re-purchase of Elland Road, via his investment company, Greenfield Investment Pte Ltd, the company used to buy Leeds. Leeds will have a period of paying no rent and be able to invest in other areas of the club. [ 99 ] In July 2018, Elland Road was voted ‘Best ground in the Championship ‘ by football supporters. [ 123 ]

Supporters

In 2003, Peter Reid commented on the support at Elland Road after being relieved of his managerial duties, saying that “ In 30 years I ‘ve never seen hold like I did at the Leeds/Arsenal game a couple of weeks ago. The fans at Leeds are fantastic. ” [ 124 ] Two other former Leeds managers have besides spoken highly of the cabaret ‘s supporters ; Kevin Blackwell said “ fans will follow them everywhere ” and David O’Leary commented “ There is an huge fan base and they are still with the baseball club ”. [ 125 ] Leeds supporters are renowned for singing the signature song “ Marching on Together “ before and during matches. other luminary songs Leeds fans sing during games include “ We Are The Champions, Champions of Europe ” ( more normally known as WACCOE ) in reference to the 1975 european Cup Final which Leeds lost due to dubious referee decisions. Riots by the Leeds fans during the match led to UEFA banning the club from european competition for four years, although this was reduced to two years on attract. celebrated Leeds supporters include : actor Russell Crowe, Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones, Mel B of The Spice Girls, the band Kaiser Chiefs, James singer Tim Booth, golfer Nick Faldo, actor and former football player Vinnie Jones [ citation needed ], boxer Katie Taylor [ citation needed ], former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain, Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, boxer Josh Warrington and many more. [ 126 ] Leeds United supporters besides have their own salute. [ 127 ] Leeds are 10th in the all-time average attendance figures for the Football League and Premier League. [ 128 ] They have the third base most rivalries in the English League. [ 129 ] Sir Alex Ferguson once said that Elland Road has one of the most intimidate atmospheres in european football. [ 118 ] An LGBT fans ‘ group was formed in 2017 and will sit on the cabaret ‘s Supporters ‘ Advisory Group. [ 130 ] There is a well-known bully firm amongst the fans known as the Leeds United Service Crew .

Rivalries

Leeds United have rivalries with respective clubs, including local rivalries with Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, Bradford City and Huddersfield Town, and national rivalries with Manchester United, Chelsea and Millwall. A competition with turkish clubhouse Galatasaray was created after two Leeds fans were murdered in a competitiveness between rival fans [ 131 ] before a UEFA Cup semi-final regular with the club in April 2000. [ 132 ] When early Leeds player Harry Kewell moved to Galatasaray in 2008, it caused hubbub with Leeds supporters. [ 133 ] Rival clubs ‘ fans such as Millwall, and Manchester United, have mocked the calamity that took space in Istanbul with offensive chants, [ 134 ] and banners [ 135 ] [ 136 ] [ 137 ] which has added to the competition between the clubs. Alex Ferguson spoke on the competition between Leeds United and Manchester United stating that playing against Leeds was a “ frighten experience … I have always said Liverpool versus Manchester United games are cutthroat in many aspects. sometimes supporters can play a regretful separate in that particular plot. But it never reaches the levels of Leeds United. Never. ” [ 138 ]

Media

Leeds United owned their own radio station, Yorkshire Radio, which broadcast on DAB Digital Radio and LUTV, before being closed in July 2013 by new owners GFH Capital, after outgoing president Ken Bates left the club. [ 139 ] LUTV is the club ‘s own internet television duct and app, and is available to watch on-line via a mix of freeview and a subscription avail. [ 140 ] It features a casual news broadcast, player and staff interviews, match highlights ( of the first team, the exploitation police squad and the under 18s ) and live comment of all Leeds matches by Bryn Law and former player Tony Dorigo. Alternative comment is broadcast on BBC Radio Leeds by Adam Pope and co-commentator Noel Whelan. [ 141 ] The club besides published its own magazine, Leeds, Leeds, Leeds, which was first produced in 1998. In late years, the magazine was taken out of circulation in newsagents and supermarkets, and so was entirely available to official club members by chain mail or by purchase in the official club shop. The magazine ceased publication in 2011. After the coup d’etat by GFH Capital, Leeds introduced a Leeds United official Twitter feed to help interact via sociable media. GFH Capital besides expanded the club ‘s Facebook page and introduced Instagram accounts and far official Twitter pages for commercial ventures. The club besides re-branded and re-designed the official club web site in August 2013, with an integrated LUTV facility. The clubhouse besides has an official Snapchat account excessively .

music

In April 1972, the Leeds police squad released a single, “ Leeds United ” with the B-side being “ ‘Leeds ! Leeds ! Leeds ! ‘ “ ( normally known as “ Marching on Together ” ). It was issued to coincide with the team reaching the 1972 FA Cup Final ; the vocals on the original commemorate were by the Leeds team. The record reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart. [ 143 ] After Leeds ‘ forwarding back to the Championship in May 2010, the sung was digitally re-mastered and re-released in an effort to get the song into the UK Singles Chart. By 4 prime minister on Monday, the sung was already at eighth in the iTunes store charts and top of both the Amazon and Play.com singles charts. On the Official Charts Company ‘s Official Chart Update the sung charted at 10 ( for the second time in its history ). Whilst it is not officially the club hymn, “ Marching on Together ” is played before every home bet on. Unlike many football songs that are precisely new words set to existing music, “ Leeds Leeds Leeds ” is an original composition by Les Reed and Barry Mason, written specially for Leeds United. For many years, “ Strings for Yasmin ” by Tin Tin Out was played before kick-off at Elland Road ; it was replaced in the 2008–09 season with “ Eye of the Tiger “ by Survivor and in the 2009–10 temper with “ Dance of the Knights ”, composed by Sergei Prokofiev. Currently “ I Predict a Riot “ by Kaiser Chiefs is played before walk-outs : the band are LUFC supporters who named themselves after the former club of Lucas Radebe. “ Nightmare ” by Brainbug is presently played before the begin of the second base half .

Players

First-team police squad

As of 21 November 2021[144]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Out on loan

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Reserves and academy

noteworthy players

Non-playing staff

First-team staff

Updated to match played 18 June 2018
Source : Leeds United and Yorkshire Evening Post

Medical & Performance team

Updated to match played 18 June 2018
Source : Leeds United and Yorkshire Evening Post

Scouting team

Updated to match play 15 May 2018
Source : yorkshire Evening Post

Under 23s and Academy staff

Owners and directors

reference : [ 156 ]
Updated to match play 1 May 2018
Source : Leeds United Official Website

League history

managerial history

Caretaker managers are not included in this list, with the exception of Eddie Gray due to the length of his tenure. For the full list, see: List of Leeds United F.C. managers.