Keep Fighting...

www.keepfighting.wordpress.com

Cheers...

An exclusive interview with Peter Haddock

At every football club you will find underrated or under appreciated players and between 1986 & 1991, one such player played his part in the revival of Leeds United AFC. The fans' choice of the 100 greatest players to wear the shirt has him in at 96 and fans who were privileged to witness him play always speak highly of him. He even managed to upstage both a young David Batty and new boy Bobby Davison on their home debuts. Peter Haddock, or “Fish” as he was predictably tabbed was entering the best years of his career when it was sadly cut short. As the new season dawned I was lucky enough to be granted an interview with the man himself in a bid to try to dig a little bit deeper into the memories of that unassuming Geordie lad with a moustache who simply played himself into Leeds United AFC folklore...

Peter, did you ever play against Leeds for Newcastle? "I played twice at Elland Road for Newcastle. One of the games was abandoned due to coins thrown onto the pitch at Kevin Keegan and crowd trouble. The other time was in the Cup at St James’ Park, Leeds won that day."

Opposition players seem to raise their games when coming to Elland Road nowadays, what was it like as an opposing player back then? " Elland Road was very intimidating, especially in those days when Leeds fans had a bit of a bad reputation. You always knew when you went to Leeds it’s not only the 11 players on the pitch but they certainly have a 12th man at Elland Road"

So, Newcastle were in the First Division, Leeds were in the Second Division and struggling so how did the move to Leeds come about? “I was planning to join Leeds on loan mid season, however I picked up a back injury and the move collapsed. The end of the season came and I was nearly out of contract with Newcastle, that’s when Leeds came in again for a permanent move.”

How did then manager Billy Bremner convince you to drop a Division? "I met up with Billy Bremner and my decision was made within two minutes of meeting him. He was a fantastic man and manager. He didn’t need to sell the club to me, I was being asked to play for one of the biggest clubs in English football, it just felt right."

Can you recall much of your debut? "It was away at Blackburn Rovers, however it ended up in a disappointing 1-2 defeat."

You then only went on to play a handful of games in 1986-1987 - was that due to injury or the fact that Billy simply preferred the Ashurst / Ormsby centre back pairing? "I picked up a Achilles tendon injury that season and missed 3 to 4 months which again was very disappointing."

Midway through the season, the club sold Ian Snodin, a real fans favourite, how did that effect the dressing room? "I think the offer from Everton for Ian Snodin was too good for the club to turn down. People come and go in football teams you just have to get on with your job."

Against Coventry in the FA cup Semi final, you came on as sub - what was that like? "Both Keith Edwards and myself came on together in the FA Cup semi at Hillsbourgh. It was very disappointing to lose the game as you can imagine, but I have to say the Leeds fans were absolutely brilliant. It is probably the best atmosphere I had witnessed as a Leeds player."

My memories from the day are mixed, I was in the seats and went mad when Edwards scored to level at 2-2 but clearly it ended in tears! What did Billy say and do to try pick up the team? "The dressing room was left devastated after the game, players were in tears but Billy just said he was proud of us and we should not feel down after our performance."

As were we fans! Moving on, you played no part in the Play Offs teams that season - how gutted were you to miss out? "I was in the squad for the Play Off games but due to my injury earlier that season, Billy kept faith with players who had been playing, which is fair enough."

After the disappointment at Hillsborough, I was heartbroken to miss out on promotion, how did the boys react to defeat against Charlton at Birmingham after getting so near? "We were so close to getting to the FA Cup Final and Division One that season so we were left feeling rather gutted at coming away empty handed."

So what then changed for you at Elland Road, as in season 1987/1988 you played around 38 games? "The next season was much better personally for me. I pushed my way into the team and held a regular place, playing in various positions. It was a injury free season for me and I picked up Player Of The Year which I was delighted with."

What do you remember about that goal you hammered in against Swindon? A lot of players say moments like this are like a blur, but are you able to re:live it? "I will always remember that goal. Running from the halfway line into the box, beating two players and then Tim Flowers in goal with a left foot shot. It was a fantastic feeling scoring at Elland Road, unfortunately it did not happen again, but it wasn’t my job to score the goals!"

My boyhood heroes that time were John Sheridan and Ian Baird. Who were your heroes in the game and did you ever get to line up with or play against them? "My hero as a youngster was Malcolm McDonald. I used to go see him play at Newcastle and was fortunate enough to play against him in a testimonial match."

Leeds finished 7th and missed out on the Play Offs that season, then the 1988 - 1989 season again seemed to be a tough one for you personally after doing so well only 8 games or so? "1988-1989 was another season I fell victim of injury. I had a knee problem and never got a run in the team."

You still ended up with the Player of the Year award in 1988, it must have given you immense satisfaction? "Winning Player of the Year for Leeds was the proudest moment in my career, especially as the fans voted for it. It gives you great satisfaction to see people notice you for being good at your profession."

So the team were not pulling up any trees including a 0-4 hammering at Portsmouth then Billy was sacked in the September of 1988. What was it like inside the camp at that time? "When Billy was sacked all the players were disappointed. I personally feel he was never given enough money to strengthen the squad, but he was undoubtedly the best manager I played for in my career."

Next up was Sgt Wilko. Did you know much of Howard before he arrived and how was his style different to Billy’s? "I didn’t know much about Howard Wilkinson before he came to Leeds. His style was much more direct to Billy’s, but it worked. The results we got proved that."

Were the players as scared of mad Mick Hennigan as we fans were? "Mick Hennigan was ‘mad’ I have to say I agree, but he was straight to the point and never minced his words, hard but fair."

The preseason of 1989-1990 always stands out for many fans as that really was the start of "A Happening" at the club. Over the summer, in came a host of players that really upped the ante, the likes of Sterland, Hendrie, and of course, Vinnie Jones. You went on to play 40 games or so that season, would you agree that this was your best season for Leeds ? "In 1989-1990 it all seemed to click into place. There was like you say a buzz around Elland Road and the players felt this as well. Howard bought a lot of quality players including Vinnie Jones. We were well organised and hard to beat and it was probably the most rewarding season of my career."

So with the incomings and the buzz, we had this massive build up and then first game, away to your old club Newcastle, we are 2-1 up at half time and you boys go let that Big lump Quinn notch 4 goals - erm, what happened? "It got off to a bad start at Newcastle unfortunately due to a couple of bad goals one of which was offside and the other a dodgy penalty! Wasn’t a nice feeling going back to your old club and being beat in that way."

That was just a blip though and whilst it was the midfielders and strikers taking all the plaudits, we only conceded 52 goals all season! How would you describe yur partnership with Chris Fairclough? "We had a solid defence that season, Chris Fairclough and myself formed a great partnership. We were good mates both on and off the pitch, which I think helped as well. He was fantastic in the air and solid tackler, while I read the game, was quick I must say and a good tackler. Anything he missed I mopped up."

As the season hurtled to a frantic finale, what are your memories of Bournemouth and all the things that surrounded that weekend? "The final game at Bournemouth was a blur! We went down early on Thursday and the players were feeling relaxed and confident we could get the job done. The night before the game we all went for a meal and a couple of glasses of wine, Howard made us feel relaxed. The game itself was over so quick, the conditions were very hot, but we knew what we had to do and were prepared to give every last bit of energy for the club. I was chosen as Man of the Match that day, so it could not have gone any better! In the dressing room after the match it was unbelievable and the celebrations went on back in Leeds. Everyone was delighted, we had got the club back up to its rightful place."

Out of all the squad in that promotion season, Wilko singled you out and claimed you were his player of the season, but promptly went out and bought Chris Whyte! How did that feel? "I felt really proud when Howard picked me as his Player Of The Year, however I was left feeling quite gutted when he went on to buy Chris Whyte the season after and I didn’t start the game at Everton."

Yeah, you were on the bench, but played in the first home game back in the Big League in the 0-0 draw against the Man Utd. You were drafted in to replace Glynn Snodin for the game? "We played three at the back, I played well but again was left feeling very disappointed at being left out for the following game at Norwich City."

You were making a few starts and the club was really doing well, then it sadly all went wrong for you. Do you recall the moment during the game with the Man Utd in which you got injured? "As the season went on I was in and out really, then the injury came. I went to challenge a ball in the air with Paul Ince, as I came down my leg landed in a hole in the pitch and my body twisted with the leg locked in the hole. I knew straight away I had done something serious. I was stretchered off and taken to hospital. My knee was totally rebuilt and obviously technology wasn’t as advanced as it is these days."

Injuries are part and parcel of the game and you have had plenty, so when did it hit you that you may never play again? "It took 18 months to get fit, but after one reserve game I knew the knee still wasn’t right. I went to see a specialist in London and that was when he advised me to retire."

You must have been gutted? "It was so disappointing how my career had ended, I was playing, I felt, the best football of my career. It was a decision I had to make for my future and family."

Looking back over your time with Leeds, what would you say was your fondest memory? "My fondest memory has to be winning Player of The Year and winning promotion in 1990 is up there too."

Who would you pinpoint as the best player you have lined up with in a Leeds shirt? "The best player I played with at Leeds was Gordon Strachan. He did so much as skipper for the club and is also a good friend."

As fans, we like to assume that after playing for a club it gives you players some sort of bond with the club and ourselves. We know that there is an element of you doing a "job", but how do you look back on your time with Leeds? "I feel very proud to have represented Leeds United around the country. It is such a great club, everyone knows it is, even people who have no connection with Leeds can see that. The fans are the best in the country by a mile!"

The club and fans have been though the mill over the last few years in the aftermath of Champions League, the melt down, the debt, the relegations and the now infamous 15 points! Have you any thoughts on current matters? "The way things are at Leeds at the moment is obviously not good, you have to feel for the fans as they have seen the club slowly fall, and could not do anything about it. My two sons are both massive Leeds fans and I can see how much it hurts. They have come home many a time disappointed, most noticeably at both the recent Play Off Finals in Cardiff and Wembley. However I feel Leeds have turned the corner now and that part is part of history. Without the 15 points last season they would have been promoted, which shows they have the strength in the squad to get out of League 1. I’m sure it wont be too long before we see Leeds United back there challenging in the Premier League."

As Peter mentions in the interview, both his sons Peter Jnr and Carl are massive Leeds fans and it would have been easy in many respects to join the Black and White army, Peter jnr picked up the story "We moved back up to Newcastle and I suppose I could of chosen to support them as all of my schoolmates do. However, Leeds just always stuck. Dad still took us to matches a few times a season and from then on we were set on this club. We do still get so much stick from mates and even family, especially in recent times. Our uncle, John Carver, was at Leeds not so long ago and he used to have his little niggles and say come support a proper team as he was the coach at Newcastle at the time. He has however changed his opinion since being at the club!"

The final words then to Peter Haddock Snr. Is there anything you would like to say directly to the Leeds fans reading this regarding the time you spent at the club? "I’d just like to say my time at Leeds was fantastic. I met some great people and the fans made me feel very welcome there. We are even thinking about moving back down to Leeds in the future as we enjoyed it so much. Keep supporting the club like I know you will, you are very loyal. Lets hope next season is the season we see Leeds bounce back!"

Leeds United AFC..."A Good Catch"... Keep Fighting...

Division Three Play Off Final
New Wembley Stadium
Sunday 25th May 2008

Trying to come down from the serious high of Howson's winner at Carlisle seemed mission impossible. Watching over and over, the beauty, the craft, the artistry of the whole move and the finish from the boot of the fresh faced player who knows what we have been through all too well. His reaction after the goal matched the madness on the crumbling terrace beneath our feet. We accepted it wasn't "Job Done" but the very fact that we had put in a shift when it mattered gave us reasons to be hopeful. It was only after settling down to witness Southend ravaged by Doncaster that finally brought one crashing to reality and bring into sharp focus the magnitude of the task in hand. Tickets were now the main priority and it wouldn't be Leeds United without a fiasco. The floodgates opened for the ticket hungry White army and with Season ticket holders and Members all guaranteed one ticket if they applied within the time frames, it was left to those who wanted to take friends, family or those fans who for whatever reason didn't qualify for the above to scramble on the Wednesday morning. Memories of 1987 flooded back as the queuing madness began at 10.30am the Tuesday morning and by 9am on the Wednesday, almost 6,000 Leeds fans were snaking around Fullerton car park and beyond after partying all night...

The midnight parties soon became distant memories as stories of people pushing in the queue during the morning and no structured crowd control filtered through. With the Police called in to control a situation that was getting out of hand, stories of how badly the waiting fans were treated hit the headlines:

Despite selling out our allocation of around 40,000, thousands of fans missed out and quickly headed to Donny to try get tickets there. Rovers had asked for 30,000 tickets with the option for another 5,000 but had only sold around 22,000. Chairman Ryan had offered to let Leeds have the remainder but the league denied this due to segregation issues. Whilst it is fair that the two clubs split the ticket allocation, one is left to wonder why a club with an average gate of around 8,000 thought that they could sell so many. It is also farcical that upon not selling them, these tickets were not allowed to be sold by Leeds, however this was mainly due to the way the tickets were sold. Rather than selling tickets block by block, a scatter gun approach was taken which ensured no feasible way of crowd segregation if the remaining tickets were sold to Leeds. In the midst of the ticket fiasco, we were given some good news on the playing front. In a clear case of "Should I be Swansea, should I be Leeds", the club announced that Swansea favourite Andy Robinson would be joining the club on a free transfer...

Rumours of the lad being spotted at Thorpe Arch earlier in the week were dismissed as fiction, but much to the dismay of the Swansea faithful, they came true. Those of us present in the away end at the Liberty stadium over Christmas were thrilled to bits that the lad has chosen to come to Leeds, as he fair ripped us apart that day. Even more surprising was that he was joining before knowing what league he would be in next season. Swansea refusing to let the player wait until after the game was over and forced the player into a decision. Robinson chose Leeds and if reports are to be true, it is claimed that we did not even match the record busting money offer from Swansea to retain his services. With tickets received via special delivery and an exciting player on the books for next season, we began looking for Omen’s and really there was only one place to start. There can't have been too many of the White army wanting a winner in Moscow as Manu took on Romans fantasy team. The fact remained however that many of us had one eye on 1999. For Leeds to have any hope of a Wembley "Man City" style win, the gods would have to favour the team in Red. It wasn't that we were willing them on you understand, nothing could have given us more pleasure for the game to be abandoned and the competition become null and void this season for due to the white shell suited Fergie's horrendous fashion sense...

However, there had to be one winner so we had to make the best of it and when Terry stepped up to "Miss it like Beckham", the writing was on the wall. Manu took the trophy, we were left to take the gloating armchair Manu fans taunts on the chin as surely we had a fair chance of history repeating itself:

By the time we had watched Hull City reach the Premiership the big day was upon us and the Leeds United AFC Invasion of London 2008 began in earnest. The plan was set and executed to perfection with a 7am departure down the Rovers infested A1 to Cockfosters, park up and get the tube into London town. Time to savour the sights, sounds and the atmosphere of the capital, before a tube to Wembley park. The trip down was one of anticipation and butterflies. We reminisced about the season we had witnessed, the long travels we had made the best of and what high spots remained lodged in our memories:

Of course whilst these memories bring a smile, it should not be forgotten that this season has brought its fair share of low points as well. Anyone claiming that its been all sweetness and light clearly has a selective memory, and whilst the novelty factor has been evident in a lot of our travels this season, we wondered just what lay ahead of us should things go pear shaped today. We rolled up in Leicester Square along with many of the White army leaving the tourists open mouthed, not sure what to think of all the good natured singing and chanting. Others headed to the ground early:

Onwards we went to the packed tube towards Wembley as thousands of Leeds fans crammed into the tiny compartments. Carriage after Carriage full of singing Whites and when Wembley was finally in view, a roar went up and a little lump in the back of the throat at the feeling of pride that we had got this far. Wembley park was full of singing Whites fans along with a smattering of Rovers supporters, desperately out numbered but not afraid to join in the good natured banter. Wembley way was a sea of Blue, Yellow and White, all smiling, all hopeful and all singing their hearts out:

It was the stuff of school boy dreams as we savoured the moment walking down the famous walkway towards the impressive new ground. As we approached the end of Wembley way, it was Leeds fans to the left, Rovers to the right and the difference between the volume of traffic was stark. A mere dribble of Rovers fans compared to an ocean of Leeds fans all in carnival mood as we made the last steps up the ramp to the ground. This was feeling good, too good, we had almost got ourselves to a point of forgetting the tendancy of the White knights to freeze in front of big crowds and not turn up to Yorkshire derbies. If fact we were on the verge of believing that it was indeed going to be third time lucky. Once inside, it was up the escalators and into the gods to find our seats. My last memories of the old Wembley were the 1996 League cup final, stuck a mile away from the pitch and behind the goal in a seat that a 5 year old would have struggled for leg room. Today we were high up, but there was no problem view wise or seat wise, it was simply fantastic. After feeling obliged to join in some of the pre: match entertainment:

The teams were announced and all of a sudden, there was a bad feeling about the place. The head screamed there is no place for sentiment in football, however the heart wanted to believe in McAllister because he had proved the doubters, including yours truly, wrong at Carlisle. So with Casper in goal, the back four was again Lubo, Huntingdon, Johnson and Fraser. Midfield was made up of Kilkenny, Prutton, Howson and Douglas with Freedman and Beckford leading the line. The teams were met by a stunning roar, that made the hairs on the back of the neck stand on edge, along with a firework display. The teams were then introduced to Lord Mawhinney and despite the loud music blaring out as he did so, I am sure he heard the White armies voice loud and clear:

We knew in the opening stages against Watford in 2006 that the team had simply not turned up. As the game got under way we felt a horrible feeling of deja vu. During the opening 15 minute spell Rovers almost dominated and really should have scored. Other than a Johnson speculative shot over the bar almost from kick off, it was one way traffic as Rovers came out of the blocks quickest...

First to every ball, they were fighting for everything and breaking with pace as runners from midfield left the White knights bamboozled. Huntingdon had to block a shot from Price before Wellena took the piss but found the side netting. It was once again to be Casper who was the Whites hero as he firstly came out to deny Coppinger on a one on one situation. Next up it was Hayter who broke through and again, Casper had to come out to rescue the Whites. Many claimed offside on both attacks, but they looked level from where we were. As many Leeds fans in the Donny end began to utilise the thousands of empty seats and gather together, we prayed that we could get a foothold in the game. As feared, we were once again too narrow and had no outlet on the wings for the ball. Our only source of width was coming from Fraser bursting forward, but each time he did, it was a gamble due to swift counter attacks. Beckford tried one from distance that Sully easily gathered and it was not looking good. We did however rally and manage to stop the Red tide, beginning to have sustained periods of possession. Alas, our attacks were slow, laboured and lacked a cutting edge. Rovers were the opposite and looked dangerous every time they got the ball. Beckford had a couple of half chances from long range, only one of which reaching Sully. Up the other end, it was again left to Casper to the rescue as he came out to tackle Hayter. Just before halftime we had our best move of the game, a fine build up saw the ball fed to Howson whose shot flew inches over the bar...

It was a relief to get to halftime level and all the armchair managers were of the same opinion. Kilkenny, who had been ineffective off for Sheehan, push up Johnson on the left wing and move Prutton onto the right of midfield. Simple this football lark isn’t it, but the opinion of the man in charge differed and his was the only one that mattered. Out came the boys and we started as we had the first, on the back foot. Rovers had won a free kick on the edge of the area and whilst the wall did its job, the follow up was put out for a corner. Stock swung it into the centre of the box and Hayter was left with a free header to notch a simple goal and send the Rovers lot mental:

We looked on with envious eyes as we screamed at the boys to Keep Fighting. The only good thing about conceding a goal just after half time is that you have plenty of time to get back into it. We huffed and puffed and there was no lack of effort, just once again a lack of a final ball or, when the chance presented itself, a cool finish. Freedman was, by his standards, having a poor game and the link up play between the front two was almost none existent. Beckford had another poor effort saved and Rovers were keen to show they were not yet prepared to rest on the one goal lead by breaking swiftly. Coppingers shot was deflected for a corner and again, Rovers looked the more likely to score. With time now passing faster than light, the urgency levels in the stands began to rise...

Screaming for more from the players, we watched them dig in and again enjoy spells of good possession but simply not penetrate. Macca decided it was time for a change and threw on Kandol for Prutton. With three up front we tried a more direct route, but Rovers were holding firm. Beckford had another weak effort saved before Johnson had a shot over the bar when he would have been better to look for a pass. On 71 minutes it was almost game over as Rovers broke again, Coppinger was in on goal and only a tremendous last ditch tackle from Dougie prevented a second. With that lucky escape we poured forward again with Howson and Freedman firing wide with half chances. Freedman was then taken off for Hughes who added a bit of bite and more urgency to proceedings, but even he was unable to beat the first man or miss Sully’s arms with crosses. In the last few minutes our big chance of taking the game to extra time fell to Dougie who smashed the ball just wide of the right hand upright. He held his head in his hands and we knew that the game was nearly up. In injury time we dared to dream of another late goal, but just as we began to look threatening, once again the final ball let us down as it had done so all game. The final whistle was greeted with delirium in the other half of the stadium, whilst we were left to stand with our hands on our heads, gutted that once again a Leeds side had failed to rise to the final occasion...

Whilst many departed, we watched through depressed eyes as Rovers fans celebrated and their players walked up to take the trophy. We applauded the shattered and deflated Leeds players and we defiantly sang. The players didn't seem to know what to do, so they just stood grimly watching the Rovers party and must have thought like us about what could have been. After the last Leeds player had trudged off the park, we took our leave and left the Rovers fans to it. What had been a sea of joy down Wembley Way earlier was now a defiant and proud funeral march. The Leeds fans once again taking defeat on the chin and singing for all we were worth. So, after an enthralling season of high drama, twists, turns and excitement, it was all over in a blur. In surroundings somewhat out of context given the places we have visited this season, the final hurdle was faced and failed. With no injustice, no controversy, no high drama, no bent ref, no dodgy decisions and nowhere for the conspiracy theorists to even begin. Its once again the White army left to endure the numbness of defeat and ponder just when fate will begin to deal cards in our favour. Once we pick ourselves up, we can reflect with pride as to what has been achieved this season. As the summer unfolds, the players will come and go and no doubt the obligatory takeover talk will begin. With new hope we will resume in August for "Escape from Division Three" part two...

Leeds United AFC... "The Beaten and the Damned"...Keep Fighting...

Division Three Play Off: Semi Final - Second Leg.

Leeds United AFC Win 3-2 on Aggregate

It’s hard to imagine now, but it was it was around this time in 2001 that we were stood on a beach in Valencia, bathing in the warm sunshine and dreaming of glory. It had all gone so well, even the fight to get away from the missus was won with consummate ease, even though it meant leaving her to attend our first anti natal class alone. The locals were warm and friendly and the old town was stunning, as was the sight of hoards of the White army everywhere you looked. Our route to the Estadio Mestalla was pleasant and hopes of a Champions League final were in the air. This despite learning the day before that Lee Bowyer had been banned from the game due to an off the ball incident caught by the TV cameras. As match time approached, the 3,000 strong Whites gathered in the top tier looking out at what lay before them. The Leeds team, who had shaved their heads in a show of unity, had done us proud to even reach this point. The teams were greeted by a tremendous noise from both sets of fans and the game past by in a blur. After we were left reeling by yet another injustice as Sanchez used his arm "Raul like" to score the opener, from there on in & no matter how loud we sang, Valencia put on a master class. In the middle of it all, conducting as if in charge of an orchestra was the unbelievable Mendieta...

The game wore on and we tried to find a foot hold and though Batty and Dacourt were trying to galvanise the team, too many players had disappeared. We were grateful to be clinging on at halftime however it was soon all over. Just after the re: start, 2 goals in 10 minutes from Sanchez and Mendieta had 50,000 Valencia fans in great voice and left us realising the gulf between the sides was not limited to the volume in the ground or the use of arm to score goals. The football poetry that followed was a piss take and we prayed to the gods to go out with dignity and leave the score at 3. We almost managed that feat, but in the dying seconds, Smith’s stupid challenge earned him a deserved Red as heads went down. Heartbroken we watched the home fans party and got our chins up to give the Leeds team the praise they deserved. It was the end of the dream, we had floated through Europe with the grace of a hot air balloon with no quarter asked nor given. The European nights were special, no matter how the passing of time and the revelations that followed have soured our feelings and opinions. Memories are now all that linger, nights of wonder, nights of amazement, nights of Passion, Pride, Commitment and Desire...

It was the latter traits we were hoping for tonight as we got to grips with the reality of the current situation. After the initial warmth of the last gasp Freedman goal, the cold reality of what lay ahead struck over the next couple of days. We looked for Omens in the other Play Off games, firstly, Palace away at Bristol. Palace played superbly, scored early, but could not turn the deficit from the first leg around. Watford next at Hull, trailing 0-2 they too took an early lead and still succumbed as Hull ran riot and progressed. During the day tiny barbs from those around were met with a defiant face. These were the same people who laughed in your face when you arrived at work on the back of a 1-2 home defeat just a few days earlier. The same people who never reach further than a remote control for their football and the same people who never seem to follow a beaten team. The trip to the ground was quiet, bathed in sunshine as memories of the trip to "Job Done" Preston flooded the mind and triggered tiny sparks of hope. Inside the ground, the 1,600 White army assembled, stunned at what lay before us. Far from a packed house, the amount of empty seats and empty terraces that lay in front of us was a disgrace and must have made grim viewing for the unlucky ticketless whites...

We began as we meant to go on, if we were going to go down then the White army would go down singing to the end and despite no roof on the stand, we created a defiant atmosphere. McAllister gambled on team selection, frankly he could have changed up to 6 players after Monday night, however, much to the surprise of the fans he kept the faith. So with Casper in goal, the back four of Lubo, Fraser, Huntingdon and Johnson remained. As did the midfield of Kilkenny, Howson, Douglas and Prutton. Beckford and Freedman again up top. It looked like Dougie won the toss and we turned the teams around, so the lads were playing towards us in the first half. Just as in the first leg however, it was Carlisle who settled the quicker as they again used the wide men to cause us problems. The first real chance fell to Grant Smith, but his effort flew over. What was noticeable in the early exchanges was Carlisle’s decision to attack Fraser as if he was the weak link. It’s perhaps fair to say that Fraser has had a mixed season, however, Carlisle were about to be shown the side to Fraser we would like to see more of. Going forward, Beckford had a half chance, but it was 10 minutes in and our first real attack that gave the travelling army hope and notched us up a few more gears...

A clearance from Casper was headed on from the left by Prutton, Beckford reacted quickest and flicked a header on to Howson who instinctively sprayed the ball out left to Freedman. Freedman dinked it back into the box to Howson who found time and space to control the ball and lash home with his left foot and send us fucking ballistic. With scores level and all to play for the nature of the game changed. Still, Carlisle only needed a goal but it was looking more like we would grab the next one. Beckford guilty of wasting a great chance a few minutes later when he headed wide after a superb ball in from Johnson. The hopes in the away end were slowly growing, but every time we thought positive thoughts, the team responded by trying to make life difficult for themselves. In one breath defending superbly, but then, as we have seemed to do most of the season, pass the ball straight back to an opposition player. Fortunately, despite having the width and unlike the first leg, a combination of our determined full backs and no final ball by the home side meant they were not making us pay for our lapses. It was not all due to this however, one man was having a magnificent game in the middle of the park. Dougie who was sat just in front of the back four, was quietly and effectively mopping up as Prutton and Howson tried to find a way forward...

After wasting a couple of corners, Kilkenny tried to make up for it with a 20 yarder, but it was blocked. He then played a great ball through to Beckford, who was flagged offside. It was a good period of the game, but we feared that failure to find a second goal would be costly. When that bastard goalie Westwood denied Freedman on 38 mins we looked to the heavens and just wondered if it was going to be one of those horrid nights. Carlisle then tired to bring the game to us and had a great spell just before halftime. Our defiant back line continued to stay strong, but we were in danger of getting penned in as again we kept giving them back the ball and inviting them on. It was heart in mouth time as firstly a great ball was whipped in by Smith. Casper appeared to get something on it to divert it away from Graham, before the ball eventually fell to Dobie who twatted wide. Carlisle were to have the final say in the dying moments as Bridge - Wilkinson found himself in acres of space on the edge of the area. His low shot was well saved by Casper’s legs. Halftime was a relief and we couldn’t have asked for more from the boys. Well, some of us did ask for more and sub Hughes obliged by giving us a ball, however some silly twat threw it over the back of the stand leaving Hughes somewhat bemused...

Out came the boys for the second half and we again began in great voice. Freedman was first to try his luck, but his deflected shot was easy for Westwood. Beckford quickly followed that with two efforts on goal, neither really troubling the keeper. Carlisle’s players had again decided to keep trying to go at Frazer and he began what was possibly his best 45 minutes of the season as he meant to go on. On the other flank, Bradley Johnson was looking composed at left back, but Carlisle were growing and beginning to cause us problems. Lubo did really well to block from Bridge-Wilkinson before Graham headed weakly into Casper’s arms when he really should have done better. The best move of the game came our way however after a brilliant passing movement including Kilkenny, Richardson and Howson, the ball was fed to Prutton, but Jesus's shot was well saved by Westwood. It was a turning point in the game however as from there, Kilkenny stood up to the plate to try and get the Leeds attacks going. With Fraser overlapping quite brilliantly we had width on the right side and we utilised to good effect. Dangerous crosses were being flung into the box and it was Carlisle’s turn to give away defensive possession easily and we were able to keep up sustained pressure...

Howson saw a great shot pushed away for a corner. 3 corners in quick succession later saw Johnson’s brave header hit the fucking post with the keeper beaten. We stood with hearts in mouths and head in hands, was that the chance to take us to Wembley gone. Carlisle tried to rally, but although their fans were screaming they were going to Wembley, the longer the game went on, the players seemed to lose a bit of heart and run out of steam. Huntingdon was now having a great game but he managed to give away a free kick on the edge of the area. It seemed soft, but the benefit went to Ref Alan Wiley who, in my opinion, was having a faultless game. The script seemed to be written for a stunning home goal, but it was not to be. The wall stood tall and firm and away we went again, looking for something, one last effort to finish the game in normal time. Dougie tried one from distance for yet another corner but just as so many corners over the course of the season, we failed to make anything from it. After Johnson had got forward well and fired wide, we were resigning ourselves to extra time. Given how the game was going, this was by no means a disaster, Carlisle’s players looked heavy footed. As the board went up for 1 minute injury time, we stood and watched, as on halfway Dougie found Kilkenny...

Kilkenny's swift ball forward found Freedman on the edge of the area and his instinctive lay off found Howson in space. Young Howson took collected the ball, took one touch, looked up and swung his left boot at it from the edge of the area and drove a fucking beauty past the despairing Westwood for a late late winner. The away end was carnage as bodies flew everywhere in utter delight, it was a case of just grabbing hold of the person next to you to and clinging on for dear life as we were flung around like rag dolls. The celebrations were ongoing as the whistle went and we went fucking mental. With pissed off Carlisle fans on the pitch blocked by lines of Police and Stewards, the Leeds players went off. We were being held back by the Police but we sang ourselves hoarse until the pitch was cleared and out came the Macca and the boys a while later to soak up the celebrations...

So the result leaves us planning for one last trip down south to the New Wembley. Its these moments that make football so special, the feeling of a mixture of pride & delight was and is immense and not something we had felt since that night in Preston in 2006. Preston was an amazing night, but this win was much sweeter given the position we found ourselves in after the first leg. These feelings are however tempered somewhat by the knowledge that we have still achieved nothing yet. We don’t need reminding that no matter how good this night was, the experience down at Cardiff in 2006 taught us to simply savour the moment, but keep our feet firmly on the ground and not get carried away. The final chapter of this amazing season in Leeds United AFC’s history is about to be written. Wembley braces itself for an invasion of around 40,000 of the proud White army as we begin the countdown to what we pray to the gods will culminate in our escape from Division Three...

Leeds United AFC... "We're the famous Leeds United and we're off to Wemberrrrllllllleeee"... Keep Fighting...

Division Three Play Off: Semi Final - First Leg.

Love 'em or loathe 'em, the league Play Offs are now part and parcel of the English game. The two legged Semi final has become a cup tie lottery where form books are discarded and even the most hardy supporter is left with nervous exhaustion. For the eventual winners of the Play Offs, the prize on offer is immense. For the losers however, it could mean so much more than heartbreak. Those of us who have followed the fortunes of Leeds United AFC know that it has been a magnificent achievement to get to this point. When Wise abandoned a bandwagon with 3 flat tyres mid season, the prospects of even getting to the Play Offs were fading fast and with them the chance of a period of much needed stability at the club should we get promoted. For the last few years, stability has been lacking in so many areas at the club & not only off the pitch. Due mainly to two relegations in the space of four years, the picture on the pitch has been anything other than stable. With Macca and co performing a remarkable "pit stop", the club has not only stopped the freefall, but both galvanised and progressed, underlining why Bates moved to extend their contracts. So on the managerial front, we have some kind of stability at least for another season. However one fears yet another exodus of players should the fickle finger of fate decide that once again, Leeds United AFC are doomed to failure...

Many suggest that the squad, as it stands, would not be far off cannon fodder in the Championship. However, there's a good nucleus of players in place if we can keep the talented ones together. This combinded with attracting a smattering of new faces, a feat we would surely manage upon promotion, would give us a good chance of staying up. As it stands that is all "stuff and nonsense" and as Bates always plans for the "Worst case", its the fear of what another season in League One would bring that linger. Many are already talking about the prospect of another turn over of first team players and that would make next season look like a mountain to climb and thats even though we would be starting off at Zero points. The stakes for the club seem once again high and with these happy thoughts going through the back of the mind we prepared to face Carlisle. It was more than ironic that as Kandol hit the back of the net as opposed to Row Z against Gillingham, his goal scoring act unwittingly changed the Play Off picture completely. Had we finished 6th, we would have drawn Doncaster Rovers. Whilst they beat Leeds at Elland Road this season, they may have been more preferable over two legs than Carlisle. Despite recent form, they have given us two magnificent games this season. Beating Wise & Bassett's side 3-1 at Brunton Park and narrowly losing to Macca's side 3-2 at Elland Road. Before tonight's game, Leeds United had only ever played twice on May 12th. In 1984 we drew 3-3 with Birmingham City and in 1984, we beat Charlton Athletic 1-0...

If we were looking for omens, as we football fans tend to do, then this wasn't the best. Lest we forget, back in 1987 and after beating Oldham on the away goals rule in the Play Off Semis, the two legged final against Division One Charlton Athletic had ended in stalemate. With no plans in place for how the tie should be decided, the FA hastily got their heads together and decreed that the replay would be held at Birmingham City's ground on the Friday night. 15,000 of the White Army, along with 3,000 Charlton fans made the trip. It was a tight and nervy affair and when Whites skipper Ormsby was stretchered off, it was looking like going pear shaped for a set of supporters still reeling from the FA Cup Semi final disappointment. As the game entered extra time however, things took an upturn. A free kick for handball was awarded on the edge of the Charlton area and John Sheridan sized up the opportunity. With "Bob Boulder like a cat on hot bricks" Shez sent the ball over the wall and screaming into the net. With one foot in Division One, the Whites looked to try and hold on to the lead whilst the fans tried to roar them to glory. However, Leeds hearts were broken by a Yorkshire born defender called Peter Shirtliff. Shirtliff popped up to score 2 goals in 4 minutes during the second half of extra time to keep Charlton up and cap off yet another glorious defeat for the Whites...

That was the first time Leeds United had taken part in the Play Off's and after a historical, but draining season, tonight we embarked on number three. "Third time lucky" was the defiant mantra as we arrived at the ground and yet another sell out crowd assembled for what we hoped would see the Whites take some sort of advantage into the second leg. Macca decided to change the shape of the team and sprung a couple of surprises in his team selection. Johnson was suprisingly kept at left back and Prutton drafted onto the left wing. So with Casper in goal, he was protected by a back four of Lubo, Huntingdon, Johnson and Fraser. Prutton, Kilkenny, Douglas and Howson made up the midfield and the returning Beckford joined Freedman up front. It was loud, it was proud, it was Elland Road at its howling best. However, the first bad omen of the night struck immediately, losing the toss and the boys forced to play towards the Revie stand in the first half. Still, the noise levels went louder and we got underway. Once again, Carlisle had stuck to the trusty 451 formation and as the game began at a frenetic pace, they should have been 1-0 up after just 8 minutes. Graham's ball into the box was fired onto the post by Bridge-Wilkinson who was unmarked and just 8-yards out...

A few minutes later and up the other end, a terrific curling 25 yarder from Freedman had Westwood diving to his left to tip round the post. It was turning into a terrific open game for the neutral, but too open for the White Army's liking. Carlisle were breaking swiftly as Leeds moves broke down far too easily. It was looking like some of the Leeds players were already freezing under the pressure. Carlisle players on the other hand were more than rising to the occasion, they were first to every second ball and crunching into hard tackles all over the park. Casper made a brave stop from a Graham header and straight up the other end for Freedman again to lob just wide. It was breathless stuff and no bloody good for the heart. In the centre, the extra Carlisle man was telling, they had men over and Douglas and Howson were struggling. 30 breathless minutes on the clock and the ball is at Beckford's feet, he is 25 yards out and he shapes to shoot and in slow motion, Beckford fires a brilliant curling shot towards the far post with goal written all over it. Once again, Westwood dives left and manages to just get a finger tip to divert it for a corner...

It was a pivotal moment in the game as two minutes later, disaster. Johnson's cross field ball to Fraser was ill advised and Fraser made a hash of things, conceding a corner. As the corner came it, it was headed out to Hackney, who volleyed it goalwards and with the aid of a defection, it was 0-1. Though Carlisle had played well, the goal was fucking jammy. Casper had the ball covered until the deflection and he was left stranded as the ball flew past him. The crowd was deflated for only a moment, then the roar of defiance as we looked to pick the boys up. The game continued to flow and the Whites had two chances to level before halftime. Firstly Douggie has a rasping shot well held, and secondly, after Carlisle had got away with what looked like blatant back pass the keeper picked up, a brilliant move saw Kilkenny slip in Beckford, through on the left hand side of goal, he was thwarted by yet another great save by Westwood. A fully fit and sharp Beckford would have snapped up the chance, as it was, the ball went for a corner. Halftime was met with an air of nervous chatter, for the neutral it was great entertainment, for the fans, it was fucking murder. With the noise levels raised to the sound of Champions of Europe, the teams came back out and we prayed for a second half revival...

It was not forthcoming as Carlisle were again quicker out of the blocks and scenting blood. With our defence again all at sea, we were managing to give the visitors the freedom of the park and it was young Howson who got caught in possession just minutes in. The ever dangerous Bridge - Wilkinson robbed him of the ball and ran free on goal, only a brilliant stop by Casper prevented a goal. The visitors were not to be denied moments later as once again, they strode though the midfield and defence like we were not there. Fraser got stranded as two players attacked him, Horwood was slipped into the box and he had the presence of mind to square the ball to Bridge - Wilkinson for 0-2 and what looked like a knock out blow. The heads dropped on the park, the heads dropped off it. Elland Road deflated as the Carlisle fans went mental. The boys tried to rally, but everything was laboured and becoming predictable. With Johnson marooned at left back, we had no natural left hand width and no outlet. The only width we had at all was provided by Fraser and though he made some good runs, all the time a break for the visitors was on the cards. Before being taken off for Kandol, Beckford had a long range effort easily dealt with and Douggie had a shot on the hour that caused problems...

Carlisle were fighting for everything and more importantly, they looked like they still had another goal in them. However, with 20 minutes left, Carlisle, rather than go for the throat and kill off the tie dropped deep and decided to try shut up shop. With Kandol on we looked to try a more direct route and almost got back into the game when a ball to the back stick was headed back across by a mixture of Kandol, Dougie and a defender, keeper Westwood continued his fine form by touching it over the bar. It was the signal for the Whites to keep up a period of sustained pressure for the first time in the game. The noise levels went back up and all of a sudden, there seemed a glint of hope. We looked to have a good shout for a penalty as the ball hit a Carlisle arm in the box, but the ref had none of it and as time ticked down, Macca decided to make a change. The unlucky Prutton made way for Seb Carole and we finally had some sort of wide man on the park. If nothing else his presence gave more hope to the crowd and he responded by running at players and getting the ball into the box. Kilkenny tried one from 25 yards that flew over the bar, before in a final mad push, we had a couple of corners and half chances...

The best falling to the feet of Johnson as a free kick was awarded on the edge of the area. Johnson's tremendous shot was met by a Carlisle head at full stretch to head away for another corner. It was looking like simply not being our day when the assistant put up 4 minutes injury time. From the resultant corner, Huntingdon saw a snap shot charged down by Murphy and it seemed that the last chance had gone. However with nearly 6 minutes stoppage time on the clock, Huntingdon launched one into the box, Kandol and sub Hughes challenged for it and it bounced to Freedman who hit it first time through the keepers legs and in. Elland Road exploded as we had just been handed the most unexpected lifeline in a game where we appeared to be dead and buried. There was just enough time for the kick off when the ref blew his whistle for what was, over all, a deserved win for the visitors. It could have been so different had keeper Westwood not decided that tonight was the night he would play out of his skin but such is life. From our perspective, too many players under performed on the night. It was reminiscent of the home leg against Preston in 2006 and whether due to complacency or freezing in front of an intense home crowd, we have to be thankful that we are down, but not yet out...

So we head to Carlisle on Thursday night with small hope in our hearts. We know the statistics, we know that Carlisle have a great home record and we know that team's seldom overturn a deficit after being beaten at home in the Play Off first leg. However, in many respects, this has been the most bizarre season for Leeds United AFC in living memory, just don't rule out another twist...

Leeds United AFC... "To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first"... Keep Fighting...

It was a nail biting week unlike any other and as with all good drama's, the plot kept people in suspense right until the last minute. We had endured a rollercoaster of emotions as rumour's engulfed the White support. We began the week with a wave of optimism, but it ended with the feeling of a swatted housefly. By the time Thursday morning had arrived, the whole episode had mentally taken its toll and many just wanted this saga over and done with. We had been through the argument presented as we understood it a thousand times and it appeared to be a Black and White case. Either Leeds broke a rule thus deserving of a "Penalty" or we didn't and the League acted in an "Unfair and Unjust" way. The time it had taken to wade through the case by the Arbitration panel had given glint's of hope. By Thursday morning these glint's began to look like "Fools Gold" and alarm bells had started to ring upon reading somewhat defeatist sounding words from the normally bullish Bates early on in the day...

At 5pm, with no sign of Leeds representation in London, the news was announced. The Arbitration panel's decision was damning and blew Leeds United's appeal out of the water. The appeal by Leeds was thrown out simply by virtue of the fact that the club signed a legal document agreeing to start the season in League One at -15 points, subject to an appeal heard by the members of the League. We were all well aware that the club had signed this agreement, but were led to believe this was a "Penalty" or a sanction for not coming out of Administration with a CVA in place. However, it emerged that far from this being a "Penalty", it appears it was, in the end, a negotiated agreement between the Football League and Leeds NewCo to remain in League One rather than starting the season in League Two or worse. The Leeds board have always claimed that this document was signed "Under Duress" however, the independent panel were having none of it:

36. We are satisfied that the Claimants case begins and ends with the Compromise Agreement which clearly embodied the intention of both parties. Taking the Agreement as a whole and in particular Clause 4 Leeds NewCo agreed to the imposition of the 15 points and to release the League from the claims which have now been advanced and to waive any rights to do so. Leeds NewCo specifically covenanted not to bring the claims it has now sought to assert and there is no basis to allow it not to honour that covenant.

The Tribunal dismisses the Claim on this ground alone.

Full report here:

-15

Further reading of the full document makes it clear that even without this document in place, the League were well within their rights to take this action regardless and therefore dismissed any right of Bates and co to appeal. Debates over the Leagues initial motives for the idea of a points deduction continue to be held, however, just as many debates are raging over the antics described in the report of a Leeds board, who it appears have not exactly covered themselves in glory over this whole affair. Many are questioning the merits of chasing what appeared to be a lost cause and no doubt spending money on legal fee's in the process. However with Bates being the "clever business man", you just wonder if we are missing the bigger picture in all of this. With the verdict delivered and a statement on the club's website claiming that the club had drawn a line under the matter, we appeared to at least be walking away from this matter with dignity...

However as a smug Lord Mawhinney once again claimed that Leeds were a "valued member of the Football League family", not to be outdone in anyway, an ashen looking Bates came out fighting and demanded Mawhinney resign based on the reports "Postscript". In this the Arbitration panel appear to criticise the way the League has handled this matter and made suggestions for how to treat similar cases going forward. Overall, despite not winning the points back, Bates went on to claim a "Moral victory". It appears that Bates was justified in pleading that the club had done nothing legally wrong in this matter. Bates was also vindicated in claiming the way the appeal process was handled was unfair and that the Leagues policy's for future football administration cases were in need of amending. Once the League takes these on board and changes the way it handles matters, it would appear that the next club that happens to find itself in the position we did will not have to follow precedent, but each case will be judged on its own merit...

As we move forward from this episode in the clubs history, whilst
many fans debate the rights and wrongs of the matter and a sense of injustice still lingers, most now appreciate that it could have been worse. With this rumbling on in the background, Macca still had to prepare a team for the final home game of the season today. Fortunately with the players doing the business at Yeovil and being assured of the Play Off's either way, you assume that this made things a heck of a lot easier than if we had needed the points. Today's visitors were of course Gillingham. The last time they visited Elland Road was March 2005. 27,995 saw on loan striker Marlon King come off the bench to cross for Hulse to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw. Earlier this season of course, we had the same result at Gillingham where referee Danny McDermid made a name for himself and sent off both Beckford and Kandol in a controversial game...

In case you are wondering, up until 19 April, McDermid had been in charge of 24 games this season, booking 82 players and sending 8 off. One man smiling that day was Gillingham chairman Paul Scally but given that his team were clinging on to League One status by a thread, it's a fair bet the fella was not feeling as smug on his journey up North. Bates had already spoken about "Poetic Justice" should Gillingham be relegated at the hands of Leeds. However, as we Leeds fans know all too well, teams are relegated over a season, not one game. With the hot sun beating down for the first time at Elland Road this year, despite the points decision, there was still a party atmosphere in the air. The now customary "last day" inflatable's were being thrown around a history making crowd of 38,256 and we began in damn good voice. As predicted, Macca rested a few players and cobbled together an experimental looking side...

So with Casper in goal, a new look back line had young Gardner in at right back, Bradley Johnson at left back with Lubo and Huntingdon in the centre. Douglas and Prutton partnered up in the middle with Sweeney brought in to the left and Hughes on the right. Kandol and Elding lead the line and as the noise levels went up the boys attacked the packed South Stand. It's been noticeable over the last few seasons that a massive crowd does not always bring the best out of the home side, there is a tendency to freeze and it appeared the case in the first half today. Even given for the changes Macca had made, it made you wonder if this side had actually trained together during the week as they frankly failed to make any real impact on the visitors. Gillingham were well organised and fighting for their lives, Leeds seemed to think they could walk over them in first gear and we got a heck of a shock. It was quickly apparent that all was not well with our back line and 7 minutes in, Jackson appeared to have got the better of them...

He also got away with the ball appearing to go over the dead ball line, as he continued his run and forced Casper into a save. Going forward we were lifeless and thankful this game was, in the grand scheme of things, meaningless. This was making life easy for Gillingham, especially with the 3-5-2 formation they were using and they passed well and were beginning to take control. The opening goal summed up the first 20 minutes. Huntingdon, who looked a pale imitation of his normal self, was caught in possession by Jackson. Jackson progressed, skipped passed both Casper's attempt to save at his feet and Lubo's dive in and smashed the ball into the net for 0-1. It certainly dampened the party atmosphere as we watched the players proceed to struggle to string 3 passes together. Off we went looking for a leveller, but in all honestly, we just hoped that we could get to half time and regroup...

Gillingham continued to have chances, Mulligan's header went over when he should have done better and the best we got at the other end was long range efforts either dribbling back to the keeper or going wide. At halftime we were introduced to two lucky people who had flown in from OZ to watch the game after winning a competition. They must have been left wondering if the trip was worth the while, but still as bad as the first half was, we had seen worse and surely they would react in the second half after a quiet word from Macca. With the crowd finding its voice again, the players suddenly found a spring in their step. Finally passing the ball around we began to ask questions of the Gillingham side. Douglas and Prutton were now getting more involved and that drive that was missing in the first, appeared. Dougie had a shot charged down as the noise got cranked up as the Leeds players began to slowly rise to the occasion...

After 60 minutes Macca changed the game with a brilliant substitution. Off went the anonymous Sweeney and on came Carole. Carole has been one of the most frustrating players this season but his introduction changed things around. He went on the right & Hughes moved to a more natural position on the left and we suddenly had balance and someone with pace on the park. Kandol headed one over and Douggie smacked one into the Revie, but we were now looking like a side that could score. When it did come, not one person in the ground would have predicted it. Brilliant running from Carole on the right saw him cross from the near the by line and in a flash, Bradley Johnson came from nowhere to meet it with a left foot volley on the edge of the area to scorch home one of, if not the best goal of the season so far. It was like an exocet scud missile that had the keeper grasping for air, the back of the net straining and the Leeds fans in celebration...

The lad has shown glimpses over recent weeks of what he can do and to be fair, the experiment to play him at left back may not have worked out, but fuck me, what a strike. 1-1 and suddenly it was game on as Gillingham woke up again knowing that nothing less than a win would do. They piled forward and the game got stretched and with Carole as an outlet now for Casper to throw to, we looked threatening on the break. Still it was Casper called into action to keep the sides level, first saving from Crofts and then Oli. With time ticking down, Macca took off Dougie for young Delph and the lad made an immediate impression, showing some calm touches on the ball whilst the game was becoming frantic with both sides looking for a winner. Kandol had a great chance when put through, but skied his shot and after Elding had seen a shot deflected over, great running by Hughes down the left saw him burst into the box...

Rather than take on the shot, he tried to square to Kandol, but the defence cleared. It was looking like ending a draw when a superb ball from Huntingdon was played through to an onside Kandol, he took the ball in his stride and advance towards the Revie, he looked up and as Row Z ducked, the lad twatted the ball home from the edge of the area for his best taken goal in a Leeds shirt thus far. It was just reward for his efforts in the second half and I doubt anybody in the ground would have begrudged him this moment. As we began to party, the Leeds players nearly got caught out by a swift attack that saw Southall manage to somehow miss an open goal. He prodded it onto the post and the ball bounced back kindly into Casper's arms. At the final whistle, all apart from one pillock managed to keep off the pitch as the players did a lap of honour to say thank you for our support and we wished them all the best in the Play Offs...

So, in essence, the season starts now. We have 3 games in which to claim promotion and we have been here before. Considering all we have been through this season, in some respects this in itself is a magnificent achievement. However, as we know, this is football and this will mean nothing should we fail. We reconvene next Monday night for the first leg against Carlisle and we pray for "Third time lucky" in the Play Off's...

Leeds United AFC... "The truth is rarely pure, and never simple"...Keep Fighting...

"...HEY UP, HEY UP, HE'S ONSIDE AS WELL, HE'S ONSIDE, OH MY WORD, OH MY WORD, MARK VIDUKA. AGHHH, IT'S GONE' HE'S DONE IT! OH MY WORD! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! IT'S MARK VIDUKA, AND HE'S DONE IT, HE'S DONE IT FOR LEEDS UNITED..."

As final away games of the season go, one is hard pressed to recall a better afternoon than Arsenal away in 2003. With the hosts aiming to claim the title and a rejuvenated Whites bidding to cling on to Premiership status, Peter Reid oversaw one of the most startling victories in the clubs recent history. The financial meltdown off the park had taken its toll and after both the fire sale and ultimate removal of El Tel, Reid was the man handed the task of keeping the club afloat. After a first game defeat at Liverpool, the season was kick-started by thumping Charlton away 6-1. However, as the weeks wore on it was clear that only a last day victory would secure Premiership survival for one more season at least. Arsenal were stalling after awesome form but this was still rightly a home banker. Leeds were given little chance, but as is so often the case in football, it was the unfancied Mighty Whites who struck first. A suspicion of handball was ignored as Kewell twatted home a beauty. The Arse rallied and drew level via the goal machine Henry. In recent weeks, this may have been the signal for surrender, but an Ian Harte freekick ghosted home for 2-1 and we bit our nails praying for the lads to hold out...

The boys had worked their socks off in this game, but when Arse levelled again via Bergkamp and in the face of a Red tide, there seemed no doubt that the hosts would go on and claim all three points. That was until Mark Viduka had the final say, scoring one of the most important goals in his Leeds career. With seconds left on the clock, a through ball saw him bursting down the Arse right hand side. The big man showed great control to bamboozle the last defender, before cutting inside and smash home the most wonderful of goals and sending the travelling support into delirium. The final whistle kept the Whites up and handed the title to Manu. It was the second time in recent years that a Leeds win over the Arse had handed the title to the Red enemy. That was of little concern on the day though and if we needed a cherry on the cake, then it was provided upon hearing the commentary of the winning goal as it happened by the Leeds fan on "SkyFanzone". Its now gone down in Leeds folklore as the lad "Rocked and Rolled" his was through the final moments and summed up the passion of the ecstatic White support perfectly. We all know that moments like this are rare in football, no matter which club you choose to follow. However, when they do come along they somehow seem more sweeter and live longer in the memory:

When the fixture list came out at the beginning of the season, Yeovil Town away was looked at as one of those games you "had" to go to as another ground to tick off the list. However, in the context of needing points to secure a place in the Play Offs, this trip now had much more importance than that. Thanks to the Police deciding to make this a Friday night kick off, meticulous planning was required for the near 4,000 Whites fans attending. With that in mind and a five hour drive ahead, quite how we found ourselves still in Wetherby at 2pm was open to frantic discussion. As was a half arsed plan to camp over "somewhere" in Yeovil. Mind you, as we sped down the M1 it was quickly becoming apparent that the list of things we had forgotten to pack was longer than "Jesus" Prutton's hair. We decided to put that idea on the back burner and concentrate on getting to the ground. After a tortuous trip we eventually arrived, parked up and belted to the ground with just minutes to spare. This was the club's first ever visit to Huish Park and it was packed to the rafters. The ground has 3 seated stands and the away end is uncovered terracing, similar to Swindon Town. Yeovil were out to finish on a high and gain revenge for the late defeat at Elland Road earlier this season...

Wise's side were looking like having to settle for a point when loan striker Mark DeVries headed a late late winner. With a record crowd of 9,527 crammed in and Leeds fans dotted all over the ground, the travelling army were in good spirit's as we looked forward to what we hoped, was history in the making. Macca again made a change and it was the unlucky Prutton dropped to the bench for the returning Dougie. So Casper in goal was protected by an unchanged back line of Lubo, Huntingdon , Fraser and Sheehan. Kilkenny, Johnson, Howson and Douggie made up midfield and the Freedman - Elding partnership continued up the front. The home crowd started in good form as the Leeds boys played away from us in the first half. It was clear from the off however that the hosts appeared in awe of the occasion and gave the Leeds boys too much time and respect. They paid the price on 4 minutes when a cross was lofted in from Fraser on the right. Bradley Johnson met the ball at the far post but couldn't convert what appeared a simple chance. Fortunately Freedman was on hand however to smash home from 6 yards and send us flying around the old school terrace. 1 nil up after 4 minutes and we thanked the gods we had made kick off, I mean you can imagine how gutting it would have been to miss the goal...

With the goal in the bank and Yeovil's reluctance to put a foot in, the boys began to stroke the ball around pretty well. It was worrying however that whilst we had all the play, we never really troubled them again for a long period of time and infact, after dropping a sleep at the back, Yeovil could have been level with their first chance on goal. Old warhorse Marcus Stewart headed one over from a flick on by Skiverton. The Leeds build up play continued to impress, Howson in the thick of it in the centre and Fraser getting forward to good effect. It has to be said though that we were, once again, lacking that killer ball and the off the ball running of Beckford to give us other options. As the half wore on, the pace of the game was beginning to have a "friendly" feel about it and it appeared to lull the Leeds players into thinking it was all too easy. That was until Yeovil awoke and began to find charity from our back line. Williams should have scored, but instead forced Casper into a smart stop. Williams had a second chance from the rebound, but fired just into the side of the goal. It was the signal for the Leeds back line to finally awake however Yeovil were now beginning to put some neat passes together as Smith ended a good move by hitting one over from distance...

With Yeovil pressing, we began to take the chance to hit on the break. Elding, who’s work rate was impressive, had a half decent shot tipped over. After Freedman had another shot saved, it was Elding again who was unlucky when put through and just about to pull the trigger when a Yeovil defender slid in to put the ball out for a corner. Yeovil had the last word however when Stewart had a glorious chance to level, but he snatched at a chance when he was free in the centre of the area and Casper clung on to the ball. 1 up at halftime and another chance for us to see some dodgy dancing from Hughesy as we tried to keep warm from a cold wind smashing into our faces. We knew we were just 45 minutes from the Play Offs and we expected Yeovil to be quick out of the blocks and it proved to be the case. A soft free kick from ref Stroud who, was hardly noticed in the first half set the tone. The free kick routine ended with Barry slicing wide, but doing enough to get the home fans into good voice. With the game opening up, we seemed content to soak up pressure and hit on the break ala Millwall. One great break saw Elding through and fire well wide, only the offside flag spared the lads blushes. Johnson tried one from around 30 yards and had the keeper beaten, alas, the bar as well...

The game could have turned on two moments in which ref Stroud was at the centre of. Firstly Huntingdon had a shot which appeared to hit a Yeovil arm. Stroud waved away our final chance to be awarded a penalty away from home this season. Stroud's second decision minutes later had a more direct influence. It had not been a dirty game by any means, but Sheehan had lost control of the ball coming out of defence on halfway. In a stupid attempt to win it back he dived in on Peitler. From where we were, it looked a nasty and needless challenge. With Yeovil players in his face, Stroud produced Red and we were left to fight out 25 minutes with 10 men. Moments later, Stroud pulled out the yellow card after Bricham flew in on Johnson. With the free kick awarded around 35 yards out, up stepped Lubo to twat a stunning jet propelled scud missile towards the top corner and it took a great save to keep it out. Had it gone it, it would have been up there with "Zico" Sterland's effort at Bramall lane all those years ago. Macca moved swiftly to change the team around. Elding went off for Hughsy who immediately tucked in at left back. We were now coming under some serious arial pressure, however Lubo and the impressive Huntingdon remained calm and tried to break where possible...

Freedman once again came into his own when down to 10 men just as he had at Huddersfield. Clever play coupled with great ball retention giving the defence much needed respite from the Yeovil attack. However the Yeovil attacks became more frequent, and with Yeovil having men over on many occasions, it was brown trousers time. After Dougie had cleared off the line with a great header, Yeovil had their best spell. They pinned us back in our area by having 3 corners on the bounce. Casper eventually getting a free kick when it looked like he had flapped at the last one. Macca threw on Prutton for Johnson as he looked to beef up the midfield and it had a great effect. "Jesus" was able to hold the ball up a lot better than Johnson and was also able to win us a couple of corners as we tried to play down the clock. With 7 minutes left after soaking up all the pressure, we should have killed the game. Kilkenny swung over a rare free kick and at the back post, Freedman some how deflected over from around a yard, if that. Being kind to the fella, he can't have seen it till late but it could have been a very costly miss as Yeovil came right back at us. Rui was thrown on for Kilkenny as we looked to see out the last 5 minutes and Casper's best save of the game thwarted a great effort from Downes...

As the board went up for 4 minutes extra, it was heart in mouths time, especially when Yeovil put together a great passing move, only for Stewart to fire high over the stand. The fulltime whistle was met with massive relief as the players made their way over to thank us for our support. The players deserve massive credit for the spirit and commitment shown in the second half, especially when reduced to 10. This was the type of game we would have gone on to lose just a few weeks ago. Whilst Macca and Stan certainly deserve all credit for the turn around of the team, mention must also be given to first team coach Neil McDonald. It seems no coincidence that performances have been much improved since his arrival a the club. As we wound our way back to the car and enjoyed the good natured banter between both sets of supporters, we decided to scrap the half arsed camping plan and shoot back home, making it back to Gods County in just 4 hours. So, the win cemented the Play Off place as this history making season continues to take twists and turns. We now enter the "big week" and we are left to wonder if the upcoming 37,000 + crowd against Gillingham will be celebrating automatic promotion, or giving the boys our well wishes for the upcoming Play Off fight. Either way, it promises to be one a hell of a day in what has been, one hell of history making season...

Leeds United AFC... "Everyone's Rocking back in Yorkshire, Rocking for Leeds United Football club"... Keep Fighting...

As we headed to Millwall, it was almost 8 years to the day that we arrived with heavy hearts to a mourning Elland Road for the second leg against Galatasaray in the UEFA cup semi final in 2000. It was a season that began so brightly and one that, up until the New Years day clash at Sunderland, a youthful Leeds side had played some of the best free flowing football in recent memory. Whilst it remains difficult to detach oneself from the off field incidents, we had been privileged to witness some truly remarkable football matches. The likes of the 4-3 win at Coventry and the stunning 4-4 draw at Goodison Park remain forever etched into fans minds:

Alongside the football played, the players also showed fight and bottle, traits that had been lacking for a long time. As if to demonstrate this, the players were tearing up visitors to Elland Road and not rolling over away from home, hard fought wins at Spurs and Chelsea were testament to that. We had hit top spot in October in a thrilling game at Watford, in which a wonderful goal from Michel Bridges set us on the way to the 3 points. We had quickly become realistic title contenders however, such was the effect of the Woodgate/Bowyer incident, this changed in an instant. As we had no knowledge of the facts surrounding the incident, the team and supporters tried to stick together...

"Innocent until proved guilty" was the mantra as a siege mentality was beginning to form in the face of frenzied media speculation. Such was the nature of the league, poor results in the aftermath meant that it wasn't until just after the tragic events in Istanbul that the club dropped out of the running for the title. Everything related to football became secondary as we tried to get our heads around the senseless loss of lives. It was simply a shattering experience and one that its hoped no other club has to go through ever again. On the field, it would have been easy for the team to give up, but after taking beatings from Villa and Arsenal, they regrouped and took the fight for 3rd spot all the way to the final game of the season at West Ham. That hard fought game ended 0-0 and cemented the Champions league spot. Many a glass was raised that night, mainly to the memory of 2 Leeds United AFC fans who should have been around to see it happen. During this week, as the arbitration process slid into 4 days, the news that the panel would not deliver a verdict until after the season had ended sparked predictable outrage. A change of heart saw a commitment to reveal all by May 1st. Every man and his dog has had an opinion on the matter, yet many seem to be remarkably ignorant on the subject they are talking about...

Some claim we were rightly docked 15 points for going into Administration, not even realising that we were docked 10 points last season. Others can't understand why the club have chosen this point of the season to appeal, blissfully unaware the club have been trying to get this issue resolved since last year. Its difficult to read anything into why the panel are taking so long to come to a conclusion of what appears to be a black and white case. Whilst this may point optimistically towards the club having a half decent chance, it could just as likely be that we have not and they are just crossing the t's and dotting the i's on the final report. Meanwhile rumours of the outcome continue to do the rounds, as do veiled threats from other clubs about what they will do if the arbitration is settled in Leeds United's favour. So with this distracting shitstorm swirling around we set off to Millwall. A drive to Cockfosters, a tube to London bridge and a train to South Bermondsey was the final route taken and upon arrival to London Bridge we were met by a huge police presence. Sharing a train to the ground with Millwall fans was a tad daunting, but the army of police on the platform at South Bermondsey quelled anyone's thoughts of a pre: match rumble. We wound our way to the ground down a narrow walkway protected by huge spiked fencing on both sides...

A late own goal gave us victory here in 2005 and the near 2,000 strong travelling army, in yet another "Highest attendance of the season" for the home crowd, would have happily taken a repeat of that. No one likes Millwall of course but regardless of what they say, they do seem to care. Clearly in a bid to foster good local relations, the club went the extra mile and invited the London branch of the Galatasaray supporters club to the game and insisted they mingle with the home support. During the course of the game, these fans were able to continually give the Leeds support both free geography lessons and fantastic safety advice. Any lingering doubts we had that Galatasaray play in Istanbul or that we should look out for Turks carrying knives were firmly removed. With the team once again without the services of Beckford, Macca made three changes to the side that slept through Tuesdays Yorkshire derby. So with Casper in goal, Sheehan returned to join Lubo, Fraser and Huntingdon at the back. Prutton was drafted in to help out Kilkenny, Skipper Howson and Johnson. Upfront, Elding was given a chance to shine alongside Freedman. With the ground as loud as I can recall an away match since Swansea, the home players began at a frantic pace and proceeded to put in a shift that belied their league position and must have had their fan base questioning just why they have not played like this all season...

Frankly, in that first half, we couldn't match them for passion, pace, endeavour and quality. With the aid of a lino that stuck his flag up whenever the crowd behind him growled, Millwall were quickly benefiting from a set of officials who didn't want a rough ride. Free kicks for Millwall came thick and fast with Brkovic only just missing with the first effort. He then forced Casper into a smart save for the next one. Great running from the hosts was complimented by fast free flowing football which we simply couldn't cope with. Brkovic shot wide and this was swiftly followed by Craig firing over when it seemed easier to score. The Leeds midfield was near none existent, ball retention for Kilkenny and Johnson appeared impossible and in the centre, both Prutton and skipper Howson were chasing shadows. Freedman was the only player in a Yellow shirt looking capable of changing the flow of the game, but we seldom got the ball to him and when we did, he was surrounded by Blue shirts. Millwall smelt blood, and were playing as if their lives depended on it. Brkovic was becoming a pain in the arse, but at least he had not brought his shooting boots as he put another chance over the bar. We had little chance to breathe before another flowing move was deflected for a corner and it was Karacan whose near on free header flew just sent over the bar...

As we prayed for the halftime whistle, Savage was quickly followed by Simpson to be thwarted by Casper. On halftime, we had a rare attack. Elding had struggled through the game with both a lack of service and when he did get it, a lack of control. However our only "flowing" move of the game fell at his feet from 16 yards and he fired just over. Halftime was like water on a burning beach and we finally found entertainment singing to the Leeds subs to "Give us a dance" and "Give us a ball" to which they were more than obliging. After clinging on we assumed that Macca would find some words of wisdom to lift the players and it worked. Well, for about 45 seconds when our first attack of the half came to nothing. Millwall quickly picked up where they had left off and proceeded to once again cut us open at will. If this was a boxing match, it would have been stopped. Karacan's superb strike beat Casper, but came back off the bar and seconds after that let off, Simpson then took the piss only to fire just over. You would have imagined this would have fired up the home support, but yet again, all we heard were the Galatasaray fans. Whilst we expect little sympathy in this matter, it has to be said that if this was Leeds, Liverpool or Man City fans singing "Munich" songs on this scale, there would have been a national uproar. It was after this latest let off that things started to shift...

In the main it was down to the off the ball movement and running of Freedman and a change in tactics that saw us look to hit on the break. This was allowing Fraser and Sheehan to get into the game and we suddenly had a couple of half chances. Freedman dragged a shot just wide and a sudden burst of confidence was found after Millwall, for some reason, took off Brkovic. Still, we were in need of a miracle and in need of divine inspiration. On 70 minutes, the "Jesus like" Prutton provided it. A cross from Johnson was cleared to Prutton's feet and his superb volley found the bottom corner from around 20 yards, causing pandemonium in the away end. Macca decided to shut up shop and took off Elding for Hughes as the hosts rallied. However, we now had something to cling on to and a tactic that was working. After Casper, who's handling and kicking had been exemplary today, had snuffed out another ball into the box, off we went looking for an unexpected cherry on the cake. It arrived on 76 minutes and when it arrived, it left us rubbing our eyes that this was Leeds United we were watching, not Arsenal. In a flowing move towards the Millwall area, the ball fell to Hughes, his first time ball was sent out to Johnson on the left. Johnson had clearly learned from his midweek fuck up and rolled the ball back along the 6 yard box to the onrushing Hughes who smashed home sending us fucking mental...

Hughes celebrated with some more dodgy dancing as the atmosphere in the ground got even worse. As we celebrated and rammed the Turkey chants down the home fans throats, they responded by fighting with anyone in their way as they somehow believed that they would inherit super human powers and jump from top tier of their stands to ours for a good old fashioned rumble. To our right, one fan produced an old Leeds shirt and gave us comedy gold by pulling out a lighter and trying to set it on fire, only to repeatedly fail and after finally kicking it around like a football he was dragged out by the old bill. Whilst the game continued we looked for a third, Freedman with another chance and Prutton looking to add to his opener and though Millwall had a couple more threatening opportunities, suddenly, attacks were breaking down and we were able to pick them off and break. The announcement, as the board went up for 4 minutes, was that we were to be held back for a while, this sparked a mass exodus from the Millwall support who it appeared tried to tell us "See you outside". A Sheehan Free Kick was the near on last kick of the game and the final whistle brought great celebrations from players and fans alike. It has to be said, in all my years supporting Leeds United AFC, I can not recall a more satisfying "Smash and Grab" result...

All that remained was to get back to the car in one piece. We were held outside the ground and on the narrow walkway to the train platform for the best part of an hour, before bringing the London tube to a standstill as we were frog marched from London Bridge to Kings Cross with little trouble from a good spirited Leeds support. We saw only a handful of skirmishes of what looked like Millwall v riot police at London Bridge. We got the news of Brighton's late winner back at the car, but it could not dampen what turned into a fucking great day. So we have one foot in the Play Off's but we have to be honest and say that we were very lucky today. Whilst this sort of performance shows the spirit in the camp, it will not certainly not get us to Wembley should results go our way over the next couple of weeks. Next up is the much anticipated trip to Yeovil and we still have the right to ask, just how can the police say we can play Millwall at 3pm on a Saturday, but yet are forced to play Yeovil on a Friday night. We have a long fucking trip to mull over the answer to that...

Leeds United AFC... "We're not famous anymore"... Keep Fighting...

If there is one thing we know through bitter experience as Leeds United AFC fans, it's just when things are looking up, something normally lurks around the corner to bring you back down to earth. Its nearly 37 years to the day when one such incident took place. Back in the 1970/71 season, Revie's Leeds were flying high and heading towards the title and Inter-Cities Fairs cup double. 3 sapping away games in 4 days had been negotiated without defeat. A 1-1 draw at Newcastle, was followed by a 0-0 draw at Leeds Road Huddersfield, where over 43,000 crammed in to watch the game. When King Billy inspired the win at Anfield in the Inter-Cities Fairs cup, things were looking good and with lowly West Brom next up at Elland Road, it was all seemingly falling into place. It was a game that was to go down in folklore and add to the many perceived injustices that have fallen upon the club over the years. Trailing to an early goal from Tony Brown, Revie's Leeds were piling on the pressure. With 20 minutes to go, It was goal scorer Brown who received the ball and steamed forward. Baggies player Colin Suggett was clearly offside at this point and the linesman flagged straight away. The Leeds players stopped but referee Tinkler waved play on. Brown half stopped, waiting for the whistle, but then carried on towards the onrushing Sprake...

By this time he was joined in attack by Jeff Astle and despite Astle himself being in an offside position when he received the final pass from Brown, Astle was allowed to fire home and the goal was amazingly given. This stunning decision sent Elland Road into mayhem and Tinkler was surrounded by angry Leeds players as they demanded that he spoke to the linesman. Even after Tinkler did this, he stood by his decision and awarded the goal. Some angry fans got onto the pitch and yet again it was a clear case of Leeds being robbed once again. With 8 minutes left, Leeds pulled a goal back through Clarke, but the final result sent shock waves through the land as the battle for the title swung into Arsenal's favour. In the aftermath, plenty of people had their say, including Tinkler himself who claimed:

"I am completely sure that Suggett committed no offence. He was in an offside position and the linesman had flagged him, but he was not interfering with play"

However, Tinkler's linesman also had his say:

"Suggett wasn't just a yard off-side, he was a good five yards and in my opinion must have been influencing play. He didn't touch the ball but he set off in support of Brown so there was a clear intention of interfering with the course of the game."

Perhaps the most telling comment came from Baggies manager Alan Ashman, who told reporters:

"I would have been choked to have been beaten by an offside goal like that in any match, but these things happen and we just have to swallow them"

(More Leeds footage can be found here: www.thebeatengeneration.co.uk)

Revie's team managed to put this result behind them and go undefeated for the rest of the season, losing out to Arsenal for the title by just 1 point. With the league gone, the Mighty Whites rallied and squared up to Juventus in the two legged final of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. A 2-2 draw in Juventus was followed by a 1-1 draw at Elland Road. For the first time in the cup's history, it was won on the away goals rule. Mick Bates and Paul Madley's goals in the first leg proving vital. Fast forward to tonight and things are once again looking up. McAllister and his back room team have taken the wounded animal and nursed it back to full health with startling results and any fan witnessing the last 3 games will testify to that. So perhaps we should have foreseen that something was on the horizon, although admittedly, this time, not in the controversial way it happened all those years ago. Our last league visit to Huddersfield was at the old Leeds road ground which saw the sides play out a goalless draw back in 1987. We have however played 2 friendly games at the new Galpharm stadium, a 5-0 win back in 1999 was followed by a 2-0 win in 2000. With the rain pouring down, we would have taken any result that kept the good run we were going, especially when news had filtered through that Beckford was not going to be involved...

Given Kandol's half decent performance against Carlisle on Saturday, it didn't seem too much of a concern to many. So with Casper in goal, the same back four of Kenton, Fraser, Huntingdon and Lubo started. Midfield was again unchanged with Johnson, Howson, Douglas and Kilkenny. Freedman and Kandol led the line. For their part, Town have no manager in place at the moment and they lined up with an experimental 3-5-2 formation to counter our 4-4-2. As you would expect in a Yorkshire derby away from Elland Road, the home crowd were up for it, the home team were up for it, the Leeds fans were up for it and the Leeds side, as per usual in these games, tried there best to sleep through it. A fast and frenetic start to the game was expected, but the stop - start nature of the game was immediately frustrating. Despite this, both teams had early chances, Town managed to mess up a good move that showed Brandon wasn't on the same page as Worthington. Up the other end, Freedman smashed one over the bar. The Whites tendency to try a more direct route now Kandol was in the side enabled Town to settle. Kandol won a good share of headers, but they seldom fell to a Leeds player thus allowing Town many opportunities to clear. Town also had a master plan to disrupt what good movements we could put together...

This revolved around crashing into players and giving freekicks away at a rate of knots. Clearly the Town management team had done their homework to a tee. Give Leeds freekicks around the area and with a chance to shoot on goal, the freekick taker will become a rugby player and twat the ball over the bar. If there was no chance to give the freekick in this position, commit fouls elsewhere or concede a corner as there is fuck all chance the resultant cross will beat the first defender. It worked perfectly to plan as time and again all the good work that the likes of young Howson managed in midfeild, ended wastefully at the feet of Johnson or Kilkenny. With the Town fans to our right chanting to the beat of a god damn annoying drummer and the Town fans to our left fighting amongst themselves the game itself was becoming less of a distraction. For our part, we missed Beckford immensely. Time after time we broke through midfield, but had no runner to play a killer pass to. Instead Freedman was having to drop back to get possession and balls to Kandol's feet were bouncing away and immediately giving possession back to Town. Freedman did look to take the game to Town on his own a couple of times, shooting straight at the keeper with a chance 20 minutes in. There was little coming back our way as we dominated possession for long periods, without getting into any danger areas...

The freekicks kept coming and the Leeds players kept fucking them up. Kilkenny this time over the bar after the ref had pulled play back. Town had looked shaky and non threatening, but as time past, they were beginning to realise there was nothing to fear and intelligent breaks from midfield were beginning to damage us. As was Casper who had a nightmare period where his kicking once again let him down. We nearly paid for one such clearance which fell to Williams but his first time effort back saw Casper make up for his error. With the constant running & pace from both Worthington and Williams now causing us problems, Huntingdon was lucky to survive a penalty appeal where he was done for pace and it appeared he had clearly pulled back the Town man. The ref gave it the other way, but it looked 60-40 in the attackers favour. Moments later, another Town attack was ended as Dougie crashed in with a cynical tackle, the ref booked him and the resultant freekick was wasted. 7 minutes later, Dougie was off and the nature of the game changed. Dougie chased Holdsworth as he burst through on the right and rather than the previous cynical challenge, this was more a coming together of legs, however, the ref showed Red and the Town fans erupted. Down to 10 men in the pissing rain with a team that didn't seem overly arsed about being here wasn't the best place to be...

Freedman tried to add some urgency in a breakaway, but he just hadn't got he legs to break away from the defence and the chance was snuffed out. Town were now sniffing blood and coming forward well, but the game swung again just before halftime. Worthington went for a ball that belonged to Casper and went through him. Big Lubo went mad with him and could have got himself sent off by his reaction. There was a handbag mealy in the box, before the ref consulted his linesman. On his advice, Lubo was booked and Worthington was shown a second yellow and sent off. Not that we had noticed he had been booked earlier in the game mind. The halftime score was fair on the face of it, summed up by not a lot of football, with the ref making up for it with his entertaining decisions. With no changes at halftime, we expected that Macca would have read the riot act and bollocked the lazy set of twats for not turning up. If he did, it had little effect as after Kandols first shot on goal was deflected for a corner, we managed to hit the first man and immediately set town on the attack. It set the tone for what was to follow. With only Howson covering himself in glory, the rest of the team just could not seem to cope with the endeavour and determination shown by Town, along with no little football it has to be said. Collins ran half the length of the park to beat Casper with a stunning shot, only to see it come off the bar...

The rebound was cleared, but you sensed something was in the air. The Leeds players tried to respond in a fashion, but with Kandol now getting flagged for offside every time Howson tried to play him through, it was 1 step forward, 2 back. Booth was the next to miss a great chance for Town, heading wide when he should have done better and just when it looked like Town may take a strangle hold, we broke. We broke well, Freedman fed Johnson, who up to this point has been anonymous. He ran clear on the left of the area and with Kandol unmarked, he tried to pick out a cross. He managed to pick out the corner flag when in reality, any sort of half decent ball would have set up the big man. Johnson held his head in his hands and as well he might because the let off galvanised Town. Johnson was soon subbed for "Jesus" Prutton as Macca looked to change things. Prutton immediately tried to at least put his foot on the ball and give us a bit of stability, but it was short lived. Now, the best player on the park in a Leeds shirt was, by a country mile, Johnny Howson. He was wearing the skippers armband and fighting for everything. So when Macca, for some reason, decided to take him off, the reaction from the Leeds fans told its own story. On came Hughes and within a few minutes, we were 0-1 down. Holdsworth racing in to head in off the post and send the Town fans into ecstasy. From then on the constant drone of that fucking drum was accompanied by "We all hate Leeds Scum" as they partied like it was 1999...

It could have got worse, a great move set Skarz free and he tried to lob Casper, only to loft the ball just over. It was 81 minutes before we forced the Town keeper into any kind of save Hughes let fly from distance and it was tipped round the post for a corner. No prizes for guessing what happened to sub Carole,s corner. Seb did add something to the side, he skipped past his man a couple of times in the final moments of normal time, but our last chance came in the 5 minutes stoppage time. Freedman had a half hit shot cleared off the line and any chance of a get out of jail card was gone. The final whistle sent the home support into delirium and they left us in no doubt how long they have waited for a night like tonight. With news filtering through that Walsall had lost, we had escaped with regards the Play Off position, but it was no anaesthetic to the pain of defeat in yet another Yorkshire derby. So, we move onto Millwall and hope to god that Beckford is fit to rejoin the team. Many fans criticise Beckford and call him lazy at times and whilst that may be the case, tonight showed us what life would be like without him, or at least a player of his type in the side. It wasn't the most appealing alternative. Talking of appeals, with the arbitration for the 15 points beginning this week, we await the outcome with interest, and fingers crossed of course for something to finally go our way off the park...

Leeds United AFC..."And Leeds will go mad and they've every right to go mad"... Keep Fighting...

It’s been rumbling on all season and we are finally nearing the point of closure. For those watching on from higher ground, it no longer matters about the moral rights and wrongs. It also matters not about the much divided opinions of the masses. The only thing that matters are the results of a process which it is hoped will be independent. There are rumours circulating and there are pockets of idle gossip. Only Bates and those close to him will know if he has been offered a number of points back to let the matter drop. Only Bates and those close to him will know the percentage game the club are playing. Only time will tell if the club will be hit with further sanctions should Bates fail. Bates used today's programme notes to spell out 6 points that he believes are the "real issues" of this arbitration:

1. What did we do wrong - the football league has been unable or unwilling to tell us.

2. We complied with the football league rules & regulations.

3. We complied with the laws of the land.

4. The taxman has vowed to oppose any insolvency proposal proposed if football creditors are paid in full, which the football league insist that they are.

5. The football league had a (misconceived) quarrel with the administrators which had nothing to do with us.

6. Give us back our 15 points

Every fan you speak to has an opinion on the matter but not one of them believes we will get back 15 points. Not many of them think we will get any, but they cling to the belief that Bates has followed this through when many would have dropped the issue. With that in mind Bates must have a strong case or something up his sleeve. If not, why pursue and spend time, money and effort into a case that has the potential to leave him with egg on his face. With the talk of the points deduction reaching fever pitch, we were informed that a high profile name was added to the much talked about petition to 10 Downing Street that now has over 34,000 names on it:

"Golfing legend and lifelong Leeds United fan Colin Montgomerie OBE has given his backing to a petition surrounding the club's 15-point deduction."

Given the timing, this immediately felt like a cheap publicity stunt. Mind you, it was a confusing one given that any Leeds fan with a memory span longer that Liesdales goldfish will remember that back in 2005, it was Monty himself seeming to have had a change of heart regarding his allegiance by giving interviews saying:

"I must apologise to all those Leeds supporters out there. I’m still a big fan, and it is still the first result I look for. But I live across the road from the Chelsea ground now, and I go the matches." Colin Montgomerie - 2005

There’s just something about "Celebrity" football fans. Its hard to put your finger on, but it’s as if their elevated position in society means they are able to play by different rules than others. For example, another "Celebrity" Leeds fan was of course England Cricket star Nasser Hussain. Nasser is an Arsenal fan now after he claimed that he changed teams so that his boys can watch 'decent football'. If only it were so simple for the rest of us. I suppose there are pro's and con's to having "Celebrity" fans out there following your club, but at the end of the day I guess we have to simply be eternally thankful that we don’t have to suffer the likes of Mick Hucknall amongst ours. Also this week, and perhaps more worrying than which star will be next to name us in an interview, contract talks between Rui and the club were suspended. Its interesting to recall that it was Wise who talked Rui into not signing a deal back in January when he said:

"Rui knows that he's got another contract here. But does he want to sign a new contract on League One money when there's a possibility that we'll go up, or does he want to sign a contract on Championship money? If he wants to sit down then he can, but I told him he'd be a fool. He'd be mad to do it now because we only pay a certain amount of money. Obviously if we go up, we'll pay that little bit more." Dennis Wise

If you look back to majority of games this season, Rui has been nothing short of a colossus at times and in some respects even been the difference between winning and losing games. These performances both for Leeds, also his successful African Nations with Angola, have naturally attracted interest from other clubs. Should we fail in our promotion push this season, it’s feared Rui won’t be the only player we will be sad to see leave the club in the summer. So this morning we awoke early for the penultimate home game of the season. With the lucky song blaring out of the radio, there was just that feeling in the air that this was to be our day:

The last visit to Elland Road from the Cumbrians ended in defeat as Andy Ritchie bagged a brace back to give us a 2-0 win in 1986. This season of course we have already lost to them at their place. We saw one of the best 45 minutes of the season so far as the Wise / Bassett combination got off to a flying start. We tore them apart but missed a host of chances, only take a slender 1-0 lead into the break. The second half was a bemusing role reversal as the home side ripped us apart and won 3-1. Some say this was the turning point of the season and result wise, its hard to disagree. Back to today and Macca was forced into one change to the side that swept away Orient. Sheehan suspended for today and Huddersfield on Tuesday, so in came Kenton at left back...

So with Casper in goal, Fraser, Lubo and Huntingdon joined Kenton at the back. Kilkenny, Johnson, Douglas and Howson made up the midfield with Beckford and Freedman up front. It was reported that Beckford had undergone an early morning fitness test after his injury at Orient and also Freedman had shaken off a sickness bug to play. With a crowd of 28,530 in great "early kick off" form, the boys set about keeping the current good run going. Playing towards the South Stand there was an early shooting chance for Douggie, but his shot flew high and wide. With Kilkenny playing more infield today this was leaving Fraser vulnerable and Carlisle were having the most joy down the our right. Playing with a 5 man midfield and just Graham upfront, they were a tough tackling and well organised outfit. With no little pace though the side, it was easy to see why they have been so successful this season. For our part, we were not clicking as we had done a week before. Good moves were breaking down too easily and the final ball left a lot to be desired. We were failing to get either striker in the game and Carlisle were beginning to settle well into a good pass and move tempo. In contrast to the referee who took charge of the Brighton game, today’s official Probert, seemed keen to let the game flow and it made such a difference...

It was Carlisle who struck the first blow with a good move that left us chasing shadows. Great work down the right left Fraser pulled out of position. Hackney deliver a peach of a ball across the 6 yard box and Dobie was totally unmarked on the back stick to slam home. It was a blow, but one that the boys responded to positively and though we were again failing to be in anyway "slick", we still fashioned chances. Freedman headed over and after a short corner, Johnson saw a brilliant left foot curler flash just past the post. Carlisle were continually threatening though and the extra man in midfield was giving them the advantage. Only the offside flag stopped Graham bursting though after a great move through the middle. After a couple more scares, we continued to try get Beckford and Freedman into the game, but it was looking like one of those days. On 42 minutes, great build up play between Kilkenny, Douggie and Johnson saw the ball fall at Freedman’s feet, but his shot went a whisker wide of the top corner with the keeper beaten. The halftime whistle was met with an appreciative crowd who could see the work rate and effort, but perhaps not the tempo that would have troubled Carlisle and we hoped that a Macca pep talk would do the trick. With the noise of the fans being cranked up, we began the second half like a hurricane...

It was beginning to be reminiscent of the Viduka inspired win over Liverpool back in 2000 and we got an early reward for our efforts. On 49 mins, Kenton never gave up chasing the ball on the by-line and he got the ball back to Kilkenny. Kilkenny had time and space to loft in a cross which Beckford missed at the near post, but it was enough to put off the keeper and Freedman bundled in a header for 1-1 and send the home support wild. At this point, things could potentially have gone sour as Beckford hobbled off and it was Kandol chosen to spearhead the attack. It was Kandol however who began to have a telling influence on the game. Kandol managed to hold the ball up a couple of times as we probed and pressed Carlisle. With Douggie and Howson able to get into the game more, we were looking more like the side we saw last week. It didn’t stop Carlisle attacking on the break, but today was the day we were reminded just why we brought big Lubo back to the club. He was simply magnificent in the second half and pulled off some terrific blocks and timely tackles. With Huntingdon next to him playing some neat balls out of defence, we soaked up pressure and quickly hit back and on 58 we nicked the lead. Johnson’s ball into the box was knocked onto Kandol. Kandols shot was well saved by the keeper but young Howson mopped up and twatted home for 2-1 and an amazing turn around...

Carlisle got their heads down and whilst the home support was still celebrating, they won a corner. It was swung into the middle and as Casper came to grab It, he dropped it onto Grahams boot and he said "thank you very much" for a quick fire reply that took the wind out of our sails. It was a blow that could have gone either way and with Carlisle tails up, they could have taken the lead. Great play by Hackney saw a ball into the middle fall to Dobie, but he failed to apply the finish. The game began to get stretched and both teams went for a winner. Johnson was having a great second half and he fired one goalwards that was deflected for a corner and we had hearts in mouths a couple of minutes later when Casper made up for his error with a diving save. The next goal was going to be crucial and it came on 69 minutes. A bad tackle on the left saw the ref pull out a yellow for Carlisle’s Smith. The resultant free kick was swung into the box by Kilkenny and the ball fell to the feet of Freedman 6 yards out who lashed it into the top left hand corner for more mayhem on the terraces. It was a long way from over and Carlisle kept coming forward. Both Lubo and Huntingdon made timely blocks as we managed to keep out both Dobie and Hackney. Up the other end, we were still looking dangerous. Freedman had his eyes on a hatrick and Kenton was also making great runs forward...

In one flowing move, Kenton just fired wide after cutting into the box. It was nervy end to end stuff and when Douggie fizzed one just wide after great work from Kandol, you though perhaps we should just try shut up shop. However Macca brought on Prutton for Kilkenny and he had a an immediate impact with a couple of half chances. With 4 minutes of stoppage time held up, there was no sign of either team wanting to stop and It was Kandol who nearly had the final say. To be fair it would have capped off a great display from him had he notched. With the keeper out of the action after he fought for a high ball, he just needed to prod goalwards, but he appeared to slip at the vital moment, not getting enough on the ball and the chance was gone. The ground erupted like Mount Vesuvius on full time and with 3 vital points in the bag, all eyes were on results elsewhere. So, we congratulate Swansea and we hope to join them next season in the Championship. With 4 points and a better goal difference on our nearest playoff challenger Walsall, cementing 6th spot is still in our own hands. The temptation will of course be to pin hopes on the arbitration going our way, however with away trips to Huddersfield away on Tuesday and Millwall on Saturday, its key that we do not take our eyes off the ball. Anything that happens in our favour off the park from Wednesday onwards will be a bonus...

Leeds United AFC... "15 point's, who gives a Fuck"... Keep Fighting...