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...