As Leeds United continue to march on towards a potential fifth second tier title, most fans will be understandably cautious of declaring victory before a (C) or a (P) is officially placed next to their name. Although their riotous form has made the Elland Road outfit the bookies favourite to lift the championship trophy, Leeds’ familiarity with falling at the final hurdles mean most will be aware of just how quickly a season can be torn apart.
Despite their proud history, including first division titles and European forays, United have become notorious in the 21st century for their failures rather than successes. With the League starting to hot up as the run in approaches, Leeds will need to put their shaky past behind them should they wish to return to the top flight at the second time of asking.
TALES OF TAILING OFF
Tuesday 8th May 2001. In Valencia, Leeds crash out of the UEFA Champions League in the semi-finals after a damning 3-0 defeat to the Spaniards. It would be the last time United would grace Europe’s greatest stage, the consequences of which were damning. Their failure to resecure Champions League football ultimately ensured their relegation to the Championship just two years later and the ensuing administration which followed further relegation to League One. The story of their efforts to return to the top table may not have been a fairytale, but certainly a tale of many twists and turns.
Leeds’ drop-offs in recent times, of which there have been many notable examples, can be attributed to many factors. Often, fans have questioned the mentality of squads, whilst inconsistency has also been a major cause. However, the common denominator, especially between 2003 and 2018, has been the often chaotic, always unsettling issues off the field.
Since their relegation in 2004, the club has changed hands between six different owners, often leading to instability. Under the reign of former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates, the club entered administration, leaving them to start their first ever season in the third tier with a deduction of fifteen points. Although an impressive season followed, which would have seen them finish in second without the deduction, heartbreak would follow in the subsequent play-off campaign, after Leeds could only manage a 5th place finish in League One. To this day, this finish remains the lowest in the club’s 105-year history.
Despite the following season resulting in the same pain, under boyhood fan Simon Grayson Leeds would eventually find their way back to the Championship in the 2009/10 season, finishing 2nd after a strong season in which they did not drop below sixth once. Astonishingly, Grayson was the first manager in four years to complete a full season at Leeds, pointing once again to the off-field struggles that characterised United’s first decade of the new millennium.
Their first season back in the championship saw the club mount a continuous play off push under Grayson, yet once again inconsistency set in, including an April where United could only pick up 8 points from an available 21, leading to them dropping from 5th to 7th, missing out by three points. This would be their best finish for another six seasons.
Another takeover followed in November 2012, as did another season which saw Leeds stagnating in midtable, equidistant from the play-offs and relegation spots. Whilst the season after would start strongly, occupying 6th place at Christmas, off-field turmoil surrounding a further sale to controversial Italian entrepreneur Massimo Cellino led to a dramatic collapse in form. Crucial wins over Blackpool, Barnsley, and Birmingham City in the last five matches, surmounted by a point against Derby County on the final day ensured relegation was staved off, despite a period of just 12 points from 14 games in 2014.
Although Cellino had been barred by the EFL in March from taking control, having failed the fit and proper test, an appeal was lodged, and he was able to take full control just a month later. Manager Brian McDermott was sacked, the first of six in just two years.
Cellino’s highly controversial ownership, during which the Football League suspended him twice, largely saw the club continue their period of stagnation until the 2016/17 season, in which the club finished in the top half of the Championship for only the third time since their relegation from the Premier League. Yet once again, this season was marked by a late season flurry of poor form, primarily due to an injury crisis. This saw Leeds drop out of the play-off spots with just four games to go, their fate compounded by two draws and two losses in the final four games, marking another collapse with the final hurdle in sight. Inconsistency had yet again undermined their Play-off ambitions.
Fortunes appeared to have changed under another change of ownership, when another Italian, Andrea Radrizzani took control of the club before the start of 2017/18. Yet, another typical season would follow in his first year in charge as Leeds entered the new year looking to challenge for promotion. Having topped the table for a period of time, they began 2018 in 5th. However, a downturn in form saw manager Thomas Christiansen replaced by Paul Heckingbottom in February. Heckingbottom was unable to stop the rot, only picking up four wins during his tenure. This awful run saw only eventually relegated Sunderland pick up less points after Christmas. Once again, it seemed as though Leeds were cursed in the run-in.
The solution? In came former Argentina chief, Marcelo Bielsa, who would go on to become a cult figure at the club during his nearly four years at the club. Albeit Bielsa became the man to finally guide Leeds over that final hurdle, largely with the same squad that had capitulated the season before, his first season became notorious for perhaps the most bitter collapse of them all. Once again, a post-Christmas dip and a struggle in the final four games of the season saw Leeds slip up, this time from a hallowed automatic promotion spot, which Leeds had held for all but twelve matchdays of the season. A loss on Good Friday to Wigan derailed what had promised to be the campaign that returned them to the big time, meaning that once again, United would have to find out their destiny in the play-offs.
Finally, after ten consecutive seasons in the Championship, and sixteen in total away from the Premier League, Bielsa delivered. United were promoted and would spend three years back in the top flight, during which they recorded a 9th place finish in their first season back, finishing just three points off a place in the qualifying rounds of the Europa Conference League. It seemed as though Leeds were finally back to their rightful place at the table of England’s elite, with dreams of marching on back to European competition.
Yet, just three seasons later, United found themselves once again competing in the championship, where a familiar history was doomed to repeat itself. With automatic promotion in the balance after a strong season, Leeds would be pipped to second by Ipswich on the final day by Ipswich Town. Despite a strong start to the new year, including an unbeaten run stretching from January to April, Daniel Farke’s side once again fell apart in the run-in, picking up only 4 points in the final 6 games, condemning them once again to the play-offs, missing out by 6 points on 2nd place.
PLAY OFF PAIN
A recurrent side-effect of Leeds’ inability to make the final hurdle are the EFL Play-offs. Whilst for some teams, the post season tournament offers a second chance at making that last jump, for Leeds they have offered nothing but agony. Their record of six losses in six attempts (four finals and two semi-finals), including the very first edition in 1986, puts them directly at odds with the competitions most successful club, Blackpool, who have won a record six finals.
Their first loss at the semi-final stage came in League one, a season after they fell at the final hurdle at Wembley, losing to fellow Yorkshire side Doncaster Rovers. After a 1-0 loss at The Den to Millwall, a 1-1 draw at Elland Road confirmed Leeds had to endure a third season in the third tier.
Perhaps their most humiliating fall at the final hurdle came in the 2018/19 semi-final against Frank Lampard’s Derby County, a tie marred in controversy following ‘Spygate’, an incident earlier in the season where Bielsa had spent a spy to observe Derby’s training sessions. After a heated affair at Pride Park, Leeds took a one goal advantage into the home tie at Elland Road thanks to Kemar Roofe. Despite no Championship team ever having made the final after losing at home in the first leg, once again Leeds were unable to make it across the finishing line. Although Stuart Dallas’ tap in gave them a 2-0 aggregate lead on the night, Derby mounted a superb comeback to stun Elland Road, putting 4 past Bielsa’s side. Despite having won the normal season fixtures with an aggregate score of 7-1, ten-man Leeds were forced to watch on as Derby celebrated their impending trip to Wembley.
Victory in finals has proven even more elusive; Leeds have lost all four they have contested. In the first ever edition of the Play-offs in 1987, which consisted of a two-legged final, plus a replay after the two legs finished level, they fell short to a Charlton side who were able to retain their position in the first division after a 2-1 win at St Andrews.
The more modern editions have been no kinder. Hopes of a swift return to the Premier League were dashed by Watford at the Millenium Stadium. Once again, however, league form towards the back end of the season had slumped, with the semi-final win at Deepdale being one of just two wins since February. The other had come in the penultimate fixture at home to already relegated Crewe Alexandra, meaning that going into the play-offs only the bottom four had worse form than Leeds. In front of nearly 65,000 fans in Cardiff Leeds were blown away by a Watford side in a dismal performance that only foreshadowed what was to come in the years following.
Similarly, a return at the first attempt to the championship was scuppered by Doncaster, whom, without the fifteen-point deduction, Leeds would have finished comfortably ahead of.
For the most recent heartbreak you only have to go back a year, in the most recently contested Championship Play-off final, where Leeds faced a Southampton side who they had been relegated alongside the season prior. Despite being tipped as favourites after a comfortable 4-0 aggregate win over Norwich, a first half Adam Armstrong goal condemned Leeds to yet another season in the Championship, alongside a summer of Joy Division and Kaiser Chiefs jokes.
THE FINAL PUSH
With eleven games to go in the 2024/25 season at the time of writing, Leeds possess a 5-point gap at the top of the table. Whilst a stable position, a winning mentality like the one instilled by Marcelo Bielsa in 2019/20 is needed to ensure their return. The Argentine not only built a winning team but brought an almost messianic energy which galvanised the club both on and on the pitch. Even when results weren’t perfect his principles kept the fanbase’s hope alive, which is vital at a club with such passionate fans as Leeds. The Bielsa effect and its wave of positive energy was invaluable to ensuring Leeds simply didn’t do a Leeds.
As important as Bielsa was, 2021/22’s late season form to secure their Premier League status for another season, including a vital last day win over Brentford, shows Leeds can make the final hurdle. Whilst inspirational managers such as Revie and Bielsa help, Leeds need to be able to look past previous failures and successes and work on bringing a new era of prosperity to Elland Road, which could start with a return to the Premier League.
As fans did not get to witness 2020’s tremendous title win, it would be fair to expect a riot should United get over the line this season. Whilst many opposition fans take pleasure in watching Leeds fall apart, it seems likely that the hostile atmosphere of Elland Road, combined with the unstoppable form will help spur Daniel Farke’s whites on once again to the Championship title. Recent big wins over promotion rivals Sheffield United and Sunderland should only further inspire Leeds fans to believe this is their season. However, whilst a favourable looking run in awaits, with Leeds facing several relegation threatened clubs, fans will have every right to be cautious – after all, any sign of the usual inconsistencies could mean the play-offs await and Leeds are still waiting to learn how to deal with them.
