2020-05-09 22:35#270480 Justice : It would take a Leeds United masterclass to not get promoted! You've got PL football in the bag, surely!

If anyone can do it.. it is Leeds lol

Brace yourselves...


Stewart Downing 45+1


We were back after the international break and ready for the run-in. The first game of the run-in came at Ewood Park as we took on Blackburn Rovers. It's the trip most Leeds fans always look forward to, with Blackburn giving us the whole of the Darwen End. We sold it out once again, bringing 7000 across to Lancashire. With Blackburn in 7th, 18 points behind us with six games left to play, a point would've secured a top six spot.

We got off to a great start, with a goal orchestrated by Roberts. He sent a ball over the top which Harrison controlled and crossed from the byline. Roberts surged into the box to knock it down to Bamford, who tucked it home first time. We were the better side in the first half and should've been two up at half-time. Darragh Lenihan stuck a leg out and tripped Roberts in the area and was lucky to not see a second yellow. Klich stepped up, but Christian Walton got down well to his right. Blackburn bagged an equaliser just before the interval, when Adam Armstrong's dinked ball from the left found Stewart Downing, who blasted it home on the volley. We lost momentum after the missed penalty and didn't create enough decent chances from that point. Fulham and Brentford both won, knocking us off top spot and cutting our lead over 3rd to three points.


Tyler Roberts 27
Pablo Hernandez 39


Here we were again, 2nd in the league and with the narrowest of cushions over 3rd. We needed to start picking up form and we needed to do it fast. Somehow, I don't quite fancy another year in the Sky Bet bastard Championship. The biggest weekend of the season was upon us, Easter weekend. One fixture on Good Friday, another on Easter Monday. By the end, we could either have thrown all our hard work away, or be in a prime position to walk away from this league.

We were the better team and within half an hour, we had a lead to reflect that. It was a result of some nice patient build-up play in Stoke's half, that resulted in Klich's through ball to Roberts to the right of the goal, with Roberts firing into the far corner first time. Just over ten minutes later, we made it 2-0. It was Roberts once again making headway down the right, before playing it back to Hernandez just outside the box. El Magico struck it first time into the bottom corner. Stoke did look to have pulled one back near the end, when Thomas Verlinden's free kick found the head of Jordan Cousins, but the goal was ruled out for offside. It was a dominant performance and a game that we never really looked like losing. To add to the joy, Fulham were beaten 2-0 by Forest, whilst Brentford were held to a 0-0 by Charlton, putting us back on top with a 5-point cushion over 3rd.




Fulham had a magnificent chance to go on and make the title all theirs and they threw it away a week later. We were now in the driving seat and with just four to go, it was vital that we held on this time and got over the line. Last Good Friday, we'd thrown our promotion hopes in the bin at Brentford, now was the chance for redemption.

It was an evenly matched affair, but we took the lead midway through the first half. A headed clearance reached Hernandez on the edge of the box, who controlled it before playing in Bamford. Bamford bent his finish past Freddie Woodman into the bottom corner. Our advantage was doubled inside the hour, with a beatiful one touch move as Douglas played it to Hernandez, who gave it to Bamford, whose first time through ball put Roberts in one-on-one. Roberts rounded it off by sticking it in the corner. It was a shaky performance overall, but we got what we came for. Brentford also won but they're running out of time to catch us. Fulham lost at home to Cardiff, putting them as far behind as Brentford. An important matchday for us.


Pablo Hernandez 64


Today could potentially be the day. If we beat Barnsley and either Fulham or Brentford dropped points, we'd be up with two games to spare. If they both dropped points whilst we won, we'd have the title as well. After blowing such a big lead at the top and hanging by the skin of our teeth, we'd got ourselves back on track and were now in a great position. Our challenge, a home clash against Barnsley in another Yorkshire derby.

The winning goal came from Pablo Hernandez, midway through the second half. Douglas was still lingering on the right after Barnsley failed to clear a corner, he curled a beauty of a cross which was met with Hernandez's near post volley. Although it was a dominant performance, they were happy to let us have the ball anyway, so we weren't really at our ruthless best.

But it got the job done. Fulham lost 3-1 at West Brom. 16 years of waiting were finally over, Leeds United will kick off the 2020/21 season as a Premier League team. With Brentford matching our result, they were five points behind and realistically also out the reckoning, but they were the only team left that could mathematically still catch us. A win against Derby next week will clinch the title.



Just under a year ago, Derby dealt our promotion hopes a final blow. We became the first team in the history of the English second tier to throw away an aggregate lead in a home second leg, stretching our aggregate lead to 2-0 in the first half at Elland Road, before Derby shot that lead to pieces in the second half, going through with a 4-2 victory on the night, 4-3 on aggregate. They celebrated by dancing in front of the away end making hand binoculars, a reference to the Spygate saga that surrounded the two clubs that season. 11 months on, they're struggling at the bottom end, we're already up and with a chance to seal the title in their own back yard.

We had a huge chance with ten minutes left on the clock, to grab a winner. Phillips floated over a free kick from the right and Graeme Shinnie shoved Cooper in the box. With Klich's increasing predictability from the spot, I put Costa over the penalty. It was a tame effort down the middle which Ben Hamer read and made Costa look a bit foolish. Then it came. Redemption. 11 months after a miserable night in which he could be attributed to at least two of the goals that sent us crashing out of the playoffs, captain Liam Cooper got a last minute winner to instantly heal the wounds from a hurtful night. Phillips floated a long free kick over and the skipper rose highest, nodding it past Hamer and into the Derby net. Utter redemption, sheer delight, complete carnage and incredible scenes. The Leeds fans in the corner at the far end went berserk.

We'd finally done it. There were moments of doubt and worry, but that's how Leeds United roll. Not only were we back where we belong, we were going there with the Championship title.


Barry Douglas 4


On paper and to all intents and purposes, this game was a dead rubber. A very happy dead rubber. We'd already sealed both promotion and the title, getting ourselves into triple digits and smashing the pre-existing club record points total of 86; Charlton on the other hand, had already secured their safety in their first season back. However, we did still have one more thing to play for. With our win at Derby last week, we had equalled a divisonal record that was as old as the Leeds United itself. We'd hit 32 league wins, the same as the record set by Tottenham Hotspur, 100 years prior in the 1919/20 season. In a season where we had shattered records, this would be our oldest record broken and I was very keen for us to get it done.

We grabbed the only goal of the game in the first few minutes. It was an absolute beauty, a Barry Douglas special, as he bent a free kick from 30 yards into the top corner. We should have scored more, but with title and promotion already in the back, the win was the only thing that mattered on the final day. A 100-year record broken by a team that in the end, absolutely stormed its way to the title.


We finally did it. Top of the pile after 46 matches with 105 points, just one short of the record set by Reading in 2005/06. We've set the club and division record for the longest winning streak and the most wins, as well as the club record for points in a season. Apologies to any Fulham fans reading but I'd just like to take this opportunity to say hahahahahahahahaha. They were top of the league with five games to play and managed to come 4th in a three-horse race, picking up just three points from their remaining five games. Congratulations to Brentford, who took full advantage of Fulham's demise and got up into 2nd. In the playoffs, Middlesbrough will host Nottingham Forest in the playoff semi-final first leg at the Riverside, whilst Bristol City host Fulham at Ashton Gate. Commiserations to Millwall, Luton and Birmingham, who were all relegated.


He was a rock at the heart of a defence that conceded just once in its final six games. More importantly, he achieved redemption in emphatic fashion, heading home at Derby in the dying seconds to seal us the title. Liam Cooper's leadership skills have shone throughout this month, with a string of superb defensive displays being the basis on which we were able to pick up 16 points from the run-in, ensuring we killed off the competition as we probably should've done months ago. He'll forever be remembered as the captain that we finally returned to the top flight with and the man that made sure we went up as champions. Liam Cooper. Captain. Leader. Legend.


End of season awards as well as winners of other competitions will be covered in the season review. For this update, I'm just giving competitions as they stood the morning after the Charlton game and other bits going on in the game.

One thing I forgot to include in February's update (because I didn't notice it until now), is that Grant McCann was sacked by Hull on 8th February, with the club sat 22nd in the wake of a 2-1 loss at Reading. They sunk a little further to the bottom before the appointment of David Adams (previously a coach at Sheffield Wednesday) at the end of February. Adams did a terrific job, pulling off a great escape which ultimately saw Hull finish 18th. The Premier League has been quiet for sackings, with none since January.

In the Premier League, Man City are effectively nailed on for the title. They sit eight points clear of 2nd placed Spurs, with two games in hand. They won 1-0 at Old Trafford in the Manchester derby and their cross-city rivals now sit in 4th, trying to fend off the advances of Liverpool who sit four points behind with a game in hand.

In the FA Cup, the stage is set for a Liverpool vs Chelsea final at Wembley. Liverpool beat Man City 1-0 after extra time, with Jordan Henderson scoring the winning goal in the 116th minute. In the other sem-final, Chelsea comfortably beat Bristol City 2-0.

In the Champions League, Man City could be on for a double. They beat Galatasaray 3-0 on aggregate in the semi-final. They will face Bayern Munich, who disposed of Liverpool by beating them 3-1.

In the Europa League, the semi-final is ongoing, with the second leg due to be played on 7th May. There is still a chance of an all-Italian final, with Torino beating Dinamo Kiev 1-0 in the first leg at the Olimpico Grande Torino, whilst Barcelona were held 1-1 by Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.


That's all for now. I may give it a couple of days before posting the season review. Thanks for reading along, hope you're enjoying it so far and hopefully, we can make a good go of it in the Premier League next year

Oh how perfect that promotion is secured against Wayne Rooney's Derby County - especially after the Play-Offs last season!

Some massive points tallies there! You did Leeds a god job to get top of what looked like a very competitive season! Congrats on the title!

Congratulations on a great season, despite some moments you had us worried that good old Leeds would show. Next year will take some big efforts to stay up but with some smart moves you can certainly survive.

Finally. Leeds are back in the Premiership! Congratulations. Its been great to follow so far so I'm looking forward to the adventure in the top-flight.

CHAMPIONES! CHAMPIONES! CHAMPIONES! OLE! OLE! OLE!

I've had little bit of time to think about how I'll approach the summer with regards to this update. Although I was initially going to go with separate updates for the close season, transfer window and pre-season friendlies, I decided that I'd have to stagger those updates and it will in turn slow down the game being played. So I sit before my laptop now, about to embark upon a mammoth update in which I post all three together, so that in my next post, I can just get on with August. Without any further ado, let's get into this...

LEEDS UNITED

IN

OUT

OTHER TRANSFERS

The biggest transfer so far in England concerns the sale of Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante. He's made the swithc to PSG for an eye-watering £100m. Jadon Sancho, Paulo Dybala and Leon Bailey have all made the move to these shores, joining Chelsea (£97m), Liverpool (£86m) and Man Utd (£78m) respectively. The most expensive transfer between two English clubs is the sale of James Maddison from Leicester to Arsenal for £72m. Other notable transfers have seen Chelsea sign Ajax's Hakim Ziyech for £34.5m, Juan Cuadrado sign for Wolves for £18m, Leroy Sane and Kyle Walker both sign for Barcelona for £80m between them, whilst Declan Rice has joined Leicester for £38m.


Jamie Spencer off 50
Tabish Hussain 79
Gabriel Johnson 88


After a few weeks of running around and trying to get players in as early as possible, our first pre-season friendly was upon us. We were faced with the traditional trip to Nethermoor, to face affiliate our affiliate club, Guiseley, of the National League North.

Costa opened the scoring on 13 minutes, when getting up to head home Robert's cut-back from the left. Shortly before half-time, it was 2-0. Alioski floated over a free kick from the right which Luke Woolfenden headed in at the far post. Guiseley went down to ten men five minutes into the second half, when Jamie Spencer received a second yellow for a foul on Alioski on the left. Hernandez bagged the third, with a Pablo classic into the top corner from the edge of the D. They pulled one back with 15 to go, Gabriel Johnson found Tabish Hussain unmarked at the far post for a simple finish. Harrison restored our advantage, getting up at the far post to head in Douglas' cross from the left. With a few minutes to go, they pulled back another, with Johnson heading home Scott Smith's cross from the right. It was a sloppy display towards the end, but that's what pre-season is for.


Mateusz Klich pen 28
Barry Douglas 38
Pablo Hernandez 42
Barry Douglas 50
Mateusz Klich 52
Tyler Roberts 68
Tyler Roberts 87


Our pre-season tour took us to Portugal for a week and a half, with our first game kicking off in Coimbra against Portuguese Premier League outfit Aves, who had narrowly avoided relegation the year before.

It was pretty evenly matched unti Aves had a man sent off. Afonso Figueiredo received his marching orders for a shocking two-footed tackle on Harrison in the box. Klich stepped up to the spot kick and fired it into the bottom corner to the keeper's left. Douglas doubled our lead with a rare goal from open play, he was played in by Phillips, before cutting inside from the left and curling it into the bottom corner with his weaker right foot. Hernandez sent us into half-time at 3-0 with another beauty into the top corner, this time from 25 yards out. It kept raining goals in the second half, Barry Douglas doubled his tally with more of a return to normal form, curling home a free kick from the edge of the D. Klich got his brace a couple of minutes later, launching a scorcher of a volley from the edge of the D after Luke Ayling's cross. Roberts came off the bench to bag a couple for himself. His first was a far post header from Costa's cross and his second was another header, meeting more of a dinked ball over the top from Costa. I was expecting a closer game, even against ten men, but we absolutely ran riot.


Barry Douglas 19
Kalvin Phillips 85


Ironically, our bigger test of the Portugal tour came at the smaller ground, as we faced Braga at Esposende Under 19s' ground in front of a tiny crowd.

We took the lead inside the opening 20 minutes, when after some fast build-up play in Braga's half, Klich played a nice through ball to Douglas, which the Scot took a touch and buried. We wrapped up the game with five minutes to go, when Phillips hit an absolute howitzer from 30 yards that found the top corner. I was expecting a much tougher game against one of the better sides in Portugal, but it wasn't to be. Either they had a bad day or I underestimated where we were at, or a combination of both.




Having got over the halfway stage in pre-season, it was back to the UK. We made a stop in Northern Ireland to play another of our affiliate clubs, Glenavon.

Helder Costa broke the deadlock after 18 minutes, as he cut out James Singleton's clearance, skinned him and fired it into the far corner. Ayling doubled the advantage with 20 to go, picking the ball up from Hernandez before unleashing a beauty from 25 yards. There's not a lot to say about the game. They were never going to get anything and they didn't. We ought to have beaten them by a lot more though.




A couple of months after promotion, we were back at a Championship ground to take on Cardiff in our last friendly on the road. The team was getting closer to where it needed to be.

The only goal of the game came from 12 yards. Greg Cunningham tripped Costa in the box. Costa stepped up and blasted it home to Neil Etheridge's right. It was one of those friendlies were no one gave much away, but there was also a feeling that everyone was getting sick of friendlies and wanted to get back to competitive football. All in good time...


Ebere Eze 3
Dael Fry off 24
Helder Costa 66


So here we were, our last pre-season friendly and we were rounding off our schedule in front of our own fans. Our visitors were Huesca, facing a second season in the Spanish second tier after missing out on promotion last year.

Ebere Eze got us off to a flyer, getting up at the far post to head home Harrison's cross from the right. We were reduced to ten men midway through the first half, when Dael Fry went through Shinji Okazaki with two feet. The game was wrapped up halfway through the second half, when Tyrone Mings' cross found Helder Costa, who met it with a low volley at the far post. I thought it was a quality performance to dominate both before and after the sending off.


With the club recently (irl) forming a partnership with Adidas, I thought it was high time we had a nice Adidas kit. I'm not a graphic designer and am very limited with what I can work with, but the above is what we'll be playing in this season (home, away, third (right to left))


That's all for now. If this story makes it to the end of this season, I'll have to find a way to condense all the information because this has taken me at least 6 hours! Enjoy and I'll be back tomorrow with the August update

Red Bull London? I was confused. At least this might help you remember to untick databases next time

Some tidy signings ready for life in the Premiership. Jack Harrison's return will be greatly welcomed by the supporters even if it's only temporary given the failure to meet his wage demands. Eze's quality in the Championship is well-known at this point and he's more than ready for the step-up for me. Holding and Mings make for a sensible duo in defence.

Pre-season has been relatively comfortable for you. Let's hope you're ready to go, it seems like you are!

Eze, Fry and Mings are all super Premier League signings for a newly promoted side, added with Costa's permanent move being finally completed and the return of Jack Harrison. You should be set to survive I reckon!

Red Bull London

Some f*cking massive signings there! Eze & Mings in particular will add a lot of quality to the ranks!

Cheers fellas! Very happy with the transfer, reckon we have everything we need. Maybe Red Bull London can be this storys little unique quirk


Our glorious return to the top flight, after 16-year absence, was marked with a Yorkshire derby. We were due to play Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, an old school ground with what should be a cracking old school Yorkshire derby atmosphere. We were thrust in front of the watching masses on a Sunday afternoon as we began our fight to earn our place in the Premier League. Liam Cooper missed out with broken ribs, which meant Luke Ayling would captain the side for this special occasion.

Ultimately, the scoreline didn't match the occasion, with both teams cancelling each other out and unable to make the breakthrough. They hit the woodwork countless times but it was not one-way traffic by any means. Pablo Hernandez came closest to scoring for us with a snapshot from the edge of the D, but his effort on target was well saved by the keeper. They were as tough an opposition as we could've hoped to come up against and have clearly found strength in surviving their first year. Very much a set-up we can aspire towards.


Luke Ayling off 90


The first top flight match at Elland Road since April 2004 saw our first real test of the season. Chelsea were in town, coming into the campaign off the back of a 2nd place finish last season. There was an old lingering rivalry, stretching back to the late 60s when fan clashes weren't uncommon. In the eyes of Leeds fans at the time, Chelsea represented the worst of London whilst Chelsea fans saw Leeds representing the worst of the North, in one of the most intense North/South divides. There's still that tension in the air and it was live on TV on the Sunday afternoon.

The only goal of the game came from a set-piece. Mateo Kovacic sent over a free kick from the right, which new boy Hakim Ziyech got up to a the far post to nod home. We were reduced to ten men near the end, with Ayling on a booking, he found himself unable to see out the remaining couple of minutes without making a foul and bundled over Kovacic. The ref had no hesitation and neither myself nor Ayling had any complaints, as Bill received his marching orders. The game wasn't a complete disaster by any stretch though and we were actually the better team, there's an argument that we'd have won that on another day. We can hold our heads high after this.


Our second away trip of the season saw us travel to Carrow Road, to face another of the class of 2019 in Norwich City. Norwich were promoted as champions in the same year Sheffield United went up and were part of a promotion race where the wheels fell off emphatically for us. They'd survived last season and were now looking to build on that and push their way up the table.

It was another goalless draw and this time, I was concerned. We weren't creative enough and allowed them too much time and space on the ball. We need to beat sides like this to give ourselves the best chance possible or survival and I was realy disappointed that we hadn't. We were now the only team in the league that had yet to score.


Abdelhamid Sabiri 83


After an 'ok' start in the league, it was time for some cup action. As a top flight team, we'd earned a bye to the second round, where we met last year's playoff semi-finalists, Nottingham Forest. We'd drawn here back in February in a result that ended our winning streak and set off a chain of events that almost derailed our promotion push. We were back for the third time in 2020 (having played here in the FA Cup as well), looking to put them to the sword.

It took a while to come but we finally got the advantage from 12 yards, when Tobias Figueiredo handled Klich's cross from the left. Klich stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to put us ahead. We doubled our lead with ten to go, Costa floated a cross from a deep position on the right and loan signing Carles Perez (more on him later) rose at the far post to head it past the keeper. They pulled one back shortly after, with a through ball from Christian Ribeiro which found Abdelhamid Sabiri down the left, who took a touch and fired it home. We played well and we deserved the win in the end. It was important to get those two goals, hopefully that'll give us the confidence to start firing in the league going forward.

A decent start to the season, massively helped out with the victory over Southampton thanks to Haberer's hat-trick.

Last season is great! Hopefully you don't even struggle this year and with great signings like yours I can expect it. Great story!

Nice way of story! Looks like you're getting Leeds finally back out of the basement! Good luck!