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Search The Times and The Sunday Times Today’s sections Past six daysMy articles Times+ My account matt dickinson September 15 2017, 12:01am, The Times Matt Dickinson: Will Leeds always be a club people just love to hate? Matt Dickinson, Chief Sports Writer Sports Columnist of the Year Share Save You should never lose hold of your first love in football but, given that it was Leeds United, the relationship was complicated, troubled. Elland Road in the late Seventies was my footballing baptism over several years and, boy, what a time and place to start. A declining team under Jimmy Adamson, with Paul Madeley and Eddie Gray fading stars never to be properly replaced, struggled to sear themselves into the memory half as much as the wilder, alarming sights and sounds of Elland Road. Dodging stones, bottles and mounted police at one clash with Manchester United was, at the age of ten, an eye-opener. Many English terraces were blighted then by the foulness of racism and hooliganism, but Leeds seemed afflicted worse than most Terry Connor was the hope from the youth team, local lad, bright young striker. And black. As he recalled not long ago, he received hate mail “from Leeds fans telling me not to wear the white shirt, even though I was born and bred in Leeds. I had bullets sent to me and the police were called on a couple of occasions”. He was once abused by Bernard Manning, the comedian. That was on a team night out. It was about the same time that David Harewood, the actor, talked of going into the Leeds end at Birmingham City “and I heard the ‘Oo, Oo, n***er n***er’. I stopped and thought, ‘Did I just hear that?’ “I remember my mother saying, ‘Stand up to bullies and racists,’ so I said to myself, ‘Go and take your seat.’ I walked towards an empty seat, and it got louder, the monkey noises, the n***er . . . It shook me to my core.” He left and never went to a football match on his own after that. He was, it should be said, a Leeds fan. Many English terraces were blighted then by the foulness of racism and hooliganism, but Leeds seemed afflicted worse than most. Managers, players, owners and the atmosphere would change but, as a club, Leeds never did quite lose a jagged edge. To think of a comparable club dominating a northern city, the wider nation has always seemed to will the best for Newcastle United, to want to spare them from Mike Ashley and give them a cuddle. Leeds have always seemed to come wrapped in barbed wire. They have known great times but even the most successful teams were compromised. The best, under Don Revie, became known — to the deep regret of John Giles, and others — not just for the excellence, the trophies won, but the bruises inflicted along the way. Howard Wilkinson’s side won the title in the 1991-92 season but anyone under 35 may not realise, given that football — or at least the slick Sky, Premier League version — began the following season. They let their best player, Eric Cantona, join Manchester United, who then soared into the distance at the speed of light. Lasogga is mobbed by team-mates after scoring against Burton RICHARD HOLMES/REX FEATURES Leeds aspired to catch up, to become the team of the new millennium, Champions League semi-finalists in 2001, but they were built on financial quicksand as well as David O’Leary’s short-lived abilities. The city was proud of a team of young players, at least until the club’s name was dragged through the mud and the courtroom after a young Asian man, Sarfraz Najeib, was kicked into intensive care. All the while, debts grew to more than £100 million under Peter “Father Christmas” Ridsdale. “Doing a Leeds” became such a cautionary tale that football’s rules were altered in the hope of preventing it ever happening again on such a scale. Financial Fair Play was initially designed to prevent the sort of reckless spending that could mean a club such as Leeds, and Lazio in Italy, self-destruct. The Damned United of the Seventies had become the Doomed United. Indebted Chelsea were bought by Roman Abramovich but, no sheikh or saviour ever turned up at Elland Road. In early 2004, a local businessmen’s consortium took a £22 million punt on the club not being relegated. They lost. The club would be passed through opaque ownership involving Ken Bates, Bahraini investment and then on to Massimo Cellino, the eccentric’s eccentric. Under [Andrea] Radrizzani, there is a facelift befitting an owner immersed in the ways of modern marketing With a dizzying array of managers including David Hockaday (six games), Darko Milanic (six) and Uwe Rösler (12), there were three undignified seasons in League One. It has been a long recovery but there is one, and the steps become increasingly confident. It is not often that a club’s fans celebrate missing out on promotion but, in allowing Andrea Radrizzani to turn his half-share into a full one and remove Cellino this summer, the club appear to have found relative stability. When the ground was purchased this summer by Radrizzani, returning to the club’s hands for the first time since it was sold on lease-back in November 2004 to help pay off debts, it felt like a symbolic moment as well as necessary for business. A 2-0 victory over Birmingham City this week marked the first time that Leeds have led the Championship since the rot set in, watched by a crowd of 31,507. Given how much change there has been, as well as recent trauma, no one is about to get carried away, least of all the seemingly grounded Thomas Christiansen, the Danish-Spanish manager. But the loss of Garry Monk as manager, and the sale of Chris Wood, top scorer in the Championship last season with 27, to Burnley for a deal that could rise to £15 million appear not to have had the stalling effect that many Leeds fans had feared. The supporters are quickly warming to a team built on an overseas spree by Victor Orta, the director of football, with Pontus Jansson from Torino, Pierre-Michel Lasogga on loan from Hamburg and Samuel Sáiz from Huesca among notable and, thus far, pleasing arrivals. Under Radrizzani, there is a facelift befitting an owner immersed in the ways of modern marketing given he made his money dealing in sports rights. He has brought back a women’s team. New branding adorns the stands, including a quote from Billy Bremner of “side before self, every time”. As at many clubs, much of the messaging involves reviving the past, old glories. They like to sell heritage, authenticity and Leeds fans have always turned up in good numbers, even through the worst times. Now they dare to dream of a return to the top flight. If this revival continues, it will be interesting to see if admiration grows beyond Elland Road for a club who have not often — even for someone who lived there — made themselves easy to love. Share Save Where will you go to work in the future? As mobile tech revolutionises the workplace, companies must adapt to survive Sponsored Comments are subject to our community guidelines, which can be viewed here. 17 comments + Follow Post comment Newest | Oldest | Most Recommended Chris Roman 2 days ago This is the club the fielded the likes of Albert Johanson, Lucas Radebe and Tony Yeboah. Flag 3RecommendReply Penny 2 days ago I went to Uni in Leeds in the heyday of the great team. Giles, Hunter, Lorimer and the rest. They were hard but they were incredibly competitive and knew how to be harder than anyone else. Maybe that is the problem, and why they are still disliked, even though they are nothing like those old days at present, except for some supporters. Frankly they are no way like those players and all this stuff should go by the wayside of history. Stop the aggro in the crowds by banning them and let people enjoy the players they have now. Got a ticket for the Cup Final and cried over the Sunderland win. Along with all the great Leeds supporters of the day. Was a Villa supporter who loved football so obviously I went to Elland Road, but missed my team. Still a Villa supporter even now. UTV Flag 2RecommendReply E C 2 days ago I never cared that we were disliked for our 'professionalism' under Don Revie. All teams played a meaner game back then. We were just better at it than the rest. We also had some great talent and the success they enjoyed incurred a lot of jealousy. I am, however, dismayed that we are still disliked for homophobic, racist chants, etc. Our team has adapted to 21st-century football (an absolute joy to watch at the moment). Time for the relatively small section of knuckledraggers in our otherwise magnificent fanbase to get with the times. MOT! Flag 2RecommendReply Erik Eriksson 2 days ago I started going to Old Trafford in 1962, Dennis Law's debut against WBA my first match. I remember Leeds coming to our ground on a very foggy day in the 63/64 season and winning 1-0. I never saw the goal. It would have been called off nowadays. The fans were absolutely horrible, but that said our fans weren't much better in the sixties. I went to Elland Rd once in 67 and, after United won 1-0, I barely escaped with my life. Some of the police were worse than the fans! Fortunately I had my then girlfriend Baaarbra with me so I was hidden in plain sight. I shall be eternally grateful to you for Denis Irwin (via Oldham) and my French namesake but Busby should never have let you have Johnny Giles. Flag 1RecommendReply Peter John 2 days ago @Erik Eriksson Yes, Giles was a true Great and Strachan wasn't bad either. Flag RecommendReply Michael Steels 2 days ago My sympathies it was a bad time to start supporting The Peacocks in the Adamson years the sale of Tony Currie was probably the low point. This season has certainly started promisingly and without Wood as a focal point seems to have given the side more varied attacking options and the splendid new keeper Wiedwald is a big plus. By the way I would bridle at the suggestion that Eddie Gray was ever a fading star..... Flag 4RecommendReply Nigel Toye 2 days ago Good luck to the team. Leeds is not easy to love. You haven't mentioned the horrendous homophobic chants against Brighton fans and team from last season's match which were to be heard on the BBC recent programme where homophobia in football was explored by Gareth Thomas. How can we like a club which takes no action against such prejudice? Flag 3RecommendReply Anthony Lee 2 days ago The changes on the pitch are admirable and I was at the recent 5-0 drubbing of Burton Albion. But therein lies the 'other' side of Leeds, the support from the terraces. Some of the chants (ritually performed every week) are obscene, racist and disgusting. Nigel Clough (Burton manager) was exposed to a vile torrent of abuse on the basis of him being Brian Clough's (former Leeds manager) son; in fact they were both abused. Other chants relate to other clubs (clubs having nothing to do with either the time or the match being played) reflecting incidents or rivalries spanning half a century. If the club seeks to improve it's image then it needs to change this behaviour, otherwise there is little hope. Flag 4RecommendReply Richard J 2 days ago Yes. Flag 3RecommendReply Kalwant Singh 3 days ago It's true that Leeds United are disliked by quite a lot of people. Though abroad they're not, they're just known as a famous English football club. I've travelled to a number of different countries and continents and they've always heard of Leeds United. Most of the hatred in the UK comes from envy. I've lost count of the number of black cabs I've been in, in London where the driver has told me that they saw Revie's Leeds United and how phenomenal they were; 'We hated them but it was because they were just so much better than us'. Now they look back in reverence and admiration. As for the Leeds United haters out there, if they ever read any of the autobiographies of Peter Lorimer, Johnny Giles, Eddie Gray, Paul Madeley, they'd hear the other sides to many stories that the media got wrong or never printed and perhaps realise that a lot of the negative stuff that was written about Leeds United was not true and exaggerated. Flag 4RecommendReply NickWickPapers 2 days ago @Kalwant Singh Oh trust me, it's not envy I feel. Flag 2RecommendReply Kalwant Singh 2 days ago So explain your reasons? Flag RecommendReply Isabel Rufat-Subias 2 days ago The sheer nastiness of that team, of course. All but Madeley and Gray exhibited varying degrees of villainy - from Sprake, with his foot up, studs showing catching, all the way up front to Jones, with his 1940s style charging. Flag RecommendReply Kalwant Singh 2 days ago They were ruthless yes but nasty? Not anymore than many other players that played for other teams but they get conveniently forgotten. Tommy Smith at Liverpool, Dave Mackay at Spurs, Ron Harris at Chelsea, Nobby Stiles at Man Utd, Kenny Burns at Notts Forest, Graeme Souness at Spurs / Middlesborough/Liverpool, I could go on. Though of course, as Leeds United were one of the best teams, they were in the spotlight more. Being in the spotlight meant other teams just wanted to kick Leeds United's players off the pitch because most of the time, it was the only way they could stop them. Being the best makes you target number one. Leeds United gave as good as they got. Flag 1RecommendReply Peter John 2 days ago @Isabel Rufat-Subias Try watching some footage of the 1970 FA Cup Final. If you think Sprake and Jones were bad, watch Eddie McCreadie's head high (yes truly) two footed, stud first"tackle on Bremner, Peter Houseman (I think) stamping all over a prone Bremner, Ron Harris kicking Eddie Gray out of the game, Peter Osgood trying to do the same to Jack Charlton. "Sheer nastiness of the Leeds team" my posterior. Flag RecommendReply Isabel Rufat-Subias 2 days ago In other words, Chelsea played them at their own game and then out-did them for skill. So much for southern softies. Flag RecommendReply Peter John 2 days ago @NickWickPapers @Kalwant Singh It was certainly envy back in the day, no so these days, granted. Flag RecommendReply Back to top Get in touch Contact us Help The Times Editorial Complaints The Sunday Times Editorial Complaints Place an announcement Classified advertising Display advertising The Times corrections The Sunday Times corrections More from The Times and The Sunday Times The Times e-paper The Sunday Times e-paper Times Currency Services The Sunday Times Wine Club Encounters Dating Times Print Gallery The Times Archive Times Crossword Club Sunday Times Driving Times+ The Sunday Times Rich List Insider City Guides Good University Guide Parent Power The Brief © Times Newspapers Limited 2017. Registered in England No. 894646. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. Privacy & cookie policy Syndication Commissioning Terms Terms and conditions -----Original Message----- From: Leedslist [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of {broken-address} Sent: 17 September 2017 18:02 To: [email protected] Subject: [LU] Times story Does anyone pay for access to The Times? If so, any chance you can cut and paste the body of this article into a post for the rest of us? (Yes, I know they give two free stories a month, or something, but I am wary of signing up and then being spammed by The Times for the rest of eternity.) https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/matt-dickinson-will-leeds-always-be-a-club-people-just-love-to-hate-jf0p3wh8h Cheers! 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