Football is a truly national game for England. This sport plays a huge role in culture and leaves its mark on the English way of life. Throughout the history of football, a large number of teams have been founded in the United Kingdom, famous all over the world and having a large army of fans on every continent. And Leeds United, which returned to the Premier League in 2020, is no exception.

Creation of the Peacock Club

At the beginning of its journey, the English club was called Leeds City. It was founded in 1904. Already in 1905, the FC was invited to the National Football League and became a participant in the Second Division. Until 1912, Leeds City had poor performance – the team occupied the last places in the tournament table.

But then Herbert Chapman played an important role for the Lida team, who after numerous defeats not only managed to defend the club’s right to participate in the 2nd division, but also made the project of maintaining a sports organization a profitable business. With the onset of the First World War, the financial situation worsened: the team began to fall apart, many players went to the front. In 1919, Chapman left the club, the team was excluded from the football league, and the players were sold at auction.

Having lost their club, Leeds City fans founded a new team called Leeds United. This event was recorded on October 17, 1919.

Legendary coaches

Since the new team appeared in the city, its success and development have been invariably associated with the names of the club’s managers and coaches. Throughout the existence of Leeds, the team’s patronage was taken into the hands of great coaches whose names have forever entered the history of football.

Dick Ray and Arthur Fairclough

In 1919, the former Leeds City player Dick Ray became the coach of the newly formed team. But already in 1920, the team’s management lured Arthur Fairclough, the current coach of Huddersfield Town , to their side , and Dick Ray became his assistant. After playing three seasons, Leeds United, based on the results of the tournament table, moved to the first division in 1924. But after another 3 seasons, in 1926, the club again fell to the second most important league. This event led to the resignation of Fairclough. And again Ray became the head coach. In the very first season, Dick returned the club to the first division.

Billy Hampton and Frank Buckley

During the period of Dick Ray’s management, the team repeatedly showed good results, but already in 1935 the football club occupied 18th place according to the results of the season. The club’s management decided to replace him with Billy Hampton. Thanks to the new coach, the club was replenished with young and promising players who came after Hampton. After the Second World War, in 1947, Leeds United again got into the Second Division, and already in 1948 was on the verge of falling to the Third Division. After such a fiasco, Frank Buckley was appointed as the head coach, who led the team until 1961.

Don Revie

In 1961, former Leeds United player Don Revie became the club’s head coach. During his tenure, the team achieved truly significant results:

• 1964 – the club returned to the First Division.
• 1968 – Winner of the Fairs Cup.
• 1969 – victory in the English Championship.
• 1971 – Second victory in the Fairs Cup.
• 1972 – Winner of the FA Cup final.

In 1972, the FA Cup centenary was celebrated, with Leeds United beating Arsenal 1-0. And already in 1974, Don Revie left his post as head coach and took charge of the England national team.

Jimmy Armfield

In 1974, Jimmy Armfield took over Leeds United FC and led the team to the European Cup final. Leeds United lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich. The match was remembered for the terrible refereeing in favour of the Bavarians, which resulted in serious riots in the stands, which contributed to the English club being banned from European competitions for four years.

Howard Wilkinson

Howard Wilkinson was tasked with returning the team to its former position in 1988. And already in 1991, Leeds United received the title of English champion, beating Manchester United.

In 1992, the English Premier League was formed, making Leeds United the last champions of the English First Division in the country’s leading football league.

David O’Leary

In 1998, David O’Leary became the club’s coach. The team experienced a colossal emotional strain in 2000 during its participation in the UEFA Champions League, where their group included the giants of European football: Barcelona , ​​Milan , Besiktas. The group was called the “group of death”, in which the “peacocks” were predictably eaten by the favorites and could not continue their participation in the Champions League. But the fighting spirit of each team member was remembered not only by English fans, but also by fans of continental European football.

This marks the end of an era for Leeds United FC. In 2003, the club has large debts, and the management sells leading players. The stadium and training base are also sold at auction. A year later, the FC is relegated to the Championship, where it occupies 14th place in the standings. And only in the 2019/2020 season, Leeds United wins the Championship tournament and opens the doors to the Premier League. The triumphant return has taken place.

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Leeds United Stadium

The home stadium for Leeds United was Elland Round. The arena could accommodate up to 39.4 thousand people. The sports facility was built in 1897, and in 1919 it became the home stadium for Leeds United FC.

In 2004, Leeds sold the stadium to Teak Commercial Ltd. to pay off debts and immediately took a 25-year lease on it with the option to buy it at the cost of rent.

Leeds emblem

During its 100 years of existence, the club changed its team logo 11 times. Fans could see symbols such as:

• Owls.
• Peacocks.
• White roses.
• Emoticons.
• Millet inscription LUFC

In 2019, for the club’s centenary, a new emblem in golden colors with the team name and the inscription 1919-2019 is released.

Leeds United Kit

For many years, the traditional kit of the Leeds team has been an all-white kit, but an all-yellow kit became equally popular during the European tours of the early 20th century. Sometimes there were black and grey kits and even an all-blue kit. In honor of the team’s anniversary, the Kappa company is releasing a new kit for Leeds United in three colors:

• The home jersey is white with grey accents and a gold logo.
• The away kit is grey with pink details and a gold logo.
• The alternate uniform is sky blue with colored lines at the bottom of the shirt. The logo and cuffs are white.

In 2004, sports company Diadora equipped Leeds uniforms with high-tech emblems placed on the player’s shoulder. The idea was to show the level of dedication and activity of the player during the match. That is, the coach, teammates and, most importantly, the fans could see who was working hard on the football field and who was just going through the motions.

True fans

The Peacocks have a huge army of fans who, despite the team’s failures, have always been devoted to their club. There has always been a special atmosphere among the fans in the stands of the stadium. There are even special Don Revie and John Charles fan zones at the Elland Road stadium. They are the ones who organize the most powerful support for the club.

Despite their friendliness, Leeds fans also have enemies. These include Manchester United and Chelsea . These clubs have not met for a long time, but the hostile atmosphere still exists. And with the return of the “peacocks” to the Premier League, the confrontation is capable of flaring up with renewed vigor.

Another club that is on the blacklist of Leeds fans is Turkish Galatasaray. This was facilitated by a clash between fans in Istanbul, where two Leeds fans were killed.

Club Legends

Players whose names will forever remain in the history of football also made a huge contribution to the development of the FC:

• Paul Robinson – goalkeeper (119 matches, 1 goal).
• Gary Kelly – defender (250 matches, 2 goals).
• Rio Ferdinand – defender (73 matches, 3 goals).
• Dominic Matteo – defender (146 matches, 4 goals).
• Ian Hart – defender (157 matches, 28 goals).
• Jonny Howson – midfielder (226 matches, 28 goals).
• Harry Kewell – midfielder (102 matches, 29 goals).
• Robert Snodgrass – midfielder (193 matches, 41 goals).
• Mark Viduka – forward (166 matches, 72 goals).

The legendary Alan Smith could have made the list, but his move to bitter rivals Manchester United has seen him erase his cult status among Leeds fans.

autor :Andrey Razumovsky