| Leeds
United FC has been a recognised team for more than 80
years and has a huge following in its hometown, as well
as support locally and internationally.
The story of its history begins in 1904 with the establishment
of Leeds City Football Club, who played their first
match at the famous Elland Road in the same year and lost
to Hull City 2-0.
From an unimpressive start Leeds were elected to the second
division and a new stand was built The Scratching Shed
to kick off their league career with a match against Bradford
City. Again, Leeds lost 0-1.
Undeterred Leeds began to notch up the victories and
during the First World War they were
crowned unofficial league champions, but this era also
heralded the first signs of trouble in this club's often-hindered
history. An FA enquiry accused Leeds of overpaying its
own players and thus, Leeds City were banned from league
matches.
In 1919 the great and good gathered to debate the future
of football in the city and formed Leeds United.
The new club began in the Midlands League but was soon
elected to the second division of the Football League
and things were going well, but like many clubs World
War II halted activity and many of the club's best footballers
were called up to serve their country.
Following the war, Leeds couldn't seem to get back into
the game, but by 1955 with the signing of top player John Charles, victory was within its
sights.
However, in 1956 John Charles was transferred to Juventus
and even with a young centre-half called Jack Charlton,
Leeds' future looked uncertain with many matches lost.
Leeds needed a manager who could pull them out of the
slump and when one of its own players with little management
experience came forward to lead the team there was little
optimism from the press and public.
Luckily Don Revie knew what he was
doing and this era in Leeds history is often referred
to as "The Revie Revival".
Revie made the most of Jack Charlton, establishing him
as centre-back, and introduced Albert Johanneson, a
21-year-old black winger from South Africa. This was
the beginning of something special and these prosperous
years saw the introduction of new team colours: the
old blue and gold strip was replaced by the all-white
of Real Madrid.
By the 1960s Leeds United were in Division One, and Revie's
team played in Europe for the first time in 1965 in the Inter-City Fairs Cup. Some impressive players passed
through Elland Road [map] during this era including Eddie
Gray, Paul Madeley and Mick Jones.
Fans say that Leeds' best season was 1973/74 which ended
with the Championship trophy at Elland Road for
a second time. The campaign started with seven straight
wins, and although they went out of the League Cup early,
and went down in the third round of the UEFA Cup, it wasn't
until February that they were defeated in the league,
losing 2-3 at Stoke. Leeds' final game of the season was
a 1-0 victory at QPR - it was to mark the end of an era.
When Don Revie moved on to manage the England team,
Brian Clough was brought in as manager, but this didn't
last long, and 44 days later management had swapped
hands yet again and Jimmy Armfield was called in. The
1970s saw the famous Billy Bremner play his last game
and the entertaining antics of Tony Currie hit the headlines.
In the 1980s Leeds saw more defeats than victory and by
the end of the decade there was serious concern that relegation
wasn't far away. But of course, a turn around for Leeds
is never far away and United were soon back on form with
league wins in the 1990s and before 2000 they were back
in Europe.
Leeds United has had many ups and downs during its history,
but its supporters continue to come out in droves and
head to Elland Road to back their team.
Going into the next millennium and Leeds were on top form
with David O'Leary in charge, but this run couldn't
last and soon Leeds' fortunes had yet again taken a turn
for the worst with a series of defeats. The future for
Leeds in the 2000s looked decidedly shaky and in the 03/04
season Leeds were relegated from the Premiership to the
Coca-Cola Championship, but with its rollercoaster history,
who knows what will happen to United in the future?
To watch this exciting team in action at their Elland
Road home ground, you can buy tickets online from the
offical Leeds
United website.
|
