Leeds United Archives - Page 5 of 5

Leeds United 1992 title winners to host anniversary in Harrogate

Legends from Leeds United’s 1992 title winning side are set to reunite in Harrogate to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the triumph.

Held at Cedar Court Hotel on April 29, members of the squad will speak at a celebration dinner and relive some of the key moments from the milestone season.

Manager Howard Wilkinson, who led Leeds to their first Division One title in 18 years, is set to make an appearance along with captain Gordon Strachan.

Full-backs Mel Sterland and Tony Dorigo, as well as Jon Newsome, Chris Whyte, Steve Hodge and Rod Wallace will also be in attendance.

The evening will include interviews with the players and clips of key moments from throughout the season.

The highlights that season included clinching the title in a 3-2 win at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United and defeating Aston Villa 4-1 at Villa Park in one of the few games which were broadcast on television.

Strachan and Wilkinson will also give extended insight into the United side, which became the last team to win the First Division before it became the Premier League.

Tickets are available from promoters MJK Sports Events. You can find more information on the event here.

Ex-Leeds United player fined by Harrogate magistrates for speeding

Former Leeds United midfielder Ronaldo Vieira has been fined by magistrates in Harrogate for speeding.

Vieira, 23, who was sold by Leeds to Sampdoria in 2018, was caught speeding on the A1237 near Rufforth on July 13 last year.

He was fined £250 by Harrogate Magistrates Court and ordered to pay a £34 surcharge and £90 court costs.

The case was dealt with in his absence.

Vieira currently plays for Sampdoria in the Italian Serie A league and has made 26 appearances for the club.

He was sold to the Italian side for £7.7 million in August 2018.

Harrogate student scores wonder goal for Leeds youth team

St John Fisher Catholic High School student and Leeds United player Archie Gray scored a wonder goal at Elland Road last night in front of almost 10,000 supporters.

The 16-year-old midfielder scored the third goal as the club’s under-23 team beat rivals Manchester United.

Gray is the great-nephew of Leeds legend, and Kirkby Overblow resident, Eddie Gray.

Highly rated by the club, he’s already featured as an unused substitute twice for the first team in the Premier League aged just 15.

Leeds director of football Victor Orta has compared Gray to a young Sergio Aguero and former manager Marcelo Bielsa said he will eventually achieve elite status in the game.

Take a look at his goal last night, which was struck from 35 yards.

https://twitter.com/LUFC/status/1503832673529311246?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1503832673529311246%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leedsunited.com%2Fnews%2Facademy%2F29651%2Fu23s-live-updates-leeds-united-vs-manchester-united

St John Fisher has also sent its congratulations to the young player:

Huge congratulations to Year 11 student Archie Gray who scored for the @LUFC under 23 team last night. https://t.co/6HaRJ3bwnU

— St John Fisher Catholic High School, Harrogate (@sjfchs) March 16, 2022

Harrogate Leeds fans raise £2,000 for Alzheimer’s Research with Stan Bowles calendar

Leeds fans in Harrogate have raised more than £2,000 for charity after a chance purchase of a calendar of 1970s footballer Stan Bowles.

Dave Rowson, who is a member of the Harrogate and district branch of Leeds United Supporters Group, held a three-day fundraiser last weekend to raise funds for Alzheimers Research UK.

A charity gig at the Manhattan Snooker Club, a “picture with Stan” day outside the Old Peacock pub at Elland Road and Stan Bowles pairs at the Black Swan Bowling Club in Harrogate helped to raise £2,721 for the cause.

A picture with Stan has become a running theme throughout the fundraising initiative and has seen Leeds favourite, Jermaine Beckford, and Angus Kinnear, managing director of the club, posing for a snap with the calendar.

All of this was a result of Dave making a chance purchase of the calendar of the QPR striker on a trip to Loftus Road in 2020.

“What is the Stan Bowles connection?”

Stood outside the Old Peacock on Saturday, some Leeds supporters would have been forgiven for asking why they were being asked for a picture with a QPR player.

Dave said:

“If I had a pound for every time I answered: ‘What’s the Stan Bowles connection?’”

During Leeds’ trip to QPR last year before covid, a charity worker thrust the calendar into Dave’s chest as he was walking past to collect his match ticket.

Initially Dave accepted the gift and went to walk on, until he was told it cost £2.

Instead of handing the calendar back, he decided to use it as a means of getting into some of the home fans-only pubs before the game by posing as a QPR fan.

Later, he offered to give the calendar as a gift to a fellow supporter, Sarah, for her birthday.

Dave said:

“She said: ‘‘What am I going to do with that? I am on the train and only got a small handbag, you two look after it for me!’. How ungrateful after all the trouble I had gone to.”

Left with the calendar, Dave decided to take random pictures of Stan with punters in bars on trips out across the country and in Harrogate.

The move snowballed on social media and, as a result, Dave decided to put the calendar and the “picture with Stan” theme to better use.

Footballers and dementia

Bowles, who played for QPR for seven years and was voted the club’s greatest ever player in a 2004 fans poll, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2015.

He’s among a generation of iconic players, such as Jeff Astle, Nobby Stiles and Jack Charlton, who have been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s after their playing career.

Recent studies have linked the risk of dementia in former professional footballers with persistent heading of the ball.

In the past week, former Liverpool player Terry McDermott and Manchester United favourite, Denis Law, became the latest retired players to be diagnosed with dementia.

The news that professional footballers are at further risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia as a result of heading the ball has since caused further study and debate over the risk to players.

Dave and the Harrogate branch of Leeds supporters are continuing their fundraising. You can donate on their JustGiving page here.

Jeff Stelling to march from Harrogate Town in aid of prostate cancer

Well-known Sky Sports presenter Jeff Stelling is set to march from Harrogate to Leeds in aid of Prostate Cancer UK this month.

Jeff, who is known for anchoring Sky’s Soccer Saturday coverage, has raised more than £1 million for the men’s health charity and has taken part in four marches since 2016.

This year, he is set to walk from Harrogate Town’s EnvioVent Stadium to Elland Road in Leeds via Kirk Deighton Rangers and Leeds Rhinos.

The stop at Kirk Deighton will be poignant as the club was home to Yorkshireman Lloyd Pinder, who sadly died of the disease last year after striking up a firm friendship with Stelling.

The walk, which is taking place on August 31, will be one of four walking marathons he takes part in.

Jeff said:

“Covid has had a horrific impact on lives across the UK, but prostate cancer has not gone away. In fact it’s now more important than ever that we support men and their loved ones.

“One in eight men in the UK will get prostate cancer in their lifetime. I deal in stats, but that one still shocks me. This is our dads, partners, brothers, grandads, uncles and friends.

“That’s why I wear the Prostate Cancer UK ‘Man of Men’ badge. That’s why we’ve marched across the UK three times, helping raise more than £1 million for crucial research to beat prostate cancer.”

Jeff has invited 400 football fans to take part in his walking marathons, including the walk to Elland Road, to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK.

For more information on how to sign up, visit prostatecanceruk.org/jeffsmarch.

Harrogate man’s 40-year love affair with Leeds United

Harrogate-born Dave Rowson has seen it all at Leeds United.

After following the club home and away since the 1970s, he’s travelled the length and breadth of the country and followed United to the capitals of Europe.

He came up with the idea to write his book “We’re Not Leeds, We Are Leeds” after 10 years of travelling with the club from 1992 until 2002.

Dave’s friends suggested he write the book to show what it’s really like as a fan to support the team abroad.

But, a decade of United playing in European competitions is only a snapshot of his dedication to the club.

What does it take to follow a football team around the country week in, week out and how did he do it?

‘Life revolved around watching Leeds’

After his dad took him to Elland Road in 1967, Dave was hooked on football and Leeds United.

Despite being just four years old, his first game was against West Bromwich Albion at a time when the club was on its way to success under manager Don Revie.

While his memories are fleeting of that time, Dave can still picks out the European cup nights against Celtic at Elland Road as the most memorable.

He said:

“I have fleeting memories of being in the ground and certain games, but the one I can absolutely remember is Celtic at home in the European Cup semi-final because it was awash with green and white outside the ground.

“I just remember a Scottish lad came up and wanted to swap scarfs with me. I had been about seven years old and I just said ‘no, b*****r off mate’ because it was a Leeds scarf.”

As a kid, Dave would catch the bus from the bottom of Montpellier to Elland Road with his Dad.

When his dad stopped going in 1977, Dave kept the tradition going despite the decline of the great Revie side.

“I was about 14 then and I started going everywhere even though they were not the team that they quite were, but I had grown up with them as my team.”

As an adult, he could have gone onto to university but decided to take up a job as clerical officer as part of a training course at the regional health authority in 1982.

Dave pictured away at Stoke City in the 1980s.

Dave took the job deliberately as he wanted to follow Leeds home and away.

“I started earning so I could fund to go to Leeds away games, because that’s what I wanted to do.

“As daft as it sounds, life revolved around watching Leeds.”

The decision started a love affair with the club that has spanned decades.

From the club being at its most successful in the 1970s and 1990s, to the wilderness of lower division football in the 1980s, the doldrums of League One and recent rise under Marcelo Bielsa, Dave has been there.

When asked how he managed to balance his life supporting the club with work and family life, he said a lot of it came down to commitment.

As for the European nights, that required balancing leave from work and moving it to where he could fit it with games abroad.

“I just had to take it as I can and bring some leave forward.

“I don’t think I took any unpaid leave, but I would have done if I had to do.”

The highs and lows

Most of the trips across the country have come with the Harrogate and District Supporters Club.

Dave, who initially organised the bus trips under the then Knaresborough branch in the 1980s, said the days out with the supporters were one of the reasons for dedicating so much time to the club.

Harrogate and District Leeds United Supporters group.

The camaraderie and joint experience of both low and high moments kept him coming back.

Among them was the chaotic game at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United in 1992, which clinched Leeds’ first title – and the last team to win it before the Premier League – since 1974.

But that year was not without its hiccups and Dave had to convince his fellow supporters that United had not blown it with five games to go.

After a surprise 4-0 defeat to Manchester City at Maine Road, Dave was convinced that the title was still within the club’s grasp.

He went as far as to write to then manager, Howard Wilkinson, outlining their final fixtures alongside Manchester United’s, who were also vying for the top spot, and explaining why the opposition would not get maximum points.

“I actually wrote to Wilkinson and said ‘have you seen their run in?’

“They had these four games and were playing Forest twice and I wrote to him and said ‘they are not going to get 12 points, I reckon they will get seven max’.”

Not content with waiting for the Lancashire side to slip up, Dave decided to go and see it for himself.

Ahead of a meeting in Peterborough for work, he realised that he could make it to the City Ground for Man United’s clash with Nottingham Forest the night before.

Despite not having a ticket and the game being sold out, he managed to convince the ticket staff that they had misplaced his ticket and was handed one from a no-show for the game.

“I got to the ticket office and I said ‘I’m a Forest fan from Harrogate’. I had bought from a stand a little Forest lapel badge and I said I had ordered some tickets.

“I gave her a name and she was looking through and she said ‘they’re not here’ and I said ‘what? I’ve ordered the tickets. I guess I’ll just go to the pub then’. Anyway, she said ‘actually I’ve got this envelope here, I don’t think these people are going to turn up’.”

Nigel Clough got the winner for Forest that night and Dave’s prediction came to fruition.

But, the forty years supporting the club has not been without its lows.

Dave pictured with friends in Edinburgh for Leeds’ pre-season in 1983.

Dave recalls the 1987 season when Leeds reached the FA Cup Semi Final and a play off final replay against Charlton Athletic at St Andrews in Birmingham.

The game went to extra time and Leeds took the lead through John Sheridan, but conceded twice in the last seven minutes to confine themselves to another season in the second division.

Dave said he had never heard a supporters’ bus so silent after a game.

“To go from seven minutes from promotion, there is only Leeds that can let two in to Peter Shirtliff.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been on a bus where not one person spoke after the game.

“We got all the way from Birmingham to Harrogate, got off and six of us went to the Blue Pot which was the drinking place at the time. We ordered the drinks and stood around the table and nobody had spoke.

“All of a sudden, someone who had not been to game came and asked if we had been to the game and it was like someone had click their fingers and we could suddenly talk again.”

‘We’re not Leeds, We are Leeds’

The European nights bring further focus into what it takes to follow the club as a fan.

From Italy to Ukraine, Dave juggled his personal life to fit in those games and to be there among the travelling Leeds support.

In his book, We’re Not Leeds We Are Leeds, Dave aimed to tell the stories of what it was like being there when United mixed it with the elite of European football.

Rather than a review of what happened on the pitch, the book highlights the people, the situations and the “daft things that happen” following your team abroad.

As part of his book, Dave has also donated £500 to Alzheimers Research UK – which the Harrogate District Supporters Branch continues to fundraise for.

Some of the journeys in Europe were memorable, such as the trip to CSKA Moscow in 1999 and the famous Champions League run in 2000/2001.

Others were memorable for things other than football.

In April 2000, Leeds travelled to play Galatasaray in Istanbul in the UEFA Cup semi final.

The game would come second to what happened before the match when two supporters, Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight, were murdered.

Dave was in Istanbul and remembers the aftermath:

“We didn’t know what had gone on until probably the next morning.

“The next day we were not allowed out of our hotel, the police were like ‘you’re a bunch of Leeds fans, you’re not allowed out of your hotel’. We didn’t know if the game was going to go ahead.

“In the end, they said the game was going ahead and we’re going to bus you to the ground. They bussed us to the ground and there was tanks there, it was surreal.”

‘It gets in your blood, it gets in your system’

Forty years later, Dave still follows his club home and away and says he will continue to do so when fans are allowed back into stadiums.

Last season was bittersweet for Leeds fans, who witnessed a return to the top flight after 16 years from home due to the covid pandemic.

Much like the rest of the fanbase, Dave was at home when promotion was sealed following Huddersfield Town’s defeat of West Brom and supporters flocked to Elland Road in their thousands.

“I’m just hoping that it will be like clicking your fingers and you’re back at it again.”

Until then, Dave awaits like all football fans for the moment when the government signals the long awaited return to stadiums and live games.

He will return to his habits of meeting up with lifelong friends, having a drink and taking the well-trodden journey to Elland Road week in week out.

But, why and how does he do it?

“I grew up doing it and it is what I do. It gets in your blood, it gets in your system.

“I can almost imagine never not doing it. A lot of my best mates I have met through the football and it’s like a community and a family.

“You have some right laughs and it takes you away from everything. Whatever troubles people have had, they go to the football and it gets it out of their system.

“I’ve known some people for 50 years watching football. There’s nothing better than it for me, a day out with the lads and a laugh.”

You can donate to the Harrogate Leeds United Supporters’ Branch fundraiser for Alzheimers Research UK here. Dave Rowson’s book, We’re Not Leeds We Are Leeds, is available to buy here.

Harrogate illustrator designs Leeds United charity Christmas card

A Harrogate illustrator has designed a Leeds United Christmas card to raise money for Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Graeme Bandeira’s wintry scene features the iconic Billy Bremner statue wearing a blue Santa hat at Elland Road, with Yorkshire Cancer Research’s rose on the East Stand.

The cards are being sold in packs of five for £6, with £2 from each pack donated to Yorkshire Cancer Research, which is based in Harrogate.

Leeds United, who have many supporters in the Harrogate district, began a charity partnership with Yorkshire Cancer Research in September to raise awareness of the organisation’s work.

Dr Kathryn Scott, chief executive at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said:

“We were keen to mark our partnership with Leeds United in a special way and offer the fans an opportunity to celebrate Christmas while raising money to save lives in Yorkshire.

“Inviting Graeme to design our Christmas card felt like the perfect choice. We hope Leeds United supporters will love it as much as we do.”

Left to right: Angus Kinnear, chief executive at Leeds United, Graeme Bandeira and Dr Kathryn Scott, chief executive of Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Mr Bandeira said:

“It’s been an absolute pleasure to join forces with two Yorkshire icons and it being for such a great cause too.”

Money raised from the cards will fund research, end of life care and cancer screening.

The packs of cards can be bought online here or in any of the five Leeds United stores if they are allowed to reopen before Christmas.

Mr Bandeira is also auctioning the original artwork on eBay to raise will be donated to Yorkshire Cancer Research. To make a bid, click here.

Paul Bell, executive director at Leeds United, said:

“Christmas is always a special time of the year and it’s fantastic that we’re able to mark the occasion this season with our official charity partner.

“We know our supporters will get behind the initiative, with money raised from the sales helping to support the world-leading research taking place to help more people survive cancer.”

Bronze statue of Marcelo Bielsa spotted in Harrogate

A bronze statue of Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa was spotted in Harrogate today.

Fans stopped to take pictures with the 75kg sculpture on West Park — which sat on a bronze version of Bielsa’s trademark bucket.

The statue was commissioned by Leeds fan Tony Clark and constructed in Bali, Indonesia. He estimates it cost over £50,000 to build and transport it to Yorkshire.

Fans can pay £10 to enter a raffle for the chance to keep the statue, with the draw being made by Leeds’ star midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

All money raised will go to the mental health charity Mind, a charity close to Tony’s heart after he was caught up in the 2002 Bali bombings.

Tony said:

“It’s my gift to Leeds for what they’ve given me”

Tony has been driving the statue around Yorkshire on the back of a pick-up truck. He said it was important to bring it to the people of Harrogate because “that’s what Bielsa is all about.”

He added:

“When he first came to Leeds, you just knew there was something good there. It’s been immense, it’s been electric”.

He said the Harrogate public have largely welcomed the statue — however, there have been some unkind comments from Manchester United supporters.

Harrogate Leeds United fans prepare for Premier League

After 16 years outside English football’s top flight, Leeds United fans in Harrogate are preparing for a return to the Premier League and a first piece of silverware in 28 years.

The Whites confirmed promotion last Friday after an Emile Smith Rowe goal in the 86th minute for Huddersfield Town defeated West Bromwich Albion 2-1.

Less than 24 hours later, United clinched the title without kicking a ball as third-placed Brentford lost to Stoke City.

For Lai Lam, branch member and publicity officer at Harrogate and District Leeds United Supporters group, the moment on Friday night was special.

“I got loads of messages about going down to Elland Road but I’m trying to be responsible so stayed away.

“I saw the footage of the ones who did though, then saw the team on the steps of the East Stand on Facebook. It was brilliant.”

The supporters group, which was formerly Knaresborough branch until 1996, has around 150 paid members and usually follows the club home and away.

Miss Lam, a season ticket holder for 30 years, joined the branch for the 1995/96 season and saw United relegated to the Championship at Bolton in 2004. She said:

“Most of us realised we were going down but we didn’t realise it was only the start of the rot that took us even lower.”

After a play-off final defeat to Watford in 2006, United dropped into the third tier for the first time in the club’s history the following season.

https://twitter.com/LUFC/status/1284470294263083008

Promotion back to the second division in 2010 was a ray of hope in dark times. But the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa as head coach in 2018 proved to be the catalyst for a return to the Premier League.

Now, Miss Lam and fellow branch members are itching to get back into the ground to see the team for the first time since March. She said:

“We play some of the best football I’ve have seen in years. I’m looking forward to seeing how Bielsa’s ways work in the Premier League.

“The man is a genius. He’s completely transformed football in two short years.

“When we can get into the grounds it’ll be great to see the atmosphere that our fans generate.”

Before that though, there is a small matter of lifting the Championship trophy, which United will be presented with following the Charlton game tonight.

Amid the pandemic, football fans have been forced to watch their teams away from the stadiums. Instead, Miss Lam will celebrate the Whites’ first piece of silverware since 1992 at home with friends.

“It has ruined what should have been a fantastic end to the season. This is the first year the players and the club have been so approachable and we could really have enjoyed it with them.

“But we’re promoted with the best points tally for ages.”

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“What is the Stan Bowles connection?”

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Footballers and dementia

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‘Life revolved around watching Leeds’

The highs and lows

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‘We’re not Leeds, We are Leeds’

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‘It gets in your blood, it gets in your system’

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