Mighty Leeds Weblog

By Lee Sobot Leeds United took on Brighton at the Amex in their tenth game of the Premier League season. Leeds United fell to their fifth defeat of the Premier League season and second heaviest one yet as Saturday's clash at Brighton ended in a very disappointing 3-0 defeat. Leeds fell behind after just 11 minutes as Yankuba Minteh's dinked pass released Mats Wieffer whose chipped cross took out keeper Lucas Perri on its way to finding Danny Welbeck who converted from close range. United looked to respond but Dominic Calvert-Lewin was unable to get on the end of a Jayden Bogle cross and Sean Longstaff then sent a poor free-kick over the bar. Brighton, though, were threatening to bag a second and twice went close to doing so as first Welbeck and then Minteh both fired wide. Leeds were yet to muster a shot on target as part of a half featuring just one Whites attempt at goal so far compared to Brighton's eight. The Whites, though, ended the half with a decent ch...

By Charles Gray Leeds City Council backs Elland Road expansion A key meeting addressing traffic issues around the redevelopment of Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium is set to be held tomorrow. Leeds City Council’s Plans Panel will consider a report from the Chief Planning Officer tomorrow (Thursday) and traffic matters highlighted by the club, highways officers and other external bodies including National Highways and Active Travel England. Leeds United is applying for full planning permission to redevelop the West Stand and outline permission for the North Stand, with proposed works aiming to take the stadium capacity to 53,000. The 74-page position statement notes that transport was identified as the primary concern with the proposals back in July when the chief planning officer updated council members on the public consultation following their pre-application presentation to the City Plans Panel. It continues to say that despite “extensive pre-application engagement” th...

Smelly underwear Written by: Calum Archibald From Don Revie’s bus stopping 100 yards short of its destination to Monsignor Philip Moger blessing the Elland Road pitch, superstition and Leeds United Football Club go together like asbestos and the West Stand roof. At some point in 2009, I made the connection between the underwear I’d worn and our form, which resulted in an unbeaten home run that spanned just over a year. I actually lost the lucky underwear just as our home form tailed off in the League One promotion run-in — so you’re welcome to blame me for that one. I’ve always been superstitious about football, which has led to some ridiculous routines over the years. These days, I’ve settled on a very particular routine for games I’m not at, which consists of not wearing traditional Leeds colours or any sportswear, putting my left everything on first (left sock then right sock and so forth) and drinking exclusively from the same pint glass. The logic? If I didn’t do it and ...

Two from three Words by: Chris McMenamy Marvin Gaye was right. Well, Tony Soprano. Believe none of what you hear, and half of what you see. We live in an era where being emphatic is more important than being correct and it’s increasingly permeating football discourse, and Leeds’ 2-0 defeat at Turf Moor is a perfect example. Pascal Struijk misplaced a pass well inside the Burnley half in the 67th minute, which allowed Kyle Walker to run almost the length of the pitch before turning back to pass the ball to a teammate. Burnley played four passes without being closed down, including one to Loum Tchaouna standing in yards of space outside the Leeds penalty area, who turned and, still untouched, lashed a shot past Karl Darlow. Much of the online discourse between fans and even in the media after the match talked about a Struijk mistake leading to the goal, so when Jaka Bijol stepped into the team for Friday night’s big game against West Ham, one which Leeds won, there was a sense of v...

By Tom Coates Coventry City boss Frank Lampard has explained why Patrick Bamford is training with his squad after leaving Leeds United. Bamford was still under contract in the summer but was told he did not feature in the plans of Whites manager Daniel Farke. An agreement to end his deal early was consequently agreed and the 32-year-old has been on the free agent market since. He briefly appeared close to joining Getafe, only for a move to Spain not to materialise. More recently, it emerged he was training with Championship pace-setters Coventry. The news set tongues wagging, but reports soon claimed a contract was not being discussed. Patrick Bamford clarity Lampard has now confirmed his former Chelsea teammate is just training with the Sky Blues - and nothing more. As reported by the Coventry Telegraph, he said: “Yeah, I guess you could call it doing him a favour. I know Patrick well and he hasn’t got a club. He’s training with us. “I’m very happy, he’s a good lad, ...

The 1975 European Cup final resulted in a riot and a ban and a chant for Leeds United. Harvey Marcus’s revealing film looks at how the game has changed in 50 years Rick Broadbent Half a century ago, the European Cup final had it all. Notoriety, the whiff of corruption, a deep seam of victimhood and 200 tracksuited judo experts to bolster security. It ended with a riot, a ban and a chant. Now a new film on the “final football tried to forget” illuminates the beautiful-damned duality of 1970s football and shows that European trips were an exotic adventure that can never be recaptured. Beleaguered Leeds United fans still sing: “We are the champions, the champions of Europe”. Some of them don’t know why, but it is because of the disallowed goal and ignored penalty against Bayern Munich in 1975. It sounds trivial years on, but it went beyond one-eyed cris de coeur and, as Harvey Marcus’s powerfully poignant Paris 75 recalls, was the culmination of years of angst. It is a deliberatel...